Storyline · 1970–1982
When the University raised its water rate in 1970, Carrboro paid at the old rate and the state sued the town, which answered that the University held a water monopoly. From 1979 Carrboro refused to pay OWASA's higher fire hydrant fees; OWASA sued, a judge ordered the town to pay in 1981, and after losing in the Court of Appeals the town took the case to the N.C. Supreme Court in 1982.
Soon after the University raised its water rate on July 1, 1970, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to keep paying at the old rate and hold the difference in escrow, charging discrimination; town attorney Bill Staton said the question was whether the University could act with "unbridled discretion" when no regulator oversaw it. On October 6 Assistant Attorney General Millard Rich Jr. sued in Orange County Superior Court to make Carrboro pay the $8,555.25 it had withheld since July, after the University refused the town's check at the old rate; Town Manager Bill Britt said the town invited the action and would argue discrimination. In its reply in December Carrboro charged that the University held a monopoly on the area's water, sold about 64 percent of it to non-University customers and set rates to build illegal surpluses for future projects, and said it owed $3,169.
In July 1979 the Orange Water and Sewer Authority raised the monthly fee it charged for each fire hydrant, and Carrboro refused to pay, arguing that individual customers rather than the town should bear the cost; in March 1980 a Carrboro committee asked Chapel Hill to join in refusing. On September 19, 1980, a day after its board gave up a year-long effort to collect out of court, OWASA sued Carrboro in Orange County Superior Court for about $21,000 in unpaid hydrant fees, saying Orange and Durham counties also owed fees and might be sued. On April 23, 1981 Judge John C. Martin ruled that because Carrboro had accepted OWASA's fire protection service it must pay the $33,216 it had withheld, with interest and court costs, and the town said it would appeal. The dispute turned on who should pay for the extra water capacity kept for hydrants, which Carrboro had come to regard as a subsidy to OWASA. On September 22, after the fire department complained that OWASA had taken hydrants out of service for repair without telling it, the aldermen forbade anyone to tamper with or shut off a hydrant without the town manager's consent. In September 1982, after the N.C. Court of Appeals upheld the ruling, the aldermen voted to take the case to the N.C. Supreme Court. Fire Chief Robert Swiger said the fee took more than $17,000 a year from his budget, and a loss would leave the town owing more than $60,000 in back payments and interest.
Every statement above comes from these dated entries in the chronology. Each links to its source.
People with a page of their own whom the dated events above name, those named most often first.
No indexed work is about this storyline itself yet. These are the most widely held histories of the theme it is filed under, so they may not discuss it. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.
Elisha Mitchell, the University of North Carolina professor for whom Mount Mitchell is named, as botanist and as observer of early Chapel Hill, in a study by Rogers McVaugh, Michael R. McVaugh and Mary Ayers. It covers Mitchell's botanical knowledge, the plants of Chapel Hill and the town's historical geography. Published by the Botanical Garden Foundation in Chapel Hill in 1996, 122 pages with illustrations and maps.
Architectural and historical inventory of Carrboro by Claudia Roberts Brown, published in 1983 by the Carrboro Appearance Commission and the town. The 48-page survey, with illustrations and maps, documents the town's historic buildings and their conservation.
Collected first-hand and second-hand stories from the Eno River valley as told from the standpoint of African Americans and Native people who have lived along the river in Orange and Durham counties, from prehistory to the present day. Issued by the Eno River Association in Durham as volume 10, number 2 of the Eno Journal, 2021, 106 pages with illustrations.
Emily Eidenier Pearce's history of Rogers Road, the historically African American neighborhood on the edge of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and of what happened to it after Orange County opened its landfill next door in 1972. Drawing on interviews with residents, the book records the neighborhood's origins, family life, churches and customs, and then the environmental and social burdens of decades beside the landfill. Privately issued in 2009, 298 pages with illustrations, maps and portraits.
David Cook collects the grim side of the Eno River's past in Orange and Durham counties: ghost stories, crimes, train wrecks and accidents, including the hanging of rebels near the river in 1771, a sawmill accident said to have started a run of hauntings, and a dance one Valentine's Day that ended badly. Published by The History Press in 2025, 141 pages with illustrations.
Stewart E. Dunaway's history of the two mills George Johnston built on New Hope Creek in Orange County, the first in 1793 and the second in 1820, the earlier of which he sold to the Englishman William Robson. Self-published in 2010, 256 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles. Topics include gristmills in Orange County and the Blackwood, Johnston, Robinson and Robson families, so the volume serves both mill history and genealogy.
Address by Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire at St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough on 24 August 1924, marking the parish's hundredth anniversary. Printed in Durham in 1925 at the vestry's order, with a foreword by the rector. Cheshire discusses George Micklejohn, William Mercer Green and Moses Ashley Curtis.
Stewart E. Dunaway's 2010 study of Patterson Mill, a gristmill site on New Hope Creek where Orange County meets Chatham County. The book pairs a short genealogy of the Patterson family with a close survey of what remains of the mill on land now inside Duke Forest, supported by maps, facsimile documents and illustrations across 176 pages. Self-published in a second issue dated October 10, 2010.
Departmental history of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill covering its first fifty years, published by the department in 2000. The history covers medical schools, medical education and the teaching of obstetrics in North Carolina. First edition, xvii and 366 pages with illustrations and portraits.
Albert N. Link's early history of Research Triangle Park, published in 1995 by the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina. Topics include research parks, research institutes and industrial research in the state, with the park's own history at the center. 149 pages with illustrations and maps.
Michael McIntyre's 23-minute documentary video on the Eno River and Eno River State Park, produced in Durham in 1993 with support from the Duke University Institute of the Arts. It covers the river's past, its geology and the effort to preserve it, including the Indigenous peoples of the Eno River region. The container credits it with the 1993 Hal Kammerer Film and Video Award at Duke. VHS videocassette, color with sound.
Mary Claire Engstrom's history of the Quaker settlers of the Eno River valley from about 1750 to 1847, in the country that is now Orange and Durham counties. Published by the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley in Durham in 1989, 73 pages with illustrations, maps and portraits.
Each dated event above names its source, the place to start. For finding more on an event across newspapers, records and histories, see the research guide Follow an event across several accounts. Ask at the North Carolina Room of the Orange County Public Library for help with local sources.
Friends of the Orange County Public Library. “Carrboro’s water bill fights with the University and OWASA, 1970–1982.” Orange County Indexed, https://focplnc.org/orange-county-books/storylines/carrboro-water-bills-storyline-1970/. Accessed October 22, 2026.
