Bicycle and Greenways Map
Steve Spindler Cartography's 2014 map of bicycle routes and greenways in Chapel Hill. It shows the town's bicycle trails, cycling routes and greenway network.
Storyline
Paving the Chapel Hill to Durham road, 1913–1921
The road between Chapel Hill and Durham from the 1913 survey to a hard surface: federal engineers and upkeep money in 1916, the highway commission’s experimental pavement to the Durham line, and the Thanksgiving Day opening in 1921.
In briefChapel Hill's road to Durham became a state test of paving surfaces and gave the University a hard-surface road. Superintendent Brown's surveyors laid out a new route close to the old road in 1913, and in 1916 the county commissioners placed it under the U.S. government engineer. By 1919 the State Highway Commission had approved chairman Frank Page's plan to build the four miles to the Durham County line as a test, in half-mile sections of concrete, asphalt, brick and other surfaces, while Durham County paved its own side. The road opened on Thanksgiving Day 1921, and the News reported heavy traffic. Franklin Street merchants declined to pay for paving its edges, so mud borders remained.
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No works in the index are currently linked directly to this storyline. The works below provide background on Roads, Rail & Transportation.
The full story
In early August 1913 Superintendent Brown and his surveying force laid out the route of a new road from Chapel Hill to the Durham County line, closely following the old road. On April 17, 1916 the county commissioners placed the road under the U.S. government engineer, as the central highway through Hillsborough already was, and set $40 a mile a year for its upkeep. By June 1919 the State Highway Commission had approved chairman Frank Page's plan to build the four miles from Chapel Hill to the Durham County line as a test, in eight half-mile sections of concrete, Warrenite, sheet asphalt, asphalt concrete, brick and other surfaces. Durham County agreed, with federal and state aid, to pave from Durham to the county line, completing a hard-surface road to the University. The new road opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1921, and the News reported heavy traffic over its asphalt and hard-surface stretches that day, with only a few minor accidents. Covington describes an eighteen-foot concrete road from the center of Chapel Hill to Durham, new when Albert Coates returned in 1923, and credits trustee John Sprunt Hill as a state highway commissioner. Franklin Street merchants declined to pay for paving its edges, so mud borders remained.
In the chronology
Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 4 dated events in the chronology →
- A survey party lays out the new road from Chapel Hill to the Durham County line Superintendent Brown and his surveying force surveyed the route of a new road between Chapel Hill and the Durham County line, closely following the old road with a few short cuts to straighten it.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 14, 1913, p. 5
- The Chapel Hill to Durham road is turned over to the federal engineer The commissioners placed the road under the U.S. government engineer, as the central highway through Hillsborough already was, and set $40 a mile a year for upkeep. On May 1 they did the same for the road from Carrboro to the Alamance line by way of White Cross. People: Joseph Hyde PrattSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 206
- The highway commission takes up an experimental pavement from Chapel Hill to the Durham line The State Highway Commission approved chairman Frank Page's plan to build four miles of road from Chapel Hill to the Durham County line as a test, in eight half-mile sections of concrete, Warrenite, sheet asphalt, asphalt concrete, brick and other surfaces. Durham County agreed, with federal and state aid, to pave from Durham to the county line, completing a hard-surface road to the University.Search the index · The News (Chapel Hill), June 19, 1919, p. 1
- The new hard-surface road between Chapel Hill and Durham opens to traffic The new boulevard between Chapel Hill and Durham opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1921. The News reported heavy traffic over its asphalt and hard-surface stretches that day with only a few minor accidents, from fast driving and cars running off the pavement into soft dirt. Covington describes an eighteen-foot concrete road from the center of Chapel Hill to Durham, new when Albert Coates returned in 1923, and credits trustee John Sprunt Hill as a state highway commissioner. Franklin Street merchants declined to pay for paving its edges, so mud borders remained.Search the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 58 · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), December 1, 1921, p. 8; The News (Chapel Hill), June 22, 1922, p. 1
Background on Roads, Rail & Transportation
Background reading on Roads, Rail & Transportation. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss this storyline. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.
Widely held
Comprehensive transportation plan Orange County
Comprehensive transportation plan for Orange County prepared by Sarah Lee for the Transportation Planning Branch of the N.C. Department of Transportation, October 2013. It covers highway planning, roads and their environmental effects, and traffic engineering, with color maps, some folded.
NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Farewell forever, old road to Durham : lessons from the history of transportation planning in the North Carolina Piedmont
Mark Chilton's short history of transportation planning in the North Carolina Piedmont, drawing lessons from earlier projects. Subjects include the Cape Fear Navigation Company and river navigation, and the railroads of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, including the State University Railroad Company whose spur brought trains to the two towns. Chilton was mayor of Carrboro when the book appeared. Published by Hand Made Books, Carrboro, 2012, 92 pages with illustrations, maps and portraits.
Mebane
J. Ronald Oakley's pictorial history of Mebane, the railroad town on the Orange and Alamance county line, from Arcadia Publishing in 2012, 127 pages of photographs. Chapters cover the railroad, industries, businesses, the Depression and war years, profiles past and present, churches and civic clubs, recreation and sports, school days, and preserving the past. Topics include Mebane's history, economy, buildings and railroads.
Orange County, North Carolina
A group of materials combining a county planning document with a highway map of Orange County, dated 2012. The planning piece, issued in Raleigh by a state commission, lays out a planning and management process for the county with recommendations on land development. The map, based on the statewide highway planning survey, shows roads, bridges, utilities, public property, businesses and industries across Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough; one copy carries red-pencil notes naming the county's voting precincts.
Transportation impact analysis for the Carolina North development
Traffic study for Carolina North, the University of North Carolina's planned development in Chapel Hill, prepared by the consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin of Watertown, Massachusetts, and dated June 3, 2009. One spiral-bound volume in various pagings with illustrations and folded maps, plus a 12-page addendum on parking and mode share. The study includes traffic estimates and the environmental effects of transportation.
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Orange County, N.C. Road Records
Three volumes of historic Orange County road records compiled by Stewart E. Dunaway and self-published through Lulu.com in 2008, with maps. The documents, reproduced as facsimiles and sometimes transcribed, include petitions for new roads, requests for road upkeep, bridge records and papers explaining why roads were rerouted. Road petitions name the householders along a route. The third volume also gathers records connected with Cyrus Guy's lynching in Orange County in 1869.
[Replace Durham County bridge no. 158 on SR 1402 (Rivermont Rd) over unamed [sic] tributary to Eno River, TIP project no. B-3169, state project no. 8.2353701, W
An environmental document prepared in 2006 by the Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch of the North Carolina Department of Transportation for replacing Durham County bridge number 158, which carries Rivermont Road, State Road 1402, over an unnamed tributary of the Eno River, TIP project B-3169. Its subjects are environmental impact statements and the Eno River's environmental conditions; one volume of various foliations with maps, some folded.
2030 Long Range Transportation Plan
A long range transportation plan adopted in 2005 with a planning horizon of 2030. It concerns highway and transportation planning in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Orange County, together with Durham and Chatham counties, and includes population, employment and economic statistics for the three counties.
A taste of heaven : a collection of recipes
Community cookbook from Cross Roads Baptist Church in Hillsborough, printed by Morris Press Cookbooks in 2005 in a three-ring binder. Recipes are credited to their contributors. The book includes Southern cooking, church history and material on the Family House of Chapel Hill. 124 pages of recipes plus front and back matter, with color illustrations.
Draft 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan
The draft of the 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan for the Durham and Orange County area, dated 2004, covering highway and transportation planning in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Durham and Orange County and population, employment and economic statistics in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties. A planning document for those tracing how the county's roads were projected to grow.
Fish Dam Road Maps
Joe Liles's 2004 maps of Fish Dam Road, tracing its course across Durham, Orange, Granville and Wake counties.
Research sources
Sources and research tools for this storyline. Research guide: Follow an event across several accounts.
Background
Records of the time
- Biennial Report of the State Highway Commission of North Carolina, 1919-1920Internet Archive The Orange County section describes project 110, the demonstration road from the Durham County line to Chapel Hill.
Collections and databases
- NC LIVE: prepared search for Paving the Chapel Hill to Durham road, 1913–1921 Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
Local help
- Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison Meet with the Local History Liaison at the Main Library, usually Mondays from noon to 3 p.m., or send a question using the online request form
More to discover
Keep Reading Local
The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.
