Carolina Nursing through the decades: a historic timeline
An illustrated online timeline of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, issued by the school in 2025. One page with portraits.
Storyline
Gimghoul Castle at Piney Prospect, 1924–1931
How the Order of Gimghouls built its castle at Piney Prospect: the 1924 vote to build at Dromgoole Rock, the sale of the old lodge lot on Rosemary Lane, the Valdese stonemasons and the stone hauled in, and the stone seat for Kemp P. Battle.
In briefWith money from their lot sales, the Order of Gimghouls built a stone castle on the crest at Dromgoole Rock near Piney Prospect, at the spot where legend placed Dromgoole's fatal duel and burial. Members and alumni agreed unanimously in June 1924 to build the lodge, and the Weekly put the likely cost at $35,000 to $45,000. Some 1,300 tons of stone were hauled in, stonemasons came from the Waldensian settlement at Valdese, and Charlie Lee Martindale was general contractor. The order first gathered in the castle in May 1926. After repeated break-ins, apparently by students, it had wrought-iron grills fitted over the windows and added heavy doors and bolts by 1931.
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No works in the index are currently linked directly to this storyline. The works below provide background on UNC & Campus Life.
The full story
On June 10, 1924 members and alumni of the Order of Gimghouls agreed unanimously to build a lodge on the crest at Dromgoole Rock near Piney Prospect, paid for with money from their lot sales, and named T. F. Hickerson, A. H. Patterson and W. S. Bernard to carry it through. The Weekly put the likely cost at $35,000 to $45,000 and described plans for a stone and shingle building with a round ballroom, with at least 25 acres kept as the order's park. In November W. S. Roberson bought the order's old lodge lot at Rosemary Lane and Boundary Street, for about $5,000, the Weekly later said.
The order tore the old lodge down in late April 1925 and carried its sound timbers out to Piney Prospect. Work on the castle began that year: some 1,300 tons of stone were hauled to the site, stonemasons came from the Waldensian settlement at Valdese, and Chapel Hill builder Charlie Lee Martindale was general contractor. The order held its first gathering in its gothic castle in May 1926, at the spot where legend placed Dromgoole's fatal duel and burial. By May 21 the Waldensian masons had also built a semicircular stone seat at Piney Prospect in memory of Kemp P. Battle, who liked to walk there, walled with rough stones from the hillside.
By March 1931, after repeated break-ins, apparently by students who climbed the rough stone walls and entered through the tower door, the order had Germino, a Durham metal worker, fit about three dozen wrought-iron grills over the castle windows and transoms and added heavy doors and bolts, under the direction of T. Felix Hickerson. The boulders of the four pyramids by the drive, which had been rolled down the slope at night, were chained together with iron stakes set in lead, and the assembly room in the tower was fitted with hand-hewn pegged oak furniture as a memorial to the late Drew Patterson.
In the chronology
Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →
- The Gimghouls vote to build a lodge at Dromgoole Rock Meeting at luncheon, members and alumni of the Order of Gimghouls agreed unanimously to build a lodge on the crest at Dromgoole Rock near Piney Prospect, paid for with money from their lot sales, and named T. F. Hickerson, A. H. Patterson and W. S. Bernard to carry it through. The Weekly put the likely cost at $35,000 to $45,000 and described plans for a stone and shingle building with a round ballroom, with at least 25 acres kept as the order's park. People: Thomas Felix Hickerson, Andrew Henry Patterson, William Stanly BernardSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 13, 1924, p. 1
- The Gimghouls sell their old lodge lot on Rosemary Lane W. S. Roberson bought the Gimghouls' lot at Rosemary Lane and Boundary Street, with the old lodge to stand until the order finished its new building at Piney Prospect; the Weekly later put the price at about $5,000. In the event the order tore the old lodge down in late April 1925, carrying its sound timbers out to Piney Prospect, and the lot was split in two. John W. Lasley bought the corner piece, 82 feet on Boundary Street by 132 feet along Rosemary, and his family had moved into a new house there by September 1926. People: W. S. RobersonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 20, 1924, p. 7 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 30, 1926, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 10, 1926, p. 4; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 30, 1925, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, May 28, 1925, p. 1
- The Order of Gimghouls begins building its castle Work on the Gimghouls' castle off the end of Gimghoul Road began in 1925: some 1,300 tons of stone were hauled to the site, stonemasons came from the Waldensian settlement at Valdese, and Chapel Hill builder Charlie Lee Martindale was general contractor. The order held its first gathering there in May 1926. People: Charlie Lee MartindaleSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 72 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 9, 1925, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 25, 1925, p. 1
- The Order of Gimghoul completes its castle at Piney Prospect The Order of Gimghoul completed a gothic castle at Piney Prospect, the spot where legend placed Dromgoole's fatal duel and burial.Search the index · NCpedia: Dromgoole, Peter Pelham · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 21, 1926, p. 3; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 12, 1926, p. 3
- The Gimghouls build a stone seat at Piney Prospect in memory of Kemp P. Battle By May 1926 the Order of Gimghoul had built a massive semicircular stone seat at Piney Prospect, the hilltop where William R. Davie admired the view while seeking a site for the University, as a memorial to Kemp P. Battle, who liked to walk there. The Waldensian stonemasons who had just finished the Gimghouls' castle nearby walled it with rough stones from the hillside, and a bronze tablet was to be set above the seat. People: Kemp Plummer BattleSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 21, 1926, p. 1
- The Gimghouls fit their castle with iron grills and chain its boulder pyramids After repeated break-ins, apparently by students who climbed the rough stone walls and entered through the tower door, the Order of Gimghoul had Germino, a Durham metal worker, fit about three dozen wrought-iron grills over the castle windows and transoms and added heavy doors and bolts, under the direction of T. Felix Hickerson. The boulders of the four pyramids by the drive, which had been rolled down the slope at night, were chained together with iron stakes set in lead. The society's assembly room in the tower was also fitted out with hand-hewn pegged oak furniture as a memorial to the late Drew Patterson. People: Thomas Felix HickersonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 20, 1931, p. 1
Places in this history
Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.
- Gimghoul Castle and neighborhood Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries · Chapel Hill · 6 events here
- Battle Park Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
Background on UNC & Campus Life
Background reading on UNC & Campus Life. 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
North Carolina baseball: the blue thread and the rise of an ACC power
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Tar Heel Bred
Scott Whisnant's memoir of a life measured out in North Carolina basketball seasons. A former sportswriter, Whisnant writes for readers raised in ACC country who learned the fight song early and treated the conference tournament in Greensboro as the high point of the year, recalling family, friends and the personal milestones that fell alongside Tar Heel games. Subjects include humor and anecdotes as well as the team's history. Published by Bearface Publishing in 2025, 318 pages with photographs.
Bright and tender dark: a novel
Joanna Pearson's novel of a cold case at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Karlie Richards was a nineteen-year-old student when she was murdered; decades later her onetime roommate, divorced and in middle age, finds herself drawn back to the crime as online conspiracy theories about it multiply. A psychological thriller with a Chapel Hill setting, published by Bloomsbury in 2024, 275 pages.
Chapel Hill Murder and Mayhem
Rick Jackson's true crime history of Chapel Hill, published by The History Press in 2023, in 28 short chapters. Cases include the Efland bank robbery, the execution of John Henry Breeze, the unsolved murder of Suellen Evans, the killing at the Internationalist Bookstore and the death of Eve Carson.
Lessons afield : adventures in nature with students and other living things
R. Haven Wiley's anecdotes of field work with students at Mason Farm, the university's biological reserve on the edge of Chapel Hill, and at other natural settings in North Carolina. It is natural history and nature anecdotes, personal pieces from a working naturalist. Published in Carrboro by Hickory Woods Press in 2023, 109 pages with illustrations.
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Putting Down Roots
William R. Burk's history of botany at the University of North Carolina, from its early natural scientists such as Denison Olmsted and Elisha Mitchell through later figures including George Francis Atkinson, Joseph Austin Holmes and Henry Van Peters Wilson, closing with a chapter on the Department of Botany itself. Published in Fort Worth in 2023.
Bloodmarked
Tracy Deonn's young adult fantasy novel set around the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bree, an African American teenager with newly awakened powers she cannot yet control, learns that the leaders of the secret Order mean to hide the coming demon war, and she and her friends flee so that she can find her own training. Subjects include magic, secret societies, imaginary wars and psychic trauma. Published by Simon & Schuster in 2022, 561 pages.
Reviewed in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books./Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (2022).
A Consequential Life: David Lowry Swain, Nineteenth-Century North Carolina, and Their University
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The dove in the belly
Jim Grimsley's coming-of-age novel about Ronny, who grew up in a trailer alongside his mother and a string of stepfathers, kept his head down, earned good grades and won a scholarship to UNC in Chapel Hill. On campus he finds his first love and begins to sort out who he is. Subjects include gay college students, first loves and mothers and sons. Published by Levine Querido in 2022, 322 pages.
Hooper finds the pitch
A picture book by Courtney Soling Smith about a Boston terrier named Hooper and a glee club at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Published in 2022 by the Orange County Historical Museum in Hillsborough, 35 unnumbered pages with illustrations, facsimiles and portraits.
Together: The Amazing Story of Carolina Basketball's 2021-2022 Season
Adam Lucas's account of the 2021-2022 Carolina men's basketball season, Hubert Davis's first as head coach. Davis, appointed in April 2021, was the first Black head coach in the program's history, and the season ended at the NCAA tournament in New Orleans. Published 2022 by the UNC Department of Athletics, 155 pages with color illustrations. Topics include the Tar Heels, Davis, and college basketball in Chapel Hill in the twenty-first century.
Research sources
Sources and research tools for this storyline. Research guide: Follow an event across several accounts.
Background
- Gimghoul CastleNCpedia Concise historical background
National Register files
- Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District, National Register nomination (1993) The castle stands just outside this district; the nomination tells how the order sold these lots to pay for it.
Records of the time
- Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 72North Carolina Digital Collections State records, photographs, and publications
Collections and databases
- NC LIVE: prepared search for Gimghoul Castle at Piney Prospect, 1924–1931 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
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