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Building the State University Railroad, 1879–1883

How the State University Railroad was built from University Station to Chapel Hill: the 1879 charter, the fight over a Durham route, the convict force and its deaths, the grading and track laying, the first train of February 1882, the last spikes and the mail and telegraph that followed.

In briefChapel Hill's railroad to University Station was graded by state convicts; a guard shot one dead as he ran, and an overseer was charged with cruelly whipping another, a Black convict named Fries, who died. A coroner's jury found other causes, and Battle wrote that the solicitor found no ground to prosecute. In 1879 the legislature had rechartered a stalled iron-mine line as the State University Railroad, and in January 1880 the stockholders adopted Kemp P. Battle's resolution to run it from Chapel Hill to University Station, and the directors elected him president. The first passenger train left Chapel Hill in February 1882, and by July mail ran on the line.

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In 1879 the legislature rechartered the stalled iron-mine line as the State University Railroad. On April 12 its corporators met at Chapel Hill with Paul C. Cameron in the chair and opened subscription books, and by December 6 Gen. Robert F. Hoke had subscribed $5,000 for the Iron Mine Company. On January 8, 1880 the stockholders, after Julian S. Carr and Cameron argued for Durham, adopted Kemp P. Battle's resolution to run the road from Chapel Hill to University Station, and the directors elected Battle president. Work began at University Station in early February under Col. Thomas M. Holt, with state convicts grading. On March 22 a guard shot dead a white convict who ran. Overseer Charles Motz was bound over at Hillsborough, charged with cruelly whipping a Black convict named Fries, who died; a Raleigh coroner's jury had found other causes, and Battle wrote that the solicitor found no ground to prosecute. By April eighty convicts had graded two miles, and on October 8 Chapel Hill women served ninety-six of them a dinner. The first passenger train left Chapel Hill on February 6, 1882, from a terminus at West End. On May 9 Julia J. Spencer drove a last spike, and by July mail ran on the line and a telegraph office had opened.

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 29 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The railroad is rechartered as the State University Railroad The legislature rechartered the stalled iron-mine line as the State University Railroad, shifting its purpose to a rail link for the university, with UNC president Kemp P. Battle working alongside Hoke to raise funds. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Robert F. HokeOrangePolitics: Road to Iron Mountain: The railroad comes to Chapel Hill
  2. Corporators of the State University Railroad meet at Chapel Hill and open books for stock Corporators of the rechartered State University Railroad met at the Chapel Hill law office of Watson and Alexander, with Paul C. Cameron in the chair after Kemp P. Battle explained the charter. They opened subscription books at twelve places from Hillsborough and Durham to Pittsboro and Raleigh, named three commissioners at each, and refused conditional subscriptions. People: Paul C. Cameron, Kemp Plummer Battle, Julian S. Carr, James B. Mason, John R. HutchinsThe Chapel Hill Ledger, April 19, 1879, p. 3
  3. Robert F. Hoke subscribes $5,000 to the University Railroad for the iron mine company Gen. Robert F. Hoke subscribed $5,000 to the University Railroad on behalf of the Iron Mine Company, which owned the iron ore near Chapel Hill. People: Robert F. HokeThe Chapel Hill Ledger, December 6, 1879, p. 3
  4. Robert F. Hoke raises subscriptions to run the railroad toward Chapel Hill When iron prices rose in 1880 and shipping ore to Pennsylvania furnaces paid, Gen. Robert F. Hoke, who owned most of Iron Mountain north of Chapel Hill, began organizing the branch line from University Station. His Iron Mountain Company put up $6,000, the largest single pledge, and Julian S. Carr was among the other subscribers. People: Julian S. Carr, Robert F. HokeTown of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 10
  5. Robert F. Hoke serves as unpaid superintendent of the State University Railroad As the branch from University Station toward Chapel Hill got under way, university president Kemp P. Battle became president of the railroad company and General Robert F. Hoke its superintendent, both without salary, by Battle's account. John Holt managed the convict work force and Captain Fry was the civil engineer. The Chapel Hill Ledger reported that on January 8, 1880, the new directors, Hoke among them, elected Battle president and Andrew Mickle paid secretary and treasurer, and named Hoke to the committee to secure the convicts. People: Kemp Plummer BattleSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 246 · Also: The Chapel Hill Ledger, January 10, 1880, p. 2; The Chapel Hill Ledger, March 27, 1880, p. 3
  6. State convicts build the University Railroad Governor Thomas J. Jarvis supplied state convicts at low hire to grade the line from University Station to Chapel Hill, while the Richmond and Danville company laid the rails. A white convict was shot dead while fleeing, and a Black convict named Fries died of gangrene after a whipping by the road's managers, which the solicitor found no ground to prosecute. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Alexander Boyd Andrews, Robert F. Hoke, Thomas Jordan Jarvis, Frederick N. StrudwickSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 246
  7. University Railroad directors elect Kemp P. Battle president and Andrew Mickle treasurer Meeting right after the stockholders, the directors elected Kemp P. Battle president and Andrew Mickle secretary and treasurer at $200 a year, put Col. Thomas M. Holt on the board in Battle's place, and named Hoke and A. B. Andrews to arrange for convict labor and a survey. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Andrew Mickle, Robert F. Hoke, Alexander Boyd AndrewsThe Chapel Hill Ledger, January 10, 1880, p. 2
  8. University Railroad stockholders organize and run the line to University Station Stockholders of the University Railroad Company met at President Battle's office with $10,160 of stock taken. After Julian S. Carr and Paul C. Cameron argued for Durham, they adopted Battle's resolution to locate the road from Chapel Hill to University Station, elected Cameron, Hoke, McCauley, Carr and Battle directors, and called in a quarter of the stock. People: Paul C. Cameron, Kemp Plummer Battle, Robert F. Hoke, Julian S. Carr, David McCauleyThe Chapel Hill Ledger, January 10, 1880, p. 2
  9. Julian S. Carr gives up on a Durham route for the University Railroad Writing from Durham, Julian S. Carr told the Ledger that the friends of a Durham connection had abandoned it, because Robert F. Hoke and the iron mine company declined to supply iron for the longer line, and that he had little hope for the road to University Station. People: Julian S. Carr, Robert F. HokeThe Chapel Hill Ledger, January 24, 1880, p. 3
  10. Engineers begin surveying the University Railroad from University Station Engineers spent the last week of January surveying the line from University Station, running a first line a little over four miles from the station, while the penitentiary board arranged to supply convicts, 25 to start.The Chapel Hill Ledger, January 31, 1880, p. 3
  11. A Hillsborough meeting subscribes $4,400 to bring the University Railroad to town At a railroad meeting in Hillsborough, leading businessmen spoke and $4,400 was subscribed toward carrying the State University Railroad to Hillsborough; a committee kept soliciting.The Chapel Hill Ledger, January 24, 1880, p. 3
  12. Kemp P. Battle defends the University Station route for the railroad Answering a correspondent who predicted the road would fail, Kemp P. Battle wrote that he had canvassed Chapel Hill and Durham for a line to Durham, but only about $5,000 could be expected there, so the shorter line from University Station was taken. Chapel Hill had subscribed $4,500, and the Iron Mine Company was helping to build the road. People: Kemp Plummer BattleThe Chapel Hill Ledger, February 21, 1880, p. 2
Show all 29 dated events
  1. Construction of the State University Railroad begins at University Station Work on the State University Railroad began in earnest at University Station under Col. Thomas M. Holt, with tools, barrows and axes delivered and the first stretch staked for clearing; the Ledger hoped to hear the engine whistle by January 1881.The Chapel Hill Ledger, February 14, 1880, p. 3
  2. A guard shoots a convict fleeing the University Railroad works A white convict grading the State University Railroad near University Station ran during a planned break and was shot through the body by a guard; he died despite Dr. Harris's care. Colonel Holt made the six men who had agreed to run with him build his coffin and bury him.The Chapel Hill Ledger, March 27, 1880, p. 3
  3. Joseph Blount Cheshire begins preaching to the University Railroad convicts Joseph Blount Cheshire of the Chapel Hill Episcopal church preached to the convicts grading the State University Railroad, while students of the university's Christian association handed out religious tracts. By late April he was holding a service at the camp every Sunday evening, and Professor A. W. Mangum had also preached there. People: Adolphus Williamson MangumSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, April 3, 1880, p. 3
  4. Railroad overseer Charles Motz is bound over in a convict's whipping death Charles Motz, an overseer on the State University Railroad, was arrested on Judge Seymour's warrant and taken to Hillsborough, charged with cruelly whipping a Black convict named Fries, who later died at the penitentiary. A Raleigh coroner's jury found on April 3 that Fries died of other causes, but when this was reported to the Superior Court at Hillsborough the judge refused to free Motz and bound him over to the next term.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, April 10, 1880, p. 2
  5. Grading on the University Railroad reaches about two miles About two miles of roadbed had been graded from University Station on the North Carolina Railroad, and the convict force had grown to about eighty men, the assistant engineer, Captain Williamson, reported. He expected the work to go on at about a mile a month in good weather.The Chapel Hill Ledger, April 24, 1880, p. 3
  6. Grading of the University Railroad reaches within a mile of Chapel Hill By late August the grading of the State University Railroad from University Station was done to within a mile of Chapel Hill, and the Ledger expected the rails to go down soon. In mid-June the grade had covered only about half the distance.The Chapel Hill Ledger, August 28, 1880, p. 2
  7. Chapel Hill women serve a dinner to the convicts building the University Railroad Spencer collected food around the village and, with other women, served a dinner at a long plank table to ninety-six convicts grading the railroad to Chapel Hill, with Joseph Blount Cheshire saying grace. Some residents refused to give, and Colonel Thomas M. Holt promised the ladies a ride on the first train. People: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Joseph Blount Cheshire Jr.Search the index · Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 272
  8. Work on the University Railroad stops for a time Construction work on the State University Railroad near Chapel Hill came to a halt in mid-November 1880, for reasons the townspeople did not know.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 20, 1880, p. 3
  9. Cross ties go down along the University Railroad All but 5,000 of the cross ties for the State University Railroad had been delivered and placed on the track by mid-December 1880. The rest were under contract for January delivery, and the iron was to be laid as soon as they arrived.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), December 18, 1880, p. 2
  10. Track laying on the State University Railroad stalls for want of labor Work laying rails on the State University Railroad was held up by a shortage of hands during the wheat harvest; the paper expected it to be pushed to completion once harvest was over.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 23, 1881, p. 3
  11. The State University Railroad reaches New Hope Creek Track on the State University Railroad was completed to New Hope, with cars due to cross the New Hope bridge that week. The sills, roadbed repairs, culverts, cattle guards and trestles were finished to within two and a half miles of Chapel Hill, and more than fifty hands were at work.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 26, 1881, p. 2
  12. Commencement celebrates the railroad's arrival, and Battle calls Hoke its father At the 1882 commencement an hour was set aside in Gerrard Hall to celebrate the railroad's coming to Chapel Hill. Kemp P. Battle told the history of the line and called General Robert F. Hoke the source of the enterprise and the father of the State University Railroad Company. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Paul C. Cameron, Thomas Jordan JarvisSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), pp. 251-252
  13. Railroad service reaches West End The first passenger train on the University Railroad left Chapel Hill on Monday, February 6, 1882, and ran through University Station to Raleigh. The line ended about a mile west of the village at West End, where a boxcar served as the depot, and the settlement that became Carrboro grew up around it.The News and Observer (Raleigh), February 8, 1882, p. 2: The University Railroad Completed (DigitalNC)
  14. Julia Spencer drives a last spike to celebrate the finished University railroad Chapel Hill celebrated the completed State University Railroad with speeches and the driving of the last spikes, one by Julia J. Spencer, daughter of Cornelia Phillips Spencer, and one by the railroad's agent, J. G. Cooley. Passenger trains had been running to the West End terminus since February. People: Joseph G. CooleyDigitalNC: The News and Observer (Raleigh), May 11, 1882, p. 3 · Also: Battle, History of the University, vol. II, pp. 248-249
  15. Chapel Hill's mail moves to the University Railroad and its telegraph office opens Mail began running regularly to and from Chapel Hill on the State University Railroad, which the item credited to Congressman W. R. Cox, and a telegraph office opened at Chapel Hill on two wires that made the town part of the main line. People: William R. CoxSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 29, 1882, p. 2
  16. A post office called Blackwood opens at Robson station on the University Railroad A post office named Blackwood was established at Robson station on the University Railroad, halfway between University Station and Chapel Hill, with Morris King as postmaster.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 14, 1883, p. 3
  17. Court-appointed commissioners award damages to landowners along the University Railroad Commissioners named by the Superior Court, C. W. Johnston, Wm. Barton and R. P. Hall, met and assessed what the State University Railroad owed for running through private land, allowing Holloway $100, Robert Strayhorn $75, Richard Fitzgerald $25 and Sarah Fitzgerald $70; the Fitzgeralds were Black landowners.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 2, 1883, p. 2

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