Every so often, idle talk starts, to the effect that Carrboro and Chapel Hill, N.C. need to merge. In the 1980s, I was assigned to look at the origins of the two, but mainly Carrboro and at the feasibility of merger.
Chapel Hill, the site of the University, has had a reputation of being snooty, sophisticated and full of itself; I’m told that’s why a number of opposing schools dislike UNC (the University of North Carolina) so much. Carrboro started as a farming/industrial center. The two were country cousins, at best.
Carrboro first met Chapel Hill when, in 1882, a 10-mile spur extended the railroad from University Station north of Chapel Hill to its location a mile west of Chapel Hill, to West End, as Carrboro was first known. State statute had mandated that the railway depot be at least one mile from the university campus to discourage students from leaving on the weekends and from spending their money elsewhere.
The railroad spur changed lives in the area, since the only other link to the outside world was a bumpy road to Durham. That was two hours by horse and buggy.
The depot in West End boasted the only telegraph office in the area. Close your eyes. Imagine you were atop the loading platform where clerks of the depot on a given Saturday afternoon read aloud play-by-play bulletins of UNC football games when they played away from home. Get the final score and then walk back to campus or take a hack (horse and buggy) for the mile ride.
Louis Graves, an editor of an early version of the Chapel Hill Weekly newspaper, recalled that the settlement at the depot at first consisted of only a handful of buildings: a cotton gin, a flour mill, a blacksmith shop and a few dwellings. So when students or others stepped from the train, hacks whisked them off to Chapel Hill, often racing to campus, scattering mud or dust, depending on the weather.
When Chapel Hillian Tom Lloyd built a steam-powered grist mill in 1898, the town to the west of Chapel Hill began to grow. In 1900 the town briefly called itself Lloydville in his honor. It was even called West Chapel Hill for a time.
Durham businessman Julian S. Carr bought that mill and nearby buildings in 1909, adding them to the chain of mills that became Durham Hosiery Mills. In 1911, the town was first incorporated as West End; it became Venable, an homage to Francis P. Venable, University president from 1900-1914, but for only two years. In 1913, after Carr provided electric power for the community and expanded the mill, the town was renamed Carrboro.
The mill, the centerpiece of the town’s early economy, became part of Durham Hosiery Mills, closing in the 1938. In 1942, the mill building became a munitions plant, aiding the war effort.
In addition to serving the University and the textile mills, the railroad depot in Carrboro also served the dynamic local lumber industry. In the 1920s and 1930s Carrboro became a major hub in the hardwood cross-tie market.
University town vs. Mill village: So I guess the two towns won’t likely merge; each is satisfied with things as they are; Chapel Hillians enjoy Carrboro’s folksy farmers’ market, trendy restaurants and perhaps even the description Carrboro has adopted: “Paris of the Piedmont.” The University is still the largest employer in the county. Many Carrboro residents no doubt like the short trek to work. The bus system, however, is a joint venture of the University, Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
And, last I heard, Rameses, the UNC mascot, still lives at Hogan’s Farm, on land that is — yes — still in Carrboro.
generationsagoblog 