Chapel Hill in Orange County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Old Chapel Hill Cemetery
circa 1798
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, August 31, 2023
1. Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Marker
National Register
of
Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1798.
Location. 35° 54.63′ N, 79° 2.657′ W. Marker is in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in Orange County. It is on South Road 0.1 miles west of Country Club Road, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Chapel Hill NC 27514, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Piedmont and in the Research Triangle. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Old East (approx. 0.4 miles away); Astronaut Training (approx. half a mile away); University of N.C. at Chapel Hill (approx. half a mile away); Strowd Building (approx. 0.6 miles away); Old Sawpit Site (approx. 0.6 miles away); Carolina Coffee Shop (approx. 0.6 miles away); University Florist (approx. 0.6 miles away); Kuralt Building (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chapel Hill.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Silent Sam (was approx. half a mile away but has been permanently removed).
Regarding Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.
this page online
The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery was established as a burying ground for the University of North Carolina and the village of Chapel Hill in the late eighteenth century. It was located one-quarter mile southeast of the then-small campus on a portion of the 125-acre tract of land sold by Hardy Morgan to "Alfred More [sic] and other trustees of the State of North Carolina" for five shillings on October 21, 1776. No recorded action designated a cemetery at that site and its selection may have taken place on short notice when George Clarke, a nineteen-year-old student, died unexpectedly on September 28, 1798, three years after the new university opened. Clarke's grave, in Section I, is assumed to be the earliest interment and likely formed a nucleus around which the cemetery grew during the next 196 years to include 6.98 acres and 1,621 marked burials. Almost certainly there are more; scant records were kept through the years and visual evidence of an unknown number of nineteenth and early-twentieth century grave sites has disappeared.
Because of the University's preeminent position as the first public university opened in the United States and the major public institution of higher learning in North Carolina, the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery has one of the most distinguished groups of individuals of statewide and localsignificance of any cemetery in North Carolina. Among those buried there are eminent educators, mathematicians, physicians, engineers, geologists, philosophers, literary figures, and dramatists. Burials of much-beloved Chapel Hill townspeople, men and women, white and black, who operated popular hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, served in town government, and were public policy crusaders, are present there also, and have local significance.Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, August 31, 20232. African American Section of the Old Chapel Hill CemeteryTwo of the cemetery's six sections were reserved for African-American burials because there were no black church cemeteries in town. A low rock wall divided the black and white sections of the cemetery.
Also see . . .
1. Old Chapel Hill Cemetery (PDF). National Register nomination for the cemetery, which was listed in 1994. (National Archives) (Submitted on September 14, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
2. Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. Homepage of the cemetery, originally called the College Graveyard. (Town of Chapel Hill) (Submitted on September 14, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
3. For the Record: Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. Twenty interesting tidbits about the historic burial ground. (University of North Carolina Library) (Submitted on September 14, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, August 31, 2023
3. Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Marker
Town of Chapel Hill (Public Domain), November 19, 2004
4. Old Chapel Hill Cemetery
Town of Chapel Hill (Public Domain), November 19, 2004
5. Old Chapel Hill Cemetery
Town of Chapel Hill (Public Domain), April 4, 2012
6. Old Chapel Hill Cemetery
Credits. This page was last revised on September 14, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 14, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 391 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on September 14, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
