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Chapel Hill Elementary School, 1965

Posted on January 6, 2011January 6, 2011 by Staff

A Thousand Words
By Jock Lauterer


On a brilliant sunny morning 45 years ago, I clambered up to the rooftop of old Chapel Hill High School to capture this view of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Elementary School and the town under a blanket of white. You can orient yourself by (right to left) the steeples of the University Methodist and University Presbyterian churches and the cupola of the IFC building (then the police station and “firehouse.”) With desegregation and the merger of CHHS and Lincoln, the school buildings were razed in the mid-’60s, making room for University Square, which itself is now scheduled for a teardown. Irony, irony – that the wrecking ball will again have its way. I, for one, wish we’d kept those perfectly good buildings right there in the heart of town and turned ’em into community centers.

A THOUSAND WORDS
Do you have an important old photo that you value? Email your photo to jock@email.unc.edu and include the story behind the picture. Because every picture tells a story. And its worth? A thousand words.
More “A Thousand Words”

2 thoughts on “Chapel Hill Elementary School, 1965”

  1. Kathie Young says:
    January 10, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    Do you know which year the fire escapes were enclosed? I don’t remember them as closed in. I graduated CHHS in 1960.
    I love your photograph.

  2. Sally Corr says:
    January 10, 2011 at 1:20 pm

    I attended Glendale elementary school. So far it has not been torn down. I agree with you in that they should have kept the olf buildings as historical buildings and used them as community centers.

    In my day we used the old Methodist church as a community center until it too was demolished.

    I was back in Chapel Hill for my 50th high school class reunion (the high school was next to the elementary school) and was dismayed at the way the have ruined the lovely colonial architecture of the old Chapel Hill. It used to be a rule to adhere to that architecture, then the medical school and other University builidings around the hospital runined that plan. Sad to see. It was a beautiful village, not so much now. I believe in growth — but be smart about it.

    I still love Chapel Hill, the people of the town (a lot of them my classmates) are still lovely and charming.

    Sally Corr

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