Carrboro

By Dave Otto and Richard Ellington

Mills dominated life in Carrboro during the first half of the 20th century. Closure of the last mill in the early 1960s spawned a cultural renaissance, stimulated by the arrival in 1978 of French artist Jacques Menarche, whose ArtSchool became today's ArtsCenter. The opening of the Farmers Market and the Weaver Street Market has contributed enormously to the vitality of Carrboro. The community has changed from a blue-collar town to one of artists and professionals. To acknowledge this change, the town is working to establish an Arts and Creativity District, extending west from the Chapel Hill boundary. A new ArtsCenter is planned for the performance, education, and coordination of activities in the area. This book documents Carrboro's exciting journey from the past into the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Feb 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781439649459

Dave Otto

Dave Otto worked in environmental health research for 35 years, authored more than 100 papers in neurotoxicology, and is now a freelance photographer. Richard Ellington worked for 40 years in information technology at the University of North Carolina and is an accomplished genealogist. He has lived in Carrboro for more than 65 years and is the unofficial town historian. Otto and Ellington coauthored a previous book on Carrboro in the Images of America series.

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INTRODUCTION

Textile mills dominated life in Carrboro during its first half-century (1911–1961). Closure of the last mill in the early 1960s shattered the mill town identity of Carrboro and spawned a cultural renaissance. Factors that contributed to this change included the racial integration of the community during the 1960s and 1970s, proximity to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a shift in local politics from conservative to progressive in the 1970s, the arrival of the charismatic French artist Jacques Menache in 1975, and the 1978 decision of the university to encourage students to live off-campus, which resulted in an influx of students. Other important factors in the makeover of Carrboro were the preservation of Carr Mill, the opening of Weaver Street Market in 1988, and the move to Carrboro of Cat’s Cradle, an incubator of musical talent in North Carolina.

The 1950s were a quiet time in Carrboro. Talk of integration was in the air, but most of the action was next door in Chapel Hill. A new elementary school opened in 1958, replacing the Carrboro Graded School, where children had completed first through eighth grades since 1922. The new school had a large auditorium that would seat the entire school, the first in the area. Black students requested permission to transfer from Northside School in Chapel Hill but were denied. Carrboro voters at first rejected merging with the Chapel Hill School System, but then voted for it in 1960. Mill work had been winding down since the end of World War II. Perhaps the most noteworthy event in Carrboro during the 1950s was the formation of Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, a band that went on to national fame.

The 1960s were also quiet but challenging for the town. Pacific Mills, owner of the two large textile mills in Carrboro, closed down for the last time in the early 1960s. The buildings were used for storage briefly and then vacated. Black children were first admitted to the Chapel Hill–Carrboro School System in 1961. Many local businesses remained segregated, but demonstrations and protests were taking place in Chapel Hill. Hilliard Caldwell and Braxton Foushee, two black men who would have an impact on Carrboro later, were regular participants and became leaders of efforts to integrate the towns.

Carrboro began to awaken in the 1970s. The Orange Water and Sewage Authority (OWASA) was formed in 1975 to purchase the utilities from the towns and university. Cliff Collins bought Hardee’s Grocery Store in 1977 and renamed it Cliff’s Meat Market. The Hardee family had operated the store since the 1920s. Like the Hardees before him, Cliff has become a beloved legend in town, renowned for his generosity.

Ed Yaggy, who had purchased the vacant textile mills, demolished Mill No. 7 and proposed tearing down Mill No. 4, the original Alberta Mill built by Thomas Lloyd in 1898. Yaggy planned to replace it with a new shopping center. Local opposition sprang up to preserve the old mill, efforts that stirred up passion in the town and resulted in the opening of Carr Mill Mall in 1977. The push to save the mill was led by a progressive group of Carrboro residents, who elected new town officials, unseating the old conservative regime.

A more conservative group, the Alliance for a Better Carrboro, rallied forces in the 1980 election and regained control of the board of aldermen briefly. Ellie Kinnaird was elected mayor in 1987. Under her energetic leadership in the 1990s, the Town Commons became a reality, and the Carrboro Farmers Market was moved from Roberson Street to its present location on the Town Commons.

One aspect of Carrboro’s persona is its open and inclusive attitude toward people of different races, cultures, socioeconomic strata, and sexual preference. The town welcomes the LGBT community, as evidenced by the election of Mike Nelson, the first openly gay mayor in the South, in 1995 and Lydia Lavelle, the first openly lesbian mayor, in 2013. Nelson served as mayor until 2005, the longest tenure in the town’s history.

Carrboro was a town of constancy for its first 50 years. The Carrboro of the 1960s had changed little from the 1940s. The area of Carrboro in 1960 was essentially the same as it had been for 50 years. The population was approximately 2,000 in 1960. The town was still protected by an all-volunteer fire department formed in the 1920s and a police department that never had more than a few officers. Much has changed in the past half century. Carrboro now has two firehouses and a police