{"nrhp_refnum":"94000570","name":"Old Chapel Hill Cemetery","other_names":["College Graveyard"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Jct. of NC 54 and County Club Rd., NW corner","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chapel Hill","county":"Orange County","state":"NC","lat":35.911267430000066,"lon":-79.04264935099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-06-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Black","Other"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 6.98-acre burying ground on the east edge of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus, enclosed by a low rubblestone wall and divided into sections by race and time of interment. It is the cemetery of the university and town communities.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the cemetery holds a distinguished collection of graves of people associated with the University and Chapel Hill, including educators, physicians, engineers and writers, as well as townspeople of local importance. Its nineteenth-century monuments, including ornate fences and marble and granite work by known stonecutters such as George Lauder and Maunder & Campbell of Raleigh, are cited as distinctive craftsmanship. The early graves of slaves and African-American townspeople in Section B are also noted.","narrative":"Founded in the late eighteenth century as a burying ground for the University of North Carolina and the village of Chapel Hill, the cemetery covers 6.98 acres east of the campus. The first recorded interment is George Clarke, a nineteen-year-old student from Bertie County who died on September 28, 1798. Burials are arranged in sections by race and date, with Section B serving as the slave cemetery and the first dated African-American interment there dating to 1853. The Dialectic and Philanthropic Society plots hold cast-iron fences in Gothic Revival style and several marble headstones, ledgers and obelisks carved by stonecutters including George Lauder of Fayetteville. Among those buried here are educators, physicians, engineers, writers and town figures, and the cemetery is regarded as holding one of the most distinguished groups of graves in North Carolina. Its monuments range from antebellum tomb-tables to later family memorials, and the grounds remain shaded by oaks, cedars and hickories.","period_of_significance":"1798-1944","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"The cemetery is described as now almost filled and was enlarged and maintained by the town of Chapel Hill; a new gazebo and lawn were recently added under a 1987 master plan.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.341231-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/94/7216/47721694/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/94000570.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000570/a736a14fd7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000570/a736a14fd7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Ildar Sagdejev (Specious)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2008-07-21_Old_Chapel_Hill_Cemetery_2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ildar Sagdejev (Specious)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2008-07-21_Old_Chapel_Hill_Cemetery_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721694","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chapel_Hill_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083637"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/orange-county/old-chapel-hill-cemetery-94000570/"}