Chapel Hill Preservation Foundation

07/02/2024

12/22/2017

This is what community outreach looks like

09/27/2017

Charles Ball migrated from Virginia to Chapel Hill where he worked in road construction and as a chef at Fort Washington. He married Ommie Lancaster, a widow from Accokeek. They raised their family in this farmhouse he built in 1915, on a 3 acre tract known as "Rich Hill". The house was passed on to his daughter Agnes Ball Beck and her husband Clarence. It remained in the family until her death in 1995. Part of the property had been sold to Charles Ball's son who built a home on it in the 1920's.

09/20/2017

Chapel Hill School was a Freedman's Bureau School that was built during Reconstruction, in 1868. Originally, it was a one room schoolhouse that housed up to 57 students. In 1872, it became part of the public schools. A new building was built adjacent to it, in 1922, which housed 4th-7th grades. In 1925, the original building was rolled on logs to the church property and was used for storage. A new schoolroom was built next to the newer building and it housed 1st-3rd grades. The school was closed in the 1951. The building was bought by the Chapel Hill Citizens' Association in 1952 and was used as a recreation center for the community. The building was demolished in 1971.

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09/16/2017

As a free black man working for the Hatton-Robey family, Albert O. Shorter married, the daughter of Father Jeremiah Brown, Alice in 1872. They lived together in part of the farmland known as Pleasant View. Later they built this Shorter Family home in Chapel Hill, which existed from 1906 - 1950.

09/14/2017

"Two acres more or less conveyed to the trustees of Methodist Episcopal Church of Chapel Hill..." by Jesse R. Edelin on October 25, 1883. Father Jeremiah Brown was the founder and pastor. Through his efforts, services were conducted in houses throughout the community prior to having a church building and then in the Freedman's Bureau School, built in 1868. Below, a circa 1902 drawing and a picture from 1952, 50th Grace Methodist anniversary program.