Heritage
Named after Benjamin Franklin by the commissioners of the University (Franklin was a proponent of practical education for youth), the street has been in use under its current name since the 1790s, when construction of the University began. The stretch of Franklin from Columbia to Raleigh streets borders the campus, allowing views of wooded McCorkle Place (the North Quadrangle, named after Reverend Samuel E. McCorkle, who authored the original bill requesting a charter from the North Carolina General Assembly for the University in 1784). McCorkle Place is home to some of the school's oldest structures: Old East and Old West Dormitories, Person Hall (originally the University chapel), the South Building (main administration building), and the Old Well (site of the original well for the University).
Just east of campus along Franklin Street are several of Chapel Hill's historic homes, including the President's House, the Samuel Phillips House, Spencer House, Widow Puckett House, Hooper-Kyser House, the Presbyterian Manse, Kennette House, Archibald-Henderson House, and the town's first law office (known as "Mr. Sam's Law Office" - now a private residence). Many of the homes are featured on an annual holiday tour that benefits the Chapel Hill Preservation Society. After playwright Paul Green won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927, he used his newfound wealth to buy a house on East Franklin Street. Green's career is documented in the exhibition "The Paul Green Legacy" at the Chapel Hill Museum, at 523 E. Franklin Street.
The original Chapel Hill High School was located on Franklin Street until, due to desegregation efforts of the mid-1960s, it was demolished in favor of the construction of a new high school across town. The site of the high school became what is currently the University Square shopping center. White Chapel Hill High School merged with the black Lincoln High School to form the new Chapel Hill High School.
Franklin Street has long been a popular destination for entertainment and nightlife for Carolina students, Chapel Hill locals and visitors from Carrboro, Hillsborough, Durham and Raleigh.
Read more about this topic: Franklin Street (Chapel Hill)
Famous quotes containing the word heritage:
“The heritage of the American Revolution is forgotten, and the American government, for better and for worse, has entered into the heritage of Europe as though it were its patrimony—unaware, alas, of the fact that Europe’s declining power was preceded and accompanied by political bankruptcy, the bankruptcy of the nation-state and its concept of sovereignty.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“Flowers ... that are so pathetic in their beauty, frail as the clouds, and in their colouring as gorgeous as the heavens, had through thousands of years been the heritage of children—honoured as the jewellery of God only by them—when suddenly the voice of Christianity, counter-signing the voice of infancy, raised them to a grandeur transcending the Hebrew throne, although founded by God himself, and pronounced Solomon in all his glory not to be arrayed like one of these.”
—Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859)
“It seems to me that upbringings have themes. The parents set the theme, either explicitly or implicitly, and the children pick it up, sometimes accurately and sometimes not so accurately.... The theme may be “Our family has a distinguished heritage that you must live up to” or “No matter what happens, we are fortunate to be together in this lovely corner of the earth” or “We have worked hard so that you can have the opportunities we didn’t have.””
—Calvin Trillin (20th century)