The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1795-1975 - by M Ruth Little (Hardcover)

About the Book

Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1795-1975

Book Synopsis

This lavishly illustrated volume provides a comprehensive view of a unique community that is called by some the "southern part of heaven." Ruth Little tells the story of Chapel Hill's "town" and "gown" from the earliest architecture of the town and campus to the imposing public and university structures of the early twentieth century and the modernist subdivisions built from the late 1950s through the 1970s.

The culmination of years of architectural survey work by several researchers, Town and Gown makes excellent use of both documentary and current photographs of individual structures. An 8-page color insert contains photographs by State Historic Preservation Office photographer Bill Garrett, showcasing the most important and widely recognized of Chapel Hill's buildings. Historic cartographer Michael Southern has added maps of the campus and selected Chapel Hill neighborhoods, making Town and Gown useful as a carry-along guidebook. This volume marks a major addition to the literature of architectural history and the preservation of place. Everyone who has a fondness for the community of Chapel Hill will treasure it.

Review Quotes

An architectural history of a university and the town that grew up around it. . . . The book is the culmination of preservation efforts in Chapel Hill.--Buildings & Landscapes

As comprehensive as it is elegant, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1795-1975 offers a historical survey of Chapel Hill from its earliest years through Civil War and Reconstruction and along each of the 'major building campaigns of the 20th century.'--Metro