The historically black neighborhood between the downtown areas of Chapel Hill and Carrboro known as Northside takes up 188 acres, once referred to as the “Pottersfield” and “Sunset” neighborhoods.
History
The Northside neighborhood is historically Chapel Hill’s largest black community. Originally, residents were largely employed by The University of North Carolina in service and maintenance roles, or in manual labor constructing the stone buildings on campus. Residents eventually became labor leaders in the 1930s and Civil Rights leaders in the 1960s.
In 2017 the Freedom Fighters Gateway memorial was established at the corner of West Rosemary Street and North Roberson Street to commemorate the civil rights protests that happened in Northside.
Chapel Hill’s first sit-in took place at Colonial Drugstore (now West End Wine Bar) on February 28, 1960, led by students from the all-black Lincoln High School.
Current Trends
Since 1980, the population of this community has declined as college students from the university have moved in. This shift to rental properties meant that many longtime residents were no longer able to afford the cost of living in the neighborhood. According to the U.S. census, there were approximately 450 fewer black residents in the neighborhood by 2010.
The Northside Neighborhood Initiative launched on May 9, 2015 in efforts to “maintain and strengthen a vibrant, diverse, family-friendly neighborhood that includes elders, students, families, and others and honors the history of Northside.” The initiative is a partnership between neighborhood residents, UNC Chapel Hill, Self-Help, the Jackson Center, the Town of Carrboro, and the Town of Chapel Hill. UNC-CH offered a $3 million interest-free loan to create the Northside Land Bank to promote healthy development of the neighborhood.
Prominent Figures
Marian Cheek Jackson (1925-2017) was born in Chapel Hill to Pearl Cotton, who worked in the home of UNC’s first botany professor William Coker, and Kennon Cheek, who formed the university’s first Janitorial Association in 1939. Her grandfather, a freed slave and stone mason, helped build UNC’s original stone walls and built the family home that stands today.
Jackson served as a historian and spokesperson for Northside. In 2008 the Marian Cheek Jackson Center took her namesake, with a mission “to honor, renew, and build community in the historic Northside and Pine Knolls neighborhoods of Chapel Hill.”
Senator Valerie P. Foushee, a democrat representing Chatham and Orange counties (District 23) is from the Northside Community and descendant of James T. Foushee, prominent Northside Civil Rights activist.
Local Businesses and Schools
While mainly a residential area, the Northside is also home to several locally owned businesses, like southern food restaurant Mama Dip’s. The period following desegregation changed much of the local ownership, thus many current businesses, like The Northside District restaurant-bar, are relatively new.
Located at 350 Caldwell St., Northside Elementary School is North Carolina's first LEED Platinum Certified elementary school. It was preceded by Orange County Training School, Lincoln High, and Northside School.
Hargraves Center
Constructed in 1941, the Hargraves Community Center has gone through several names: the Negro Community Center, the Robeson Street Center and the Hargraves Center (named after Parks and Recreation Commission member William M. Hargraves).
Originally a recreational center for Chapel Hill’s black youth, today its programs serve the entire community.