UNC-Chapel Hill

Table of Contents

Locations

  1. Points of Interest

    1. Archaeological Sites

      1. The Graham Memorial Site

        Photo: Students are mapping exposed archaeological deposits and disturbed foundations

        The Graham Memorial site was the first site on campus to be investigated by UNC archaeologists. During the 1993–1994 academic year, excavations were conducted as an archaeological field school in conjunction with the University’s bicentennial celebration. The site is located on old Chapel Hill Lot 13. This two-acre parcel was sold by the University trustees at auction on October 12, 1793, and throughout the nineteenth century and first two decades of the twentieth century, a tavern house which later served as a hotel and boarding house stood here at the north edge of the University of North Carolina campus. During its heyday was it was known as the Eagle Hotel.

        In 1908 the Chapel Hill Hotel and University Inn Annex, as the hotel was now known, was acquired by the university to be used as a dormitory. During the following decade, the facility was poorly maintained and in 1921 it caught fire and was completely destroyed. After its destruction, the site of the hotel remained largely untouched, except for construction in 1931 of Graham Memorial Building immediately to the south.

        Excavations discovered foundations from the Eagle Hotel and its annexes, drainage ditches filled with refuse from various periods, foundations of the Tavern House, including a chimney and a cellar. Artifacts from all periods of occupation were found along with significant information about hotel’s owners dealt with problems of moisture and drainage.

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