North Carolina State University - Agromeck Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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i yOO! In pre-war times, Hillsborough Street at the Belltower was a quaint suburban thoroughfare. Alfred N. Tatum, ' 34, remembered, Thumbing, or hitching as it is commonly called now, was once the major means of transportation for students, par- ticularly for those who did not live on campus. In the 1930s, each day there was a student on every corner of Hillsborough Street with his thumb out. Student Life 23

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eventually dismantled in favor of free-moving buses, what had been started in West Raleigh was to become in the future one of the major universities of the South. Rooming houses have since yielded to business establishments of every description: restaurants, grocery stores, book and record stores, a bowling alley, hair stylists, party stores, fast-food drive-ins and numerous student watering holes. Students and alumni alike undoubtedly look upon the Street with nostalgia; the innocence and adolescence of many a freshman vi-ere lost in its bars and parking lots. The reasons for blowing $10 or $20 could be anything — from a nerve-racking roommate to an A on an English paper — but are irrelevant to Hillsborough Street businessmen. When school is in session, the students come in droves. Where is the Street headed? Although State ' s huge enrollment would suggest a continuing growth of businesses along its curbs, political and economic realities say otherwise. Tough zoning laws restrict enterprises, while civic outcry has struck down proposals to open fast-food and drink- ing establishments across from the library and Belltower. Even the administration of the University has committed funds to reclaim the Square as office space. But even N.C. State must tread carefully, as portions of this real estate date back to the ' 20s and have historical value. Demolition would have to take place in direct opposition to local residents and the buildings ' admirers. It will be interesting to observe the development of the Street in light of these and other issues. The days when tobacco wagons bumped along the rutted street were truly the good old days becau.se there was no question that progress brought benefit to the whole community. Today — and tomorrow — we must look closer and decide whether the mone ' that we spend and the buildings that we build are in the best interests of the com- munity. Hillsborough Street is waiting for us. — William J. White 22 Student Life

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Dress Ups 24 Student Life