University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

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The University Site IX BATTLE PARK number of which are grouped around Piney Prospect. On the left of the path leading from the east gate to the cemetery through Battle ' s Park, a careful searcher can find a few scattered brick bats, all that remains of the first college astronomical observatory in America. It was erected in 1831 by President Caldwell at his own expense. It had a short exist- ence of seven years, poor material followed by decay being responsible for its aban- donment in 1838. Passing on, one approaches Piney Prospect itself, which is marked by a cairn of rocks. Dr. Kemp P. Battle, the be- loved Old Pres., started the pile by heaping up a small l e- ginning, and then he placed a placard requesting that each pilgrim make his contriljution. The collection has now grown to be about ten feet square and five feet high. It furnishes an excellent opportunity to view miles and miles of the old sea bottom, now farm land and wooded hill. Beside the path, about a hundred feet west of the promonotory, lies a smooth rounded stone protruding about eighteen inches out of the soil. This rock is streaked with iron rust; which fact has given color to the famous Dromgoole myth. Dromgoole was a Virginian who came to enter the Uni- T-i versify in 1831, but after quar- gyy.- •■•■■ XtuMtiiw • ir i ' ' i HI rcling with a member of the faculty, he refused to proceed with his examinations and dis- appeared from Chapel Hill. He was never heard of again after that. The myth runs that he and a rival quarreled over Dromgoole ' s sweetheart. Miss Fannie. A challenge and a duel followed. Dramatically the duel took place in the neighborhood of the favorite retreat of the lovers. Miss Fannie, hearing of the quarrel, rushed to the scene of the DROMGOOL

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The Unwersity Site to the choice was the legislative mandate that the site of the University shall not be located within five miles of the seat of government or any of the places of holding the courts of law or equity. This last provision was probably due to the drunkenness and rowdyism always attendant upon sessions of court. Two possible places were considered: Haywood, on the fork of Haw River; and New Hope Chapel Hill. The farmers around the latter location made the most favorable offers and the commissioners so reported to the trustees. The trustees, after having accepted this report, appointed a committee with Davie as its head to tlefinitely locate the grounds and mark out the build- ing sites of the expected towni of Chapel Hill. This name was taken from the chapel or church on the hill, rumored to have been located under the great oaks just west of the Peabody Building. This chapel was a monument to the unsuccessful attempt of the Church of England to establish a church in this country. The story of how Davie and his associates chose the exact spot is too famihar to repeat. Davie, however, had excellent reasons for his choice. The location was ideal. Just where the land slopes rapidly to the bottom of the prehistoric sea, the drainage is perfect. Two streams, one on ' ' ' •— ' ' : ' --• each side of the village, guarantee this. The eleva- THE DAVIE POPLAR (jqj jg 503 feet above the sea. The country is rolling and well wooded. Davie himself in his report describes the water. There is nothing more remarkable in this extraordinary place than the abundance of springs of the purest and finest water, which l)urst from the sides of the ridge, and which have been the subjects of admiration both for hunters and for trav- elers ever since the discovery and settlement of this part of the country. Science has reduced this rhetoric and tradition to the followdng wet, cool, highly grat- ifying facts. The college well analyzes 132 parts of solid matter to each million parts ; loss on ig-nition 32, hardness 40, chlorine 17.5, oxygen consuming capac- ity 1.36, nitrogen as nitrites 0, as nitrates 2.05, ammonia as free .028, albuminoid .093. Aside from the advantageous health conditions, the surrounding country affords many points of mterest from which are gathered mjTiad stories, a large T ' . -:,■

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The University Site duel, but she arrived oiilj ' in time to see her lover drop dead on the ground; whereupon she fainted and died by his side. The two were hastily buried together under the rock. Now the spring a few hundred feet south of Piney Prospect is called Miss Fannie ' s Spring. Unfortunately for the lovers of romance, facts do not seem to bear out the popular version of the tale. South of the Prospect are a few rifle pits dug by Whee- ler ' s Cavalry as they were retreating before four thou- sand Federal Cavalry under General S. B. Atkins. This was in April of ' 65, and the war was practically over. The Confederate troops remained on the Hill two days. They left on the afternoon of April 16. The Federal troops rode into town at eight o ' clock the next morning, and remained for s( ii il d u-- ( i littk i)ermanent damage was done during their sojourn, the most important being the captuu of the heart of the Presi- dent ' s daughter by the General of the Union troops. The couple were soon married. There are many o t h e i points of interest to the love i of nature. Hills and dale , beautiful shady walks, and varied scenery, make walking a favorite pastime with the students. Popular spots are the Meeting of the Waters, the Fern Banks, the Battle ' s Park Paths, and the Arboretum. The one great disadvantage of Chapel Hill as the seat of a great State University is its inaccessibility. It is safe to say that the greatest drawback to the welfare and growth of the University has been the fact that poor roads and railroads have kept it hicklen from and unknown to the people of the