Editing Chapel Hill, North Carolina (section)

===Pre-establishment and colonial era===
The [[Occaneechi]] Indians lived in the area of what is now [[Hillsborough, North Carolina|Hillsborough]], north of Chapel Hill, prior to European settlement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Occaneechi Indians |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/occaneechi-indians |access-date=February 4, 2023 |website=NCpedia}}</ref>

The area was the home place of early settler William Barbee of [[Middlesex County, Virginia]], whose 1753 grant of 585 acres on the north and south side of "Lick Branch"<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Daniel |first=Randolph |date=May 1996 |title=A PRELIMINARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND ASSESSMENT OF THE MEADOWMONT PROPERTY, THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL |url=https://www.rla.unc.edu/Publications/pdf/TechRep/TechRep23.pdf |journal=Research Laboratories of Anthropology University of North Carolina Chapel Hill |volume=23}}</ref> from [[John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville]] was the first of two land grants in what is now the Chapel Hill-Durham area. Though William Barbee died shortly after settling there in 1758,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barbee Cemetery Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=171942 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref> one of his eight children, Christopher Barbee, became an important contributor to his father's adopted community and to the fledgling [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|University of North Carolina]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unc.edu/about/history-and-traditions/|title=History of the University|website=UNC.edu|publisher=[[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]|access-date=November 9, 2018}}</ref> In 1792, he offered the trustees of UNC 221 acres on which the university is now built, making him the university's largest donor.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Back-of-Franklin-St.jpg|left|thumb|upright|A mural at Amber Alley between [[Franklin Street (Chapel Hill)|Franklin]] and Rosemary streets]]

Chapel Hill has developed along a hill; the crest was the original site of a small Anglican "chapel of ease", built in 1752, known as [[Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)|New Hope Chapel]]. [[The Carolina Inn]] now occupies this site. In 1819, the town was founded by the [[North Carolina General Assembly|NC General Assembly]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=History Timeline {{!}} Town of Chapel Hill, NC |url=https://www.townofchapelhill.org/government/newsroom/about-chapel-hill/history/history-timeline |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Townofchapelhill.org |language=en}}</ref> to serve the University of North Carolina and developed around it. The town was chartered in 1851,<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Chapel Hill|volume=5|page=851}}</ref> and its main street, Franklin Street, was named in memory of [[Benjamin Franklin]].<ref name="facts" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/ca050411/4e-Resolution%20to%20Update%20Town%20Seal.htm|title=AGENDA #4c|website=Townhall.townofchapelhill.org|access-date=September 15, 2019}}</ref>