Chatham County

SNIPPETS “small and often interesting pieces of news, information, or conversation”

about Chatham County history

Click on an item below to see more.

• Siler City Post Office Mural

• Snow Day ~ Siler City 1939

• Holland Radio Store in Siler City

• John Council’s Store in Pittsboro

• How Chicken Bridge Got Its Name

• Siler City’s Elder Theater

• Seaboard Railway Station, Pittsboro, 1966

• Ore Hill Smelter

• Columbus W. Lutterloh’s Birthday Party 29 Feb 1912

• Mathiesen Clinic

• New Chatham County Courthouse Described ~ 15 June 1882 Chatham Record

• Flint Ridge School Class ~ 1929-1930

• Mattie Rogers Beavers ~ Chatham Rural Mail Carrier

• Chatham County Courthouse in 1946

• Great Early Holiday Graphics from the Siler City Grit

• Pittsboro Citizens Celebrate End of WWI Prematurely

• Miss America Comes to Siler City ~ 4th of July Parade 1957

• WWI Headlines – 11 April 1917 The Chatham Record

• School District No. 4 Bear Creek 1908 - 1909

• Siler City Police Department 1949

• Siler City’s Ford Dealership Has Interesting History

• Fire at High Point Bending and Chair Company Factory 1907

• Moncure Farmer Invents Gas-Saving Motor in 1935

• St. Bartholomew’s Bell Donated to CSA

• Memento of Chatham’s Bicentennial 1771-1971

• Pittsboro High School Class of 1927

• Lost Pants!

• Sketch of the Jesse Smith Family

• Silk Hope Commencement 1918

• Advertising from the 18 April 1918 Siler City Grit

• Chatham County Exhibit in the North Carolina Exposition 1884

• Hickory Mountain School

• Recycling Was Cool in 1913 Chatham County

• A Good Year for Rabbit Trappers

• Telephones Come to Pittsboro

Siler City Post Office Mural

Siler City's Post Office Mural depicts "Building the First House at Siler's Crossroads" painted by Maxwell B. Starr in 1942. Note the rabbits on the left side. The house being built is the John Siler house (also called the Siler-Matthews house), which stood, until 1938, on the site of the present Siler City Post Office.

United States post office murals were produced from 1934 to 1943. Although they are associated with the New Deal, most of the Post Office works of art were funded through commissions under the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture (later known as The Section of Fine Arts) and not the WPA.

The idea was to provide high-quality artwork for public buildings, where it would be accessible to all people. The murals were intended to boost the morale of the American people suffering from

the effects of the Depression by depicting uplifting subjects the people knew and loved.

Snow Day ~ Siler City

One of our most popular Facebook posts ever is this photo of a snow day in Siler City,

taken about 1939. Thanks to Duane Hall for sharing this photo from his collection.

Holland Radio Store ~ Siler City

Inside the Holland Radio store in Siler City. The store was located on South Chatham Avenue

(Main Street) beside the drug store. This photo was probably taken in the mid-60s. Lemmie

Holland is in the forefront and Blake Stuart has his back to the camera. They owned the store as

partners following the end of WWII.

For many Siler City residents, the first television they saw was in the window of the shop. In the

late 40s and early 50s they would leave the TV playing at night and people would stand outside

and watch. Doug Stuart says his grandfather Blake sold many a TV like that. He wired a

speaker up outside the store so you could hear. During football season he would leave the

game playing after they closed on Saturday evening. Folks would stand in the cold to see the

game and then come back on Monday to see about putting a TV in their own home.

Jerry Stuart noted that back before most folks had a television, his dad, Blake Stuart, would

have the World Series on several television sets inside the store as well as one playing in the

display window. Jerry remembers seeing Bobby Thompson hit a bases-loaded homer to win the

playoffs. That was in 1951.

Thanks to Duane Hall for sharing this photo from his collection and to Doug Stuart and Jerry

Stuart for filling in the history!

John Council’s Store ~ Pittsboro

John Council's store in Pittsboro. John Council was a successful African-American

business owner in Pittsboro. He owned a barber shop and store on the east side of

Hillsboro street. His customers in the store were African-American and white, but he did

barber work for whites only, according to Chatham County 1771-1971. Notices in the

Chatham Record show that Mr. Council's businesses were in operation in the 1890s.

How Chicken Bridge Got Its Name

The history of Chicken Bridge, told by Barbara Pugh. You can read her article here.

Siler City’s Elder Theater

The Elder Theater opened March 27, 1939. It was on the north side of East Raleigh

between street numbers 109 and 117. The first film shown was "The Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn." Admission as 25 cents -- 10 cents for kids under 13. The building

was removed after being seriously damaged in a fire in March of 1963. From Wade

Hadley's The Town of Siler City: 1887-1987.

Tommy Edwards thinks this photo was taken at a local talent show in the early 1950s.

Note the segregated balcony—a fixture of the times.

Seaboard Railway Station, Pittsboro, 1966.

From the North Carolina Railroad Station Photograph Collection, North Carolina Collection

Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

See our Facebook page for more Chatham County railway station photos.

Pittsboro, Bonlee, Gulf, and Goldston

Siler City

Ore Hill

Carbonton

Ore Hill Smelter

Did you know that Ore Hill in Chatham County was an important source of iron ore for munitions during the Revolutionary War?

A NC Highway Historical Marker on Old US 421 at Mt. Vernon Springs notes the site of the Wilcox iron works. Robert Hendricks provided this photo of the smelter. Randy Whitt, who visited the site in the 70s notes that there are still pick marks in the walls where candles were placed.

Columbus W. Lutterloh’s Birthday Party 29 Feb 1912

This great photo shows the birthday party of Columbus W. Lutterloh on 29 Feb 1912. A Chatham Record article about the party describes this as Mr. Lutterloh's 12th birthday, even though he was 52 years old--he being deprived of the other 40 celebrations on non-leap years.

The article goes on to note that more than 125 persons were present at the party and lists some notable guests and presents received by Mr. Lutterloh. The table is described as being 68-feet long and "loaded with o'possum, chicken, ham, bread, pies, cakes, pickles and coffee. By actual count there were 36 large cakes."

The article states that "At one o'clock Mr. Jourdan took a snap of the crowd and table for a photograph." The photo did not appear in the paper, but it is in the collection of the Chatham County Historical Association. What a treasure!

Mathiesen Clinic

Mathiesen Clinic in Pittsboro. Did you know that the building had Pittsboro's first elevator?

New Chatham County Courthouse Described

15 June 1882 Chatham Record

Flint Ridge School Class ~ 1929-1930

Photo and list of students (see next page) contributed by Lois McPherson.

The photo shows the class of her mother, Sarah Johnson McPherson, at Flint Ridge School (off of Liberty, Silk Hope Rd.). Her mother didn’t see this picture until she was 95 years old, when her niece gave her the photo for her birthday. Mrs. McPherson wrote down the names of every person in the picture. Sarah Johnson is in the back row, 4th person from the right. She attended Flint Ridge school until she went into 7th grade at Silk Hope School, where she graduated in 1936. Sarah (1917-2015) was the daughter of W. E. and Elizabeth Ward Johnson. Also in her class picture are her younger brothers Leon and Wade Johnson. Sarah married Joe McPherson in 1952 and raised 4 children in Snow Camp.

See list next page.

List of persons in Flint Ridge School photo, provided by Sarah Johnson McPherson at

age 95.

Mrs. Mattie Rogers Beavers ~

Chatham Rural Mail Carrier Who Used Horse and Buggy

An article in the Greensboro Daily News on 22 July 1928, detailed the adventures of

Chatham County mail carrier Mattie Rogers Beavers (Mrs. George Beavers). At that

time, Mrs. Beavers had been delivering the mail in her horse and buggy for 21 years!

She served Route 3 out of Siler City.

Read a transcription of the 1928 article from our website, where we’ve posted it to

preserve Mattie Beavers’ unique career and this fascinating aspect of Chatham history.

Thanks to Milli Hammer for sharing the article and photo of her grandmother.

Chatham County Courthouse, Pittsboro, NC, 24 August 1946.

Photos by Clarence Griffin. From the General Negative Collection, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

23 Dec 1914 Siler City Grit

22 Dec 1898 Siler City Grit

Great early graphics from the Siler City Grit!

Pittsboro citizens celebrate

end of WWI prematurely!

Pittsboro’s Chatham Record noted in its report about the Armistice that ended WWI that a false report had been received about the end of the war on Thursday, 7 November 1918. That false report set off exuberant celebrations.

The 'real' Armistice agreement with Germany, signed on Monday 11 November 1918, finally ended the First World War with a cease-fire starting at 11 o’clock that morning and this news was celebrated with enormous joy and relief in the Allied countries. But four days earlier, on Thursday 7 November, false news of an armistice agreement had provoked similar rejoicing by millions of people across the world--including Pittsboro.

This ‘fake news’ was not a hoax or a deliberate attempt at misinformation. Instead, it was the result of a misunderstanding

From the Chatham Record, 14 Nov

1918.

Miss America comes to Siler City!

Fourth of July Parade, 1957

Marian McKnight, was the reigning Miss America.

Thanks to Archie Spivey for sharing!

WWI Headlines 11 April 1917 The Chatham Record

As we lead up to the centennial observance of the 1918 Armistice for WWI, we will be

posting numerous WWI clippings and other snippets here, and on the Chatham

Historical Museum Facebook page. Follow us there to learn more about Chatham’s

WWI story.

Also look for this WWI image on our website home page to link to

additional WWI stories and events as we add them.

Chatham County

WWI

School District No. 4 Bear Creek 1908 - 1909

Thanks to Roy Deaton for sharing his grandmother Florence Brewer’s program.

Siler City Police Department 1949

Thanks to Randy Alan Smith for sharing!

Siler City’s Ford Dealership Has Interesting History

Thanks to Mindy Brown for sharing!

High Point Bending and Chair Company’s Factory, Siler City, NC.

Destroyed by fire Dec 22, 1907

"Ruins of the High Point Bending and Chair Co's Factory, Siler City, N.C., Destroyed by Fire Dec. 22, 1907" Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Moncure Farmer T. L. Ruth Invents Gas-Saving Motor in 1935

Our State Magazine, 14 Dec 1935, p. 15.

St. Bartholomew’s Bell Donated to CSA

Fayetteville Weekly Observer, 21 Apr 1862.

Memento of Chatham’s Bicentennial 1771-1971

Courtesy of Larry Pickard

Pittsboro High School Class of 1927

See more PHS photos and memorabilia in our April 2018 exhibit!

Lost pants!

Yikes!

Siler City Grit, 10 April 1918

Sketch of the Jesse Smith Family

25 April 1918 The Siler City Grit

Silk Hope

Commencement

18 April 1918

The Siler City Grit

Advertising from 18 April 1918

The Siler City Grit

Chatham County Exhibit

at the North Carolina State Exposition in Raleigh, 1884

This photo shows the Chatham County Exhibit at the North Carolina State Exposition in

Raleigh, in 1884. Each booth featured natural resources and crops specific to the

county. The exposition was intended to boost industrial development and portray the

state as a strong economic player in the New South that had fully recovered from the

Civil War.

NC State Archives, NC Digital Collections

Hickory Mountain School (~1927 to 1930)

Photos shared by Judy York. Thanks, Judy!

Recycling Was Cool in 1913 Chatham County

9 July 1913, The Chatham Record

A Good Year for Rabbit Trappers

9 February 1893, The Chatham Record

Telephones

Come to

Pittsboro

13 Mar 1902 The Chatham Record

13Apr2020