The Iron Mountain Railroad

By Leslie Smith and Ethan Clauset
For travelers and farmers headed to market in southern Orange County for most of the nineteenth century, the only way to get there was to travel the old dirt roads from Pittsboro and Durham and the wagon road from Hillsborough. Robert F. Hoke, a former Confederate general, saw the opportunity to put in a railroad that ran from a junction later called University Station to Carrboro to link his mine to the Carolina Railroad in Greensboro. In November of 1880, Hoke was a principal shareholder and chairman of the board when the Iron Mountain Company started to mine iron ore at a site one mile north of UNC campus, near what is now the intersection of Estes and Seawell School roads. The price of iron was high, so it was profitable to mine the ore and then ship it north through Greensboro to Pennsylvania for smelting into high-quality Bessemer Steel.
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Ride with us
Nice weather for a bike ride, and The Citizen is getting in on the act with a series of short films of town and local bike paths shot from the handlebar viewpoint. Visit www.carrborocitizen.com/mill to keep up with the series.
Obama, Clinton visit Chapel Hill
update: NBC now saying Obama/Edwards meeting was cancelled. Obama folks referring calls to Edwards folks.
Hillary Clinton paid an unscheduled, unannounced visit to Chapel Hill Thursday and
Barack Obama is reportedly in town today (Monday) for a chat with John Edwards.
MLK events today and this week
MONDAY JAN 21
The annual community celebration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., a rally with speeches and song, will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Peace & Justice Plaza at the Franklin Street Post Office. At 10:30 a.m., participants will march west on Franklin Street to First Baptist Church of Chapel Hill, […]
Music Calendar: January 2008
The ArtsCenter
Club Boheme, The Ramblers & Missy Raines, The New Hip (1/4) Lucy Sumner & The Second Third, Django Haskins, The Allen Boys (1/5) The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo (1/10) Greg Hawks (1/11) Nappy Brown Orchestra , Sean Costello and Big Joe Maher (1/1) Leon Russell (1/19)
The Return of the Pressure Boys
Out of action for close to 20 years, a legendary local band reunites for a benefit show at Cats Cradle
By Kirk Ross
The better part of two decades has passed since the last notes of the last Pressure Boys gig faded into the crowd at the April 1989 opening show of the Cats Cradle […]
Movies: January 2008
Lumina
620 Market St., 932-9000
www.thelumina.com
Regal Timberlyne 6
120 Banks Drive,
Chapel Hill, 933-8600
Theater/Comedy: January 2008
The ArtsCenter
SWEENEY TODD: DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
January 25 — February 3
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm.
January 26 and February 3 at 3pm.
Dining: January 2008
Carrboro
Acme Food & Beverage Co.
110 E. Main St., 929-2268
www.acmecarrboro.com
Akai Hana
206 W Main St., 942-6848
www.akaihana.com
Literary Calendar: January 2008
FINE BOOKS
Fearrington Village Center, Pittsboro
542-3030
fearrington.com/village/mcintyres
Jan 4, 2pm
Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes
Daytime soap operas’ first golden couple Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes will be starring in Sanford’s Temple Theatre’s production of Love Letters. The pair will take a break to discuss, Like Sands Through The Hourglass, which chronicles their love story on and off the […]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Events
Carrboro/Chapel Hill
The annual community celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. will be held Jan. 21 begining with a rally with speeches and song at 9:30 a.m. at the Peace & Justice Plaza at the Franklin Street Post Office. At 10:30 a.m. particpants will march west on Franklin Street to First Baptist at […]