The University of North Carolina is the reason there is a Chapel Hill.

This was just a spot on a map in the middle of the woods by a spring that someone decided in the 1700s would make a great place for a university. The land around it was auctioned off as depicted in the mural in the downtown post office and thus Chapel Hill was born.

Back in those days universities were private institutions, mostly for the children of the rich and powerful so they could become the next generation of the rich and powerful. UNC was the first public university. It was a school for the people, not just the privileged, and the campus and the town were built from scratch.

They have both grown. UNC is still one of the most respected universities in the country with around 30,000 students and Chapel Hill is one of the most progressive towns in the South, if not the most.

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