12The Daily Tar HeelThursday, April 16, 1987
Feature
Looking
back at
changes
By BETH BUFFINGTON
Staff Writer
The Tin Can was:
a) a bar on Franklin Street
b) a progressive rock band
c) a popular State hangout
d) an indoor athletic court
In 1923, the Tin Can was d), an
indoor athletic court with a steel
framework that was purchased from
the Bland-Knix Company of
Pittsburg.
If you're up on UNC trivia, you
know that this tidbit of UNC history
is one of many that have transformed
the major buildings and grounds of
today into ones quite different than
in the past. ,
What happened to the Tin Can?
It was converted temporarily into
make-shift housing accommodations
for World War II - oterans in the fall
of 1946. Then it renamed a popular
campus landmark until it was dem
olished in 1977 and replaced by the
Robert Allison Fetzer Gymnasium.
In 1924, most indoor sports were
moved from the Tin Can to Bynum
Gymnasium (now called Bynum
Hall). The gym was dedicated by
Judge William Preston Bynum of
Charlotte to his grandson, a Univer
sity football player (in 1 895) who had
died of typhoid fever at the end of
his sophomore year.
The department of dramatic art's
quarters in Graham Memorial have
had many uses throughout the years.
The Memorial site has been Chapel
Hill's main street, the site of the
University Inn and the southern
boundary of the Emerson athletic
field.
When the field's wooden stands,
couldn't hold all of the fans for both
football and baseball, future plans for
Kenan Stadium and a field house
were made.
However, Graham's history
doesn't stop there. In 1931, a student
union complete with student govern
ment and publication offices, pool
rooms, dance and recital spaces and
its own bowling alley filled Graham
Memorial. The building remained
the student union until it was moved
in 1968 to its present site.
Although Graham Memorial is no
longer the union, it still holds the old
union's bowling alleys, located in the
costume shop's , storage room,
according to associate professor
costume designer Bobby Owens.
Battle, Vance and Pettigrew Halls
were constructed on the site that had
previously been occupied by a ten
room hotel located opposite the
Franklin Street post office. In 1912,
the buildings were dormitories for
male students and were later con
verted into university office
buildings.
Smith Hall, completed in 1851 and
located on East Franklin Street, also
has a history, it was a library (a small
version when compared to today's
Davis). But it was alsa known as the
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An aerial view of Cobb Dorm reflects the size of the largest ail-girl dorm on campus
Tar Heel file photo
Ball Room since it held the annual
commencement dance.
Smith's claim-to-fame, though, is
the fact that it, along with South
Building, was a stable for horses and
cows during the Civil War. (Inci
dently, South Building's third floor
corner room housed James K. Polk
when he stayed in Chapel Hill.)
In 1907, Smith Hall became the
home of UNC's Law School, but
when the law school moved to
Manning in 1923, Smith was
remodled and became the old therer
for Carolina Playmakers..
Speaking of the old Playmakers
Theater. . . here's one bit of infor
. mation. The spot where the historic
Playmakers theater now stands also
once served the purpose of an old
athletic field. Used mostly for base
ball, this field had a pitcher's mound
that became Bynum Hall. What
happened to the spectator stands?
They became the parking lot for the
present Carr Building, which was a
male dorm until 1900.
What is now the largest female
dorm on campus was filled with male
residents until 1962. Cobb dorm was
completed in 1950 as a male dormi
tory. Winston, Connor and Joyner
also switched to include females in
-.967
? W t 4
The next time you eat at Lenoir
Hall, try to picture it as an art studio
or . an aerospace classroom. From
1942 to 1945, the southern end of
Lenior was used by the Naval
Preflight School. The building was
used off-and-on as a cafeteria. In
1970, Lenior closed completely,
following none other than a long
period of what's been called "student
unrest, servie workers strikes, and
general student displeasure" with the
food service there. In 1973, the first
floor was turned over temporarily to
the Art Department.
But Lenoir wasn't always the main
dining service building. From 1913
to 1970, Swain Hall (unfavorably
referred to by students as Fwine Hall)
was the dining service.
Howell Hall is perhaps . better
known for its namesake than its
original purpose as the Chemistry
Hall or later purpose as the pharmacy .
school. It was named after Edwin
Vernon Howell, founder of the
phannacy school and dean there for
30 years. Howell left his job as a retail
pharmacist in Rocky Mount and
began the school with only 17
students. Howell supposedly owned
the first car in Chapel Hill and played
football for the University.
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Tar Heel file photo
Once called Bynum Gymnasium, this building is now Bynum Hall
sity institution the mascot has
a story behind it. In 1924, head
cheerleader Vic Huggins decided that
UNC should have a live animal
mascot so he urged the University
to allow $25 for its purchase. Named
after popular football team member
Jack "The Battering Ram" Merrit it
was transported all the way from
Texas. Ramses the Ram arrived just
in time to see Carolina to a 3-0 victory;
.over none other than Viginia Military
Editor's Note: Notes used in com
piling this story are taken from books
found in Wilson Library's The North
Carolina collection, including Rachel
Long's "UNC-Chapel Hill" (1984);
William S. Powell's "The First State
University: A Pictoral History of
UNC" (UNC Press, 1972): Marguer
ite Schumann's "The First State
University: A Walking Guide (UNC
Press, 1985) and Archibald Hender
son' "The Campus of the First State
UlOlllULk-.