117 S. COLUMBIA ST. / ABERNETHY HOUSE

Built circa 1906 by/for the Abernethy family on property purchased from Junius D. Webb. Dr. Eric A. Abernethy was the UNC physician for decades and was a World War One veteran and UNC alumnus and trustee. He died by suicide (via pistol) in this house March 21, 1933.

While a student at UNC, in early 1918, Thomas Wolfe boarded with a friend (Edmund Burdick) in one of the upstairs rooms. However, Burdick had a heart attack while visiting his parents in Asheville and died, and Wolfe was so distraught he moved to a room in Battle Dormitory soon afterwards.

In the early 1950s Abernethy's family (or a trustee for them) sold the property to UNC. In 1959, UNC had the house demolished in order to create a garden and parking lot for the adjacent Ackland Art Museum.

The Hanes Art Center was built on the site in 1980.

Circa 1920 aerial photo excerpt; the house is at the extreme right (via UNC)

Being dismantled, 1959 (photo by Bill Prouty/CHW)

1911 Sanborn map excerpt (at #417)

View north east, June 2019 (via Google Streetview)