223 E. FRANKLIN ST. / PICKARD'S HOTEL (SECOND LOCATION) / COATES BUILDING

223 E. FRANKLIN ST. / PICKARD'S HOTEL (SECOND LOCATION) / COATES BUILDING

223
,
Chapel Hill
NC
Built in
1907
/ Demolished in
1928
People: 
Construction type: 
,
Local Historic District: 
Type: 

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Last updated

  • Fri, 05/07/2021 - 11:49am by SteveR

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223
,
Chapel Hill
NC
Built in
1907
/ Demolished in
1928
People: 
Construction type: 
,
Local Historic District: 
Type: 

 

View north, circa 1915 (image via UNC)

1915 Sanborn Map excerpt

 

Built in 1907 by/for Walter W. and Elizabeth S. Pickard. It was three stories and had 75 rooms. Upon entering the front door, the parlor was to the left, and is where a piano and card tables were and where guests/residents tended to gather before and after their meals. The dining room was in the rear of the structure. It was also a boarding house for students.

In September 1917, M. William and Mary "Lula" Louisa Cox Uzzell purchased the property and hotel from Elizabeth Pickard, as Walter Pickard died in May.

North Carolina future author and then-UNC student Thomas Wolfe rented an attic room fronting Franklin Street, with J. L. "Nip" Poston, in late 1918. He neglected to pay his final bill ($25 for room and meals), as recalled by an Uzzell family member in the 1970s.

On January 7, 1928, a fire destroyed the structure. It started at approximately 11:30 p.m, by a defective flue in the kitchen. Students were a “big part of the force” that manned the fire hoses. The Durham Fire Department also responded, helping to protect houses from sparks falling for a three-block radius.
 
The Uzzell family sold the property/lot to Albert Coates in June 1938, who had the current building (known as the "Coates Building") built in 1939. He then sold the property and building to UNC in September 1945, which was used as the university's Institute of Government building.
 
View north, August 2019 (via Google Streetview)

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