621 HILLSBOROUGH RD. / CALVIN BURCH'S FURNITURE SHOP / ORANGE COUNTY COUNCIL ON ALCOHOLISM / HILLSBOROUGH STREET HOUSE

This structure was built by/for (John) Calvin Burch for use as his furniture/cabinet shop, in mid-1948. Burch was a Chapel Hill High School graduate, WWII veteran, was quite active in the community, and lived next doorwith his wife, Mary Jane (Mordan) Burch.

Note: Circa 1977 the addresses changed; previously the address for the carpentry shop was 1131 Old State Highway 86.

Excerpt from the July 22, 1948 newspaper the Chapel Hill News Leader

This 200 acre area became part of of Carrboro after voters from the area (mainly from the newly-developed "Plantation Acres" development to the immediate north) voted in a 1960 referendum to be annexed. Calvin Burch's furniture shop was the polling place for this, by the way.

In a 1962 article in The Chapel Hill Weekly by Bill Prouty, he described the fireplace "as...of almost pioneer-days proportions...[t]his must be the only open-fire heated cabinetmaker's shop this side of the Appalachian mountains."

In 1962 Burch and others built an addition on the north side of the structure, to be used as a treatment "center" or "unit" by the Orange County Council on Alcoholism, to treat locals that were having addiction problems. Much of the organization's funding came from the local ABC Commission.

The treatment center addition, August 1962, via The Chapel Hill Weekly.

Aerial view excerpt, 1955

As a sidenote, on July 25, 1951, the Rogers Bros. Circus performed in the field across from the shop.

Burch quit the cabinetmaking business circa 1971 to focus full-time on counseling for alcoholics, continuing to operate out of this structure. He retired circa 1974 after his wife died.

Burch sold the property to Robert Reeves in 1976; Reeves likely used the building as his residence. Reeves sold it to John Burgess in 1983. Thomas and Cynthia Whisnant owned the property from 1994 to 2002.

From 2002 to 2017 it was a "co-op house," officially known as Hillsborough Street House, Inc., which was part of the Weaver Community Housing Association. The association provides affordable housing for local residents. Circa 2017 it was renovated and is now a private (or rental?) home.