WWI PRACTICE TRENCHES

Constructed in late 1917 on the eastern edge of campus for the training of UNC students for service in the U.S. military during World War One.

In an October 8, 1917 letter President Graham reported that students were "getting ready to convert a field into trenches and barbed wire entanglements." The November 24, 1917 Tar Heel had an article "Work on The Trenches Now Near Completion" that describes the progress on and the realism of the mock-up trench system, with the first "attack" scheduled for the end of the month.

Their identification on maps is often mistaken for the defensive position(s) constructed by the retreating Confederate forces in 1865, although that site is located nearby the 1917-1918 training trenches.

(All images courtesy UNC)

Trench map 1918

Location of trenches, 1918 USGS topographic map excerpt

1918

The site today (June 2019, Google Streetview)