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Chapel Hill, the largest municipality in Orange County, has been referred to as the "Southern Part of Heaven". It can best be summarized as having the best of small town living in a unique cosmopolitan environment.
Chapel Hill was named after the New Hope Chapel, which stood upon a hill at the crossing of two primary roads. Town lots were auctioned in 1793 when work began on the first building of the university, although it was 1795 before residents occupied any permanent homes.
Today, Chapel Hill is anything but a typical southern town. In fact, some say it's really not southern at all, with so many residents coming from other parts of the country. The population of 50,473 (as of 2001) is diverse, consisting of professors, students, business people and retirees from all over the world, not to mention the native Chapel Hillians.
In addition to the prominence of the nation's first state university, another attractive feature of downtown Chapel Hill is Franklin Street, named after Benjamin Franklin. This is the most vibrant downtown in the state. Day and night, the streets are filled with people enjoying a multitude of shopping, dining and entertainment options.
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