The western three blocks of West Franklin Street begin where Mallette Street enters from the south. They occupy a gently sloping topography that rises to level land along Merritt Mill Road, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro boundary.

Each block is defined by one of three east-west streets: Kenan, Roberson and Graham. The first two blocks of West Franklin developed as an extension of the main shopping block of East Franklin, but the western three blocks were a black neighborhood that had spread spontaneously from west to east from the pre-World War I era.

A religious and educational focal point emerged after the Civil War at the corner of West Franklin and Merritt Mill Road, where Philadelphia Quakers built a free school for former slaves. It set in motion small, black schools and led in 1916 to Chapel Hill's first comprehensive elementary and high school for blacks, supported by public funds, on Church Street.

Newly organized black Methodist and Baptist congregations initially held joint services in and near the Free School but later built separate churches. In 1870, the Baptists moved into their own Colored Baptist Church, renamed First Baptist Church (1908-29) and Rock Hill Baptist Church (1930-72) at 425 W. Franklin. St. Paul AME Church, built by the Methodists in 1872, remains near the Free School site. The Rock Hill Baptist Church was torn down in 1953 after a fine replacement, First Baptist Church, was in operation on nearby Roberson Street.

By the late 1930s, most of the 14 houses that lined the south side of West Franklin and 10 houses on the north side had black occupants, including such prominent people as Dr. Charles Thompson, the town's first black doctor; Alice Neal, the cook for UNC President Frank Porter Graham; and D. O'Kelly, a businessman who operated The Standard Theater, the first black movie theater. A few black-owned stores provided food, goods and services.

Once the local economy picked up during the 1950s, commercial interests looking for space to expand near the downtown bought black properties, razed houses and replaced them with commercial ventures.

The auto age also brought some changes. Gas stations were so numerous in the first three West Franklin blocks that only two opened farther west, at 464 and 600 in the mid-1950s. Both were gone 20 years later. Auto sales offices opened in two general locations. One was on the south side of the street at 501 from 1928 to 1963 and at 419 from 1945 until recently. Yates Motor Company occupied 419 for most of that period and cleared the old Rock Hill Baptist Church at 427 for its car lot.

The second location was in westernmost West Franklin, where both sides of the street were often occupied by open-air car lots. The growing need for public parking led to the razing of two old houses (415 and 417) for a municipal lot by the late 1970s. The new Union Bus Station, completed in late 1947 at 311, replaced two old houses.

A number of stores specializing in tires, auto accessories, repairs and services soon emerged. Several that continue today include Chapel Hill Tire Company (502).Passport Motors, started at 600 in the late 1980s and continues as an imported car service. Jiffy Lube, an auto service business at 609, started up 10 years ago.

Large brick commercial buildings replaced the original frame houses. Their facades of modified Georgian style was in keeping with an appearance commission project of 1945-50 to give the downtown a Williamsburg look. The first large building to adopt it was that of Hospital Savings Association at 440, built in 1951. Merger with Hospital Care Association of Durham in 1968 to form Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina led to its move to its spectacular modern corporate headquarters on Durham Boulevard in 1973. UNC bought the West Franklin property and uses it as its main business office.

Some established businesses such as Johnson-Strowd-Ward furniture (462), Chapel Hill Cleaners (422), Colonial Drug (454), Knight and Campbell hardware (420) and The Beauty Box (406) on the north side of the street remained open for as long as 30 to 50 years under original or new management in smaller and simpler quarters.

On the south side of the street, the most notable change was a stretch of new buildings (431 to 505) sporting colonial facades. In 1963, Orville Campbell moved his Chapel Hill Weekly into 501 and shortly thereafter his Colonial Press into 503. When the Colonial Stores grocery, built in 1951, moved out of 505 in 1973, the renamed Chapel Hill Newspaper took over its space and it continues as The Chapel Hill News office. In 503 Colonial Press became Creative Printers, regained its former name and was replaced by the present occupant, Orange County Skill Development Center. The vacated space in 501 was filled with several real estate companies and now houses the Chapel Hill Visitors Bureau.

West of Roberson Street on the south side of West Franklin, a sequence of changes at 431 have long attracted diners and shoppers. In 1945, Durham Dairy Products built its milk distribution and processing plant there, and in 1953, with its name changed to Long Meadow Farm, opened its Dairy Bar. It remained a customer favorite for the next 25 years. New owners converted it to The Courtyard, a nest of shops hidden from Franklin Street by the popular Pyewacket restaurant. Its recent successor, the renamed West End Courtyard, features the Penang restaurant and a collection of former and new shops.

Sources: Computerized study by Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., "Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998;" Polk's Chapel Hill City Directory [annual], selected years; blue-print map of property ownership in Chapel Hill and suburbs, 1934, drawn by H.D. Carter; and facts derived from short conversations with a small number of West Franklin businesssmen.