When Dr. J.R. Manley first came to Chapel Hill, he expected to spend three Sundays preaching at First Baptist Church. Instead, he ended up serving as the church’s Senior Pastor for 65 years. Born in Murfreesboro (NC), Dr. Manley arrived at Rock Hill Baptist Church in September 1946 at the age of 19 to fill in for a Pastor who …

Plumber, carpenter and electrician to Orange and Chatham County’s African American Community, Walter Riggsbee owned the building at 111 South Merritt Mill Road with wife Molly, now named “Walt’s Grill.” In the late 1980s 111 South Merritt Mill Road served as a temporary men’s shelter.  Prior to that, it was a church, restaurant, grocery store, and beauty parlor. It is …