Menu

Morehead Planetarium, The First of Its Kind in the South


On May 10, 1949, the Morehead Planetarium opened on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. It was first planetarium in the South, the first planetarium on a university campus and the sixth planetarium to be built nationwide. The planetarium was primarily a gift of John Motley Morehead III, an 1891 graduate and founder of Union Carbide Corporation. (NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources)

Related:

Carolina’s history comes to life on Instagram
One post shows what’s believed to be the oldest existing photo of UNC, a daguerreotype of sophomores from the 1850s. Another, posted on the first...

Kenan Stadium: From football field to baseball diamond
The Savannah Bananas sold out Kenan Stadium twice in one weekend, bringing the team’s barnstorming version of baseball to Carolina’s 99-year-old flagship venue. But before...

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Openings, Closings and Updates in October-December 2025
The fall marked several Eastgate Crossing shopping center tenants reopening in Chapel Hill after restoration from July’s Tropical Depression Chantal rain and flooding. On October...

Tar Heels fans go bananas for Caleb Wilson before enjoying the Bananas show
Kenan Stadium was packed on a beautiful spring afternoon, and the atmosphere was bananas. And Tar Heels fans went bananas over one of their favorite...