230 years ago, UNC's first student walked to Chapel Hill from Pender County. Or did he?

Posted Feb 28, 2025
What we do know is that on Feb. 12, 1795, an 18-year-old Hinton James, the son of a settler from Wales, arrived at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and became the first student to enroll in the school. True, the semester had technically begun back on Jan. 15, but it didn't really matter because none of James' classmates had arrived yet. (Wilmington Star News)

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