The University of North Carolina is recognized as the first state university in the United States. Phi Gamma Delta's Epsilon Chapter arrived in 1851 (see related story) but only lasted for three years. An 1859 revival was short lived due to the Civil War. The chapter again rose in 1887, only to close in 1898.

Epsilon Chapter returned in 1926 and built a chapter house a few years later. It stands today on the campus, the interior rebuilt after a fatal 1996 fire.

UNC is also known for basketball, especially under the leadership of former Head Coach Dean Smith (Kansas 1953). Under Smith's coaching, the Tarheels won a record 879 games. The basketball arena is still known as the "Dean Dome." 
University Web Site

108 W. Cameron Avenue
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Zebulon Baird Vance (North Carolina 1852) is the most beloved political figure in North Carolina's history. He was Phi Gamma Delta's second brother in Congress in 1857, and first governor in 1862. After the Civil War, he again served as governor and for several terms as a U.S. Senator.

The State House features a large statue of Brother Vance on its southeast lawn. When dedicated in 1900, it stood by the east entrance. It was relocated about 1948 when "Presidents North Carolina Gave The Nation" was unveiled.

Completed in 1840, the State House housed the offices of Governor Mike Easley (North Carolina 1972) from 2001-2009. Incidentally, just a block or two away is the First Baptist Church, site of the 2001 installation of the Nu Sigma Chapter at North Carolina State University.

One E. Edenton St.
Union Square
Raleigh, North Carolina

This top-ranked liberal arts college opened in 1837. In 1913, the Bachelors' Club began here as a local society. It became our Delta Kappa Chapter in 1923.

The site of the installation and first home of the chapter are located in the front of campus, respectively at the c. 1835 Oak/Elm Rows and the downstairs of Phi Hall, the 1850 home of the Philanthropic Literary Society. Remarkably, all six buildings used by Delta Kappa as a chapter lodge remain extant.

In recalling his visit there, one field secretary described this famously beautiful location as "a fairy tale campus." 
College Web Site

Davidson College
Davidson, North Carolina

This 450-acre site was started in 1991 by Daniel Stowe (Davidson 1935), a retired textile executive. Over one hundred acres are now open; the remainder are under development as part of a forty-year master plan.

The Stowe family includes several generations of Davidson Phi Gams. The Delta Kappa chapter house, a YMCA in Belmont, and a building at Davidson College are named after Robert Lee Stowe, Jr. (Davidson 1926).

Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens
6500 New Hope Road
Belmont, North Carolina 28012

The birthplace of Zeb Vance (North Carolina 1852) is a state historic site and museum with exhibits on the life and times of this fabled politician. The reconstructed two-story log house with outbuildings gives an idea of life in the remote western part of the state between 1795 and 1840.

911 Reems Creek Rd.
Weaverville, North Carolina (north of Asheville)

Governor Vance (North Carolina 1852) entrusted the presidency of the state-owned Western North Carolina Railroad to Major James W. Wilson (North Carolina 1854). Wilson built the rail from Old Fort west to Asheville. Its route through the Blue Ridge mountains required twelve miles of track to travel three linear miles, and six tunnels dug by hand. He had a steam engine drug over the Eastern Continental Divide, and worked the 1,822-foot Swannanoa Tunnel from both sides. The tunnel opened in 1879.

A small stone and brass plaque honors Wilson's feat. It reads:

"To the memory of James W. Wilson 1832-1910 
"Who, as chief engineer and president of the Western North Carolina Railroad planned, surveyed and built this line across the Blue Ridge Mountains
"Erected by the Southern Railway
as a tribute to a master builder"

Old Highway 70
Just west of Old Fort, North Carolina

This monument to Zeb Vance (North Carolina 1852) dominates Pack Square in downtown Asheville. It was erected in 1897, and refurbished in the 1920s with a new base.

Pack Square
Broadway and Patton Avenue
Asheville, North Carolina

Riverside Cemetery contains a massive stone memorial to the famous politician Zeb Vance (North Carolina 1852). He is buried next to his brother, a Confederate general and a congressman.

Other famous internments in the over eighty-seven acres include writer O. Henry and Thomas Wolfe, and a host of state and national political leaders.

Riverside Cemetery, In the Montford Historic District
Asheville, North Carolina