Place

Norwood Brothers Esso Service Station

"Northside was closer to Chapel Hill High than it was to Lincoln, and so in passing you would see the white students on the other side of Franklin Street smoking the cigarettes at Ross Norwood's service station in clear view of the schoolyard. Nobody was trying to hide from the either their parents, the community, or the school officials...The smoking, the dress, and your actions as long as you achieved academically, and as long as you were white everything was still okay. The black side of that, the dark side of that to use a bad metaphor would be that no matter what the rules are as a Black person you still have a double standard. You can't just adopt any kind of conduct or subscribe to a lifestyle...you're going to be treated differently depending on whether you are Black or whether you are not."

- Burnice Hackney

Norwood Brothers Esso Service Station was located at 136 W. Franklin Street across the street from the original location of segregated Chapel Hill High School. The property formerly occupied by the service station is now the location of A.C. Hotel by Marriott.

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Citation: “Norwood Brothers Esso Service Station,” From the Rock Wall, accessed December 14, 2024, https://fromtherockwall.org/places/norwood-brothers-esso-service-station.