Chapel Hill grit

Chapel Hill grit

Chapel Hill grit is the reddish-brown gravel seen throughout the university campus and downtown, including the pathways in the Coker Arboretum and on some of the sidewalks on Rosemary Street. Composed of decomposed granite, the sand-like gravel is unique to the area. Before the majority of the pathways were covered in brick, students often complained about the dust from the gravel walkways covering their shoes. But there were some who looked back on it fondly as a distinctive part of their Carolina experience. Chancellor Robert B. House, in a memoir about his early days as a student at Carolina, wrote, "I think the miracle of falling in love with Chapel Hill comes when you get one of its red grits in your shoe. Chapel Hill then enters your soul to stay."