Perched at the highest point of downtown Chapel Hill, 100 E Franklin Street has long been more than just an address — it’s a landmark where the town’s history, culture, and community converge. This corner lot has seen everything from a humble 19th-century meat market to a busy gas station to one of the most iconic gathering spots in town. Today, it’s home to Top of the Hill,  a brewpub built by a 2nd year law student’s love for the local community. The story of Top of the Hill is not just about a brewery or restaurant but instead highlights how one corner helped shape the spirit of Chapel Hill.

This plot of land was originally designated Lot #6 in 1793 and stood empty for nearly a century. In the early 1890s, S.W. Andrews opened a Farmers’ Alliance meat market on the first floor of a new two-story building with Cora Williamson’s millinery shop on the second floor. In 1898, J.T. Durham replaced the meat market with his general store, General Merchandise and Jitney Service. 1

In 1930, Texaco wanted to build a service station on the prominent corner, but the town resisted because nine mature elm trees would be cut down in the construction process. The town reluctantly agreed to the project when Texaco promised to build a “tasteful and attractive yellow building” with roses in their landscaping. 2

The Texaco service station operated at this corner from 1931 until around 1983, always under the Texaco brand. After briefly serving as a convenience store called “Top of the Hill,” the building was demolished in July 1992. The lot remained vacant until construction began in 1993 on the three-story brick building that now stands at 100 E Franklin Street.³

In 1993, construction began on a large, three-story brick building on the empty lot at 100 E Franklin Street. Scott Maitland was in his second year of Law School at UNC when he heard that TGI Fridays was slated to occupy the third floor of the new building. Dismayed by the arrival of the chain, Maitland was supposed to be studying law in Joe Herzenberg’s coffee shop on 107 N Columbia Street when he came upon a report which stated that anywhere there was an upscale coffee house, microbreweries were doing well.  That very night, Herzenberg announced his coffee shop was closing, but reassured his loyal customers that a new upscale coffee house (Starbucks) was opening on Franklin Street. Maitland saw the opportunity presented to him and used LexisNexis to source over 800 articles on brew pubs. Within days, Maitland met with the publisher of All About Beer Magazine, and he recalls, “that was the moment when I realized, okay, this is really gonna happen.”

Maitland dedicated his third year of law school to creating Top of the Hill, relying on his tenacity and legal knowledge to secure the leasing agreement that TGI Fridays was depending on. Top of the Hill opened on September 5, 1996 — the same night, Hurricane Fran made landfall in Cape Fear, NC and plowed through Chapel Hill. Despite the chaotic first night, Top of the Hill quickly became a staple of Franklin Street. Maitland credits his unique experience as a veteran and law student for the inspiration behind this project:

  “I observed that there was no place where the undergrad students, the married students, and the faculty interacted. So, the driving force behind this was to create a place where everybody could come together — the social crossroads of Chapel Hill.” 

 Top of the Hill met Maitland’s vision, evolving from a modest bar to the largest bar in the State of North Carolina and then to a prominent restaurant with a smaller bar scene. In the early 2000s, UNC students dubbed Top of the Hill "TOPO" as a variant of YOPO, so the brewpub embraced the name and added it to its brand. TOPO has become the center of the celebration when Tar Heels rush Franklin Street. The energy coming from TOPO’s third-story balcony lured fans down Franklin Street, relocating the celebration from outside the Carolina Coffee Shop to the Franklin and Columbia intersection. 

Top of the Hill has made significant strides in North Carolina's alcohol history. As the fifth oldest brewery in North Carolina, TOPO was integral to leading the charge of craft beers. Maitland emphasizes that they only sold their own craft beer and ultimately “educated the state of North Carolina that, hey, craft beer is a good thing.”

 In 2012, Maitland expanded to TOPO Distillery, which was the first locally sourced organic distillery in the South. The distillery, located at 505 W Franklin Street, was credited by the Department of Agriculture for creating the organic wheat market in the state of North Carolina. TOPO distillery led the charge to change the laws surrounding distribution, starting with legislation allowing distillers to personally sell one bottle per customer per year in 2015, and ultimately the removal of all restrictions in 2019.4 Although the distillery closed in early 2023, it changed the trajectory of alcohol sales in North Carolina. 

THEN VS NOW