Francis Henry

Frances Henry wasn’t really welcomed to Hillsborough with open arms when his upset bid topped other contenders in the foreclosure auction of the Colonial Inn back in 2001. Around the same time he had acquired Chapel Hills’s Rathskeller, or “The Rat” as we all knew it, as well as the Martin-Dey House next to UNC’s Delta Upsilon fraternity, of which he was a member in his university days. The Rat continued its downward spiral and the Martin-Dey house was a subject of much press because Henry intended to tear it down, while preservationists wanted to, well, preserve it. Mr Henry’s name in Chapel Hill circles was becoming questionable. I guess the Old Guard in Hillsborough was worried about what this interloper might do to the historic Colonial Inn in their fair town. Egads – maybe he simply enjoys destroying history!