The Order of Gimghoul is a collegiate secret society headquartered at Hippol (or Gimghoul) Castle in Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. The order was founded in 1889 by Robert Worth Bingham, Shepard Bryan, William W. Davies, Edward Wray Martin, and Andrew Henry Patterson, who were University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 students at the time.

The society is open to "notable" male students (rising juniors and higher), and faculty members by invitation. The society centers itself around the legend of Peter Dromgoole, a student who mysteriously disappeared from campus in 1833. The founders originally called themselves the Order of Dromgoole, but later changed it to the Order of Gimghoul, "in accord with midnight and graves and weirdness," according to archives.

Tradition has it that the order held to the "Dromgoole legend and the ideals of Arthurian knighthood and chivalry." From all accounts, the order is social in nature, and has no clandestine agenda. Membership is closed and information about the order is strictly confidential as is access to archives less than 50 years old.

The meeting place of the order, Hippol Castle, was built in 1924 at a cost of nearly $50,000. Thirteen hundred tons of rough stone were used in its construction giving it the appearance of a castle. It is located at the end of Gimghoul Road, not far from Old Chapel Hill Cemetery

Old Chapel Hill Cemetery

Old Chapel Hill Cemetery is a graveyard located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.-History:...

 on campus near Carmichael Auditorium

Carmichael Auditorium

William Donald Carmichael, Jr. Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels women's basketball team.The arena opened in 1965 as Carmichael Auditorium...

. According to real estate records, the 2.15 acres (8,700.7 m²) site is owned by a non-profit corporation entitled the Order of the Gimghoul and has a taxable value of over $1 million.