{"nrhp_refnum":"66000596","name":"Old East, University of North Carolina","other_names":["East Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"University of North Carolina campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chapel Hill","county":"Orange County","state":"NC","lat":35.91256667000005,"lon":-79.05048493199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-12-21","areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Old East is a brick university building on the north side of Cameron Avenue at the heart of the original campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Orange County. It was designed by James Patterson, built by Samuel Hopkins, and begun in 1793 and completed in 1795.","why_significant":"Old East is described as the first state university building constructed in the United States. It was the original home, and for many years the entire physical plant, of the first state university in the nation to open its doors to students. It was later enlarged and given Italianate detailing by noted architect Alexander Jackson Davis.","narrative":"Old East is a brick building on Cameron Avenue at the center of the original University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill. Designed by James Patterson and built by Samuel Hopkins, it was begun in October 1793 and dedicated in January 1795. It is described as the first state university building constructed in the United States, and it housed the first state university in the nation to admit students. The first student, Hinton James, arrived weeks after dedication. Originally two stories and ten bays long, the building gained a third story in 1822-24 under state architect William Nichols. In 1844-45, New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis added five bays at the north end, porches on the east front, and a bracketed Italianate cornice. Condemned as unsafe in 1922 after walls bowed, it received a fireproof concrete frame by 1925 without major changes to its exterior. It remains in use as a freshman dormitory.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799, 1800-1899","architect_builder":"James Patterson; William Nichols; Alexander Jackson Davis (Samuel Hopkins, builder)","architectural_style":"Italianate detailing (1844-45 alterations by Alexander Jackson Davis) on an original brick Flemish bond building","criteria":[],"status_note":"In good condition and in active use as a freshman dormitory; not open to the public.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.357202-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/7188/47718813/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/66000596_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000596/001dbc2864-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000596/001dbc2864-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"(User:Wgreaves)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_East.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">(User:Wgreaves)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_East.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"71000604","name":"Chapel Hill Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/chapel-hill-historic-district-71000604/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718813","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_East","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083892"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/orange-county/old-east-university-of-north-carolina-66000596/"}