{"nrhp_refnum":"71000591","name":"Freeman House","other_names":["Hertford Academy"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"200 E. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Murfreesboro","county":"Hertford County","state":"NC","lat":36.44431827300008,"lon":-77.09941846699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-02-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Freeman House, historically Hertford Academy, is a two-story brick school building at 200 East Broad Street in Murfreesboro, Hertford County, North Carolina, completed in late 1810.","why_significant":"It is important as an example of early nineteenth century educational architecture in North Carolina. It is also the birthplace of Chowan College, through the Baptist Female Institute that occupied it in 1848, and so played a major role in advancing education in eastern North Carolina.","narrative":"Built of brick laid in Flemish bond, this two-story, hip-roofed building at 200 East Broad Street in Murfreesboro began as Hertford Academy. The General Assembly incorporated the academy in 1809, with John Wheeler and William Hardy Murfree as trustees and Jonathan Freeman as principal. The building was finished late in 1810, and classes began in the spring of 1811. Later the female department became the Banks School under Harriet and Martha Sketchly in 1814. In 1848 the Baptist Female Institute moved in, and in 1852 that school relocated to a new building, The Columns, eventually becoming Chowan College. The exterior has a five-bay south front, jack arches over the openings, six-over-six windows and a bracketed cornice with pierced dentils and fretwork. A brick wing was added on the west side, and repeated remodeling left little original interior fabric. The Murfreesboro Woman's Club acquired the building in 1947 and was restoring it as a club house and reception center.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1810)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and altered; the Murfreesboro Woman's Club bought it in 1947 and it was being restored for use as a club house and reception center.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.392082-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/7208/47720873/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/71000591.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000591/ef2653a025-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000591/ef2653a025-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Waterman, Thomas T., creator","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_American_Buildings_Survey,_Thomas_T._Waterman,_Photographer_July,_1940_DETAIL_OF_SOUTHEAST_CORNER._-_Freeman_House,_200_East_Broad_Street,_Murfreesboro,_Hertford_County,_HABS_NC,46-MURF,4-2.tif\" rel=\"noopener\">Waterman, Thomas T., creator</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_American_Buildings_Survey,_Thomas_T._Waterman,_Photographer_July,_1940_DETAIL_OF_SOUTHEAST_CORNER._-_Freeman_House,_200_East_Broad_Street,_Murfreesboro,_Hertford_County,_HABS_NC,46-MURF,4-2.tif"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720873","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_House_(Murfreesboro,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18739429"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/hertford-county/freeman-house-71000591/"}