{"nrhp_refnum":"71000605","name":"Playmakers Theatre","other_names":["Smith Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Cameron Ave., University of North Carolina campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chapel Hill","county":"Orange County","state":"NC","lat":35.906702444000075,"lon":-79.05018559899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-06-24","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1973-11-07","areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Playmakers Theatre, originally Smith Hall, is a temple-form building of rusticated stucco on brick with a Corinthian portico, on Cameron Avenue on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill. It was completed in 1850.","why_significant":"The building is architecturally notable for its Corinthian capitals decorated with corn, wheat and tobacco instead of acanthus leaves, and for a very simple entablature. It is one of the oldest buildings on the campus. Since 1925 it has housed the nationally recognized Carolina Playmakers.","narrative":"Playmakers Theatre began as Smith Hall, a ballroom and meeting building requested in 1848 by the Di and Phi Literary Societies of the University of North Carolina. Completed in 1850 for $10,363.63, it was probably designed by A. J. Davis of Town and Davis, with John Berry of Hillsborough as contractor. It is a temple-form building of rusticated stucco on brick, fronted by a four-column Corinthian portico. The column capitals are sculpted with corn, wheat and tobacco rather than classical acanthus leaves, and the entablature is unusually plain. Over the following century the building served as a library, chemistry laboratory, bath house and law school. In 1925 it was dedicated as the Playmakers Theatre, home of the Carolina Playmakers, whose alumni include Thomas Wolfe, Andy Griffith and Paul Green. Interior alterations have erased most of the original layout, but the exterior remains a distinctive example of regional Classical design on one of the university's oldest buildings.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1850)","architect_builder":"Thought to be designed by A. J. Davis of Town and Davis; contractor John Berry of Hillsborough","architectural_style":"Temple-form building with prostyle tetrastyle Corinthian portico","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as the home of the Playmakers Theatre; condition marked as altered, original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.729238-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/7216/47721662/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/71000605.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000605/bd42f47544-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000605/bd42f47544-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"(User:Wgreaves)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Playmakers_Theatre.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:Playmakers_Theatre.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721662","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playmakers_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7203490"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/orange-county/playmakers-theatre-71000605/"}