{"nrhp_refnum":"71000609","name":"Nash Law Office","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"143 W. Margaret Lane","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hillsborough","county":"Orange County","state":"NC","lat":36.074287921000064,"lon":-79.10124283099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story frame law office at 143 West Margaret Lane in Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina, thought to have been built by Duncan Cameron between 1801 and 1807.","why_significant":"It is the oldest law office of its kind in Hillsborough and is tied to Frederick Nash, who used it for over fifty years and rose to chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. It served as an informal law school for young men reading law, and later as a music studio for the Nash and Kollock School.","narrative":"This small one-story frame building on West Margaret Lane in Hillsborough served as a law office and later a music studio. It is thought to have been built by Duncan Cameron, a young Virginia lawyer, between 1801 and 1807, and was sold in 1807 to another young lawyer, Frederick Nash. Nash, born in New Bern in 1781, became a judge and ended his career as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, serving until his death in 1858. He used the office for more than fifty years, and young men such as congressman Abner Rencher read law there. After Nash died, his daughters and a cousin opened the Nash and Kollock School, and music lessons were held in the old office from 1859. A two-room wing was added about 1863 and the building remained a music studio until 1907. It has a gable roof, nine-over-nine windows and a Federal-style mantel. The Hillsborough Historical Society bought it in 1970.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Duncan Cameron (thought to have built it)","architectural_style":"Federal (interior mantel described as typical Federal style)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered, on its original site; owned by the Hillsborough Historical Society since 1970.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.054687-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7216/47721644/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/71000609.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000609/f6ab84ba6a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000609/f6ab84ba6a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jack Boucher","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nash_Law_Office,_143_West_Margaret_Lane,_Hillsborough_(Orange_County,_North_Carolina).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jack Boucher</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nash_Law_Office,_143_West_Margaret_Lane,_Hillsborough_(Orange_County,_North_Carolina).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"73001363","name":"Hillsborough Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/hillsborough-historic-district-73001363/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721644","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Law_Office","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19817697"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/orange-county/nash-law-office-71000609/"}