{"nrhp_refnum":"76001335","name":"Old Main, Pembroke State University","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of jct. of NC 711 and SR 1340","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pembroke","county":"Robeson County","state":"NC","lat":34.68516156100003,"lon":-79.20170657099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Native American","Education","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Old Main is a two-story brick educational building on the Pembroke State University campus in Pembroke, Robeson County, North Carolina, completed in 1923 with a classical portico on its south facade.","why_significant":"It is the oldest remaining building on the campus of a school established in 1887 for Robeson County Indians (Lumbees). The school was the nation's only four-year, degree-granting institution exclusively for Indians from 1940 to 1954. The building is revered by the Lumbee as a symbol of that distinction.","narrative":"Old Main is a two-story brick building on the Pembroke State University campus in Robeson County, North Carolina. Completed in 1923 for $50,000 with a state appropriation, it is nine bays wide and twenty-three bays deep, with a tetrastyle wooden Doric portico on its south front. Inside, a 600-seat auditorium once sat between classrooms lit by skylights and bands of windows. The building is the oldest surviving structure at a school founded in 1887 as Croatan Normal School for Robeson County Indians. From 1940 to 1954 the school was the only four-year, degree-granting college in the nation exclusively for Indians, and the Lumbee community regards the building as a symbol of that distinction. A 1973 fire destroyed most of the interior and part of the portico pediment. Stabilization was under way, and plans called for restoring the exterior and creating Indian studies classrooms, a museum and a cultural center.","period_of_significance":"1921-1923, 1940-1954","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Typical 1920s secondary school design in North Carolina; Classical Revival (Neo-Classical Revival elements)","criteria":[],"status_note":"The 1973 fire destroyed most of the interior. The structure was being stabilized, with exterior restoration and new interior facilities planned for Indian studies classrooms, a museum and a cultural center.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.433436-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/7219/47721974/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/76001335.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001335/f39b2dc915-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001335/f39b2dc915-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jopparn","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oldmain_UNCP.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jopparn</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Oldmain_UNCP.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721974","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Main_(University_of_North_Carolina_at_Pembroke)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113641944"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/robeson-county/old-main-pembroke-state-university-76001335/"}