Richmond Hill Law School
Why it's listed
Richmond Hill Law School is a two-story brick house in Yadkin County, North Carolina, northwest of East Bend. It was the home and law school of Richmond M. Pearson, born in 1805, who qualified for the bar in 1826, served in the state legislature and on the Superior Court, and was Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1850 to 1878. His law school began in Mocksville and moved to his newly built home after 1848. More than 1,000 students studied there, among them a U.S. Secretary of the Interior, state chief justices, a federal justice, a congressman and a governor. The house is built of brick in American bond with a low hip roof, a deep plain cornice and a three-bay facade with alternating recessed and projecting panels. Its roughly T-shaped plan, with a center hall and a perpendicular stair hall, appears to come from one building campaign. The property later passed through several owners before the Yadkin County Historical Society acquired it in 1968. It was recorded as in ruins and unoccupied.
Significance in brief: It was the home and law school of Richmond M. Pearson, who served as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1850 to 1878. Over 1,000 law students studied with him from the 1850s, including several later prominent officials and judges. The house also has an unusual plan that may reflect its use as a school.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 70000483, listed October 15, 1970. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | N of Richmond Hill on SR 1530, Richmond Hill |
|---|---|
| County | Yadkin County |
| Listed | October 15, 1970 |
| Reference number | 70000483 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival (simple Greek Revival mantels noted) |
| Areas of significance | Education, Politics/Government |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Form marks condition as ruins, altered, and unoccupied, with preservation work in progress; the owner was the county historical society, and a later 1978 grant application proposed interior restoration for use as a house museum. |
| Acreage | 9.5 |
| Coordinates | 36.26874, -80.60118 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 70000483.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q22061062
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.