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Searched the full chronology of 6,171 dated events and 63 storylines, not only the highlights. Showing 1–8.Back to highlights
- Antebellum and Civil War · 1800–1865
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Trustees vote to raise Old East a story and build Old West
At Caldwell's urging, and against the faculty's plea to spend on books and apparatus, the board voted to enlarge Old East, build Old West to match and start a new chapel, borrowing from banks against Tennessee land sales. Architect William Nichols ran the work, and the South Building's Prayer Hall became a chemistry laboratory.
People: Joseph Caldwell · Elisha Mitchell · William Nichols
Subject: South Building · Gerrard Hall · Old East · Old West
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Named enslaved workers build the third story of Old East
Bills from William Nichols's 1822 to 1824 enlargement of Old East list enslaved carpenters, bricklayers and laborers including Bob, Henry, Nelson, Allman, Tony, Luke, Isaac and Ned Peek, with their pay due to their owners. One bill from John C. White came to about $395.
People: William Nichols
Subject: Old East
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State architect William Nichols designs Old West and Gerrard Hall
In 1822 William Nichols, the English-born architect who was North Carolina's first state architect, drew Old West as a match for Old East and designed a new chapel, Gerrard Hall. Gerrard's south portico of four two-story Ionic columns made it the campus's first building in the Romantic Classical mode.
People: William Nichols
Subject: Gerrard Hall · Old West
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James S. Smith's building commission starts Hillsborough's brick Masonic Hall
In July 1823 commissioners James S. Smith, Thomas Clancy and J. P. Sneed advertised in the Hillsborough Recorder for proposals to build a brick Masonic Hall in the town. The cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1823, for the Greek Revival hall designed by William Nichols and built by local brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock.
People: John Berry · William Nichols · Samuel Hancock
Subject: Eagle Lodge
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The cornerstone of Eagle Lodge's Masonic hall is laid on West King Street
The cornerstone of the brick Masonic hall at 142 West King Street, designed by state architect William Nichols and believed built by brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock, was laid on November 23, 1823. The lot was deeded to the lodge in 1824 after the building went up.
People: John Berry · William Nichols · Samuel Hancock
Subject: Eagle Lodge
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The trustees settle William Nichols's accounts for Old West and the campus repairs
The university settled with William Nichols, its supervisor and builder, for Old West, the new chapel, the bricks made on university land and repairs to South Building, the President's House and Steward's Hall. Battle gives the cost as about $26,587 and says the accounts showed a want of careful superintendence.
Subject: Old West · South Building · Steward’s Hall
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John Berry and Samuel Hancock build St. Matthew's Episcopal Church to William Nichols's design
St. Matthew's, an early Gothic Revival church of Flemish-bond brick, was built in 1825-1826 by the local masons John Berry and Samuel Hancock to a design by William Nichols, who set its size at 35 by 45 feet. It replaced an earlier church at Churton and West Tryon streets that had burned in 1793.
People: William Nichols · Samuel Hancock
Subject: St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
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St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough is consecrated under its first rector, William Mercer Green
William Mercer Green became first rector of the reorganized St. Matthew's parish in 1825, the year work began on its brick church; state architect William Nichols and brickmaker John Berry were among the builders. Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft consecrated the church on May 21, 1826, during the diocesan convention it hosted.
People: John Berry · John Stark Ravenscroft · William Nichols
Subject: St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
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Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated October 2, 2026.
