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Local figure

William Percival

William Percival, an English architect working in North Carolina in the 1850s, designed New East and New West, the university dormitories begun in June 1858 and modeled on the classical State Capitol.

Source: NCpedia: Percival, William

1 work about William Percival is indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

StorylineEnlarging the antebellum campus, 1840–18611840–1861 · 21 events · In 1840 President David L. Swain began the stucco finish on the brick college buildings, and by August 1841, with the session crowded beyond its rooms, the university had contracted for two new dormitory buildings. Swain then brought in the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who first came to Chapel Hill in 1844. Davis's three-story additions to Old East and Old West, on which the masonry subcontractor Dabney Cosby put enslaved workmen, among them Osborne and his brother Albert, were finished in 1848 with halls for the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies, furnished by the free Black cabinetmaker Thomas Day. Smith Hall followed, named in 1852, and New East and New West, begun in 1858, were ready on July 31, 1861.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 3 dated events in the chronology →

  1. A. J. Davis returns to Chapel Hill with designs for new and enlarged college buildings With the dormitories overflowing, Swain asked the faculty and trustees in 1855 for leave to build new residence halls, and the university turned again to Davis, who visited in the summer of 1856 and offered several designs. When the trustees acted in 1858 they hired William Percival instead. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, David L. Swain, William Percival Place: UNC campusSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 29
  2. New East and New West are built to William Percival's design To house more students, the university built two dormitories with classrooms and debating society halls on either side of Old East and Old West, to designs by the English architect William Percival, with Thomas Coates as contractor. Work began in June 1858, and the faculty announced on July 31, 1861 that the buildings were ready to occupy. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Thomas CoatesSearch the index · NCpedia: Percival, William · Also: Battle, History of the University, vol. I, pp. 659-660, 724, 827; The Daily Tar Heel, April 15, 1981, p. 1
  3. First Baptist Church of Hillsborough builds its church Seven years after organizing in the old courthouse, the First Baptist Church of Hillsborough began its brick church about 1860, to a design by William Percival. The congregation met in the courthouse until 1862 and the war stalled the work; John Berry took over from the first builder, D. Kistler, and finished it. The Baptist State Convention met in the newly completed church in the fall of 1868, when Rev. Thomas H. Pritchard of Raleigh preached the dedication sermon. People: William A. Graham, John Berry, William Percival Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas H. PritchardSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 301 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, October 13, 1869, p. 1; Hillsborough Historic District NR additional documentation; Hillsborough Recorder, November 4, 1868, p. 2

People named in the same events

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Indexed works

Works about or by William Percival. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

William Percival, an English architect in the Old North State, 1857-1860

Bushong, William · 1980

William Bushong's article on William Percival, the English architect who worked in North Carolina between 1857 and 1860. Pages 310 to 339 with illustrations, drawn from a journal issue dated 1980. The article includes nineteenth century buildings at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Percival, William, Active 1853-1860.

UNC

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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  • NC LIVE: prepared search for William Percival Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
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