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University buildings and grounds

Old East

Old East is the University of North Carolina's first building and the first raised on the campus of a state university in the United States. Contractor James Patterson, whose enslaved workers painted its roof, built it from 1793 to 1795 as a two-story brick dormitory; named enslaved workers added a third story in 1822-24.

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.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

Show 24 more

Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Old East. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Opening ceremonies of the bicentennial observance, October 11 and 12, 1993

1993 · The University

A portfolio of programs from the opening ceremonies of the University of North Carolina bicentennial, staged in Chapel Hill on October 11 and 12, 1993. It includes the program for the rededication of Old East, the university's first building, and the citations for the 1993 distinguished alumna and alumnus. Illustrated, and published by the university itself.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Letter from Edward K. Graham, President of the University of North Carolina to Grand Master Alexander Boyd Andrews

2016

Edward K. Graham, president of the University of North Carolina, wrote to Grand Master Alexander Boyd Andrews asking him to appear in Masonic regalia at University Day in 1916. At that ceremony the Grand Lodge of North Carolina gave back to the university the brass plaque taken from the East Building cornerstone.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DigitalNC DPLA

Old East, University of N.C., Chapel Hill N.C.

Wootten-Moulton Studio

Wootten-Moulton Studio postcard of Old East, the oldest building and a men's dormitory on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, made between about 1915 and 1940. A single photomechanical print in postcard format, 9 by 14 cm.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA Library of Congress Digital Collections

Old East, UNC-Chapel Hill, circa 1973

Morton, Hugh M. · 1973

Hugh Morton's color view of Old East, the dormitory on the UNC campus in Chapel Hill, made about 1973. Old East is the oldest building of a state university in the United States. One 4 x 5 inch color sheet film transparency.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Document designating UNC's Old East as National Historic Landmark, 1965

1965

Certificate from the United States Department of the Interior and the National Park Service naming Old East at UNC a National Historic Landmark in 1965, under the Historic Sites Act of 1935. Old East is the university's oldest building, its cornerstone laid in 1793.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

North Carolina state university [i.e., Univ. North Carolina], Chapel Hill, "old east" and the old well

Orr, Louis · 1949

Etching by Louis Orr of Old East and the Old Well at Chapel Hill, made in 1949; its title wrongly names North Carolina State University for the University of North Carolina. A landscape print showing university buildings and grounds in Chapel Hill at the end of the 1940s.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Library of Congress
Show 11 more works

North Carolina state university [i.e., Univ. North Carolina], Chapel Hill, "old east" and the old well / Louis Orr.

Orr, Louis, 1879-1966 · 1949

Etching by Louis Orr, 1949, of Old East and the Old Well on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill. The printed title calls the school North Carolina State University. Image 25.4 by 20.2 cm, part of the popular graphic arts collection.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Old East, UNC-Chapel Hill, 1940s-early 1950s

Morton, Hugh M. · 1940

The entrance to Old East, the oldest dormitory on the UNC campus, in a Hugh Morton negative from the 1940s or early 1950s.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

University of N.C. East building, Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina

Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952 · 1938

East Building at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston in 1938 for the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South. One 8 by 10 inch safety film negative.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Old East Building, University of North Carolina.

1860

Old East, the oldest building at the University of North Carolina, from a photograph taken by Forster of Chapel Hill around 1860. Part of The Pageant of America collection of historical pictures.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Bibliotheca.

Donaldson, James, 1802-1872 · 1852

A hand drawn plan of 1852, in pen and ink with some color, showing the layout of the library of the Philanthropic Society at the north end of Old East on the University of North Carolina campus. Attributed to James Donaldson, 1802 to 1872, but possibly the work of A. J. Davis. In the North Carolina Collection at UNC.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Cornerstone Laid: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1793

Image of a document about the cornerstone laid in 1793 for the University of North Carolina's first building, Old East. From the Historic Documents series of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

CH Historical Society

Old East: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1793

Thirteen photographs about Old East, the university's first building, spanning 1793 to 1960. They include its cornerstone, a copy of the 1793 floor plans printed from a 1971 negative and a copy of an early sketch of the building. From the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

CH Historical Society

Plaque or cornerplate from Old East, 1793

1793

Bronze cornerplate engraved by Roswell Huntington of Hillsborough and laid with the cornerstone of Old East on 12 October 1793. Old East was the university's first building and the first of any state university in the nation. Topics include William R. Davie and the Freemasons.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Old East Building, U.N.C., Chapel Hill, N.C.

R. W. Foister, Chapel Hill, N.C

Old East at the University of North Carolina, concerning dormitories and published as a card by R. W. Foister of Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill and Orange County give the place, with universities and colleges for the campus setting.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Old Well in Front of Old East Dormitory and South Building, U.N.C., Chapel Hill, N.C.

Wootten, Bayard Morgan, 1875-1959 · Graycraft Card Co., Danville, Va

The Old Well with Old East and South Building behind it, from a photograph credited to Bayard Morgan Wootten and printed by the Graycraft Card Company of Danville, Virginia.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

The Old East Building, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Graves, Mary deB. (Mary de Berniere), 1886-1950

Mary deB. Graves drew Old East for this postcard. Her caption calls it the first building put up by a state university in the country, recalls the Masonic ceremony for its cornerstone in 1793, and notes that its bricks were fired on university land with mortar made from shells hauled from Wilmington. Undated.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Old East alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina: 1795-1975

Little-Stokes, Margaret Ruth · 2006

Margaret Ruth Little-Stokes's survey of Chapel Hill's town and campus buildings from 1795 to 1975, published by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill in 2006. Chapters run from the first campus buildings through David Swain's romantic campus to midcentury modernism, followed by area surveys of the campus, east and west Chapel Hill, downtown, Northside and the suburbs.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress CH Historical Society

The town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975

Little, M. Ruth · 2004 · Preservation Society of Chapel Hill

M. Ruth Little's 2004 architectural history of Chapel Hill and the university campus from 1795 to 1975, written for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. A 99-page survey with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Chapel Hill historic sites survey : final report.

Gatza, M. B. · 1992 · Chapel Hill Planning Department

M. B. Gatza's final report of the 1992 Chapel Hill historic sites survey for the town Planning Department, with contributions by Beverly C. Kawalec and Catherine Bishir. It covers historic buildings and districts in Chapel Hill in 80 pages.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

When Chapel Hill was a village

Love, Cornelia Spencer, 1892-1981 · 1976 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Cornelia Spencer Love's recollections of Chapel Hill as a village, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1976 with drawings by John V. Allcott. Love lived from 1892 to 1981, and the book covers Chapel Hill biography, the town's social life and customs, and the faculty of the university before 1962. viii and 87 pages with illustrations.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC Library of Congress CH Historical Society NC Cardinal

[Map of the site of the University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill].

Daniel, John (Surveyor) · 1792

John Daniel, a surveyor employed by the university trustees, made this pen and ink map of the future university site in 1792. It shows the tracts of land, the springs and creeks, nearby mills and the roads running from Fayetteville to Hillsborough, Pittsborough to Petersburg, Hillsborough to Newberne, and on to Raleigh. William S. Powell describes the map in First state university.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

A plan of the situation of ye University, ye ornamental ground, ye adjacent village : the lands belonging to ye trustees together with ye springs : June 1st, 1795.

1795

Dated June 1, 1795, this pen and ink plan lays out the University of North Carolina site in its earliest years: the village, the cleared ground, the avenue, the ornamental ground, the lands belonging to the trustees and the springs. Archibald Henderson reproduced it in The campus of the first state university and identified it as the lost 1795 map by Charles W. Harris. Manuscript map, 30 x 36 cm.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC
Show 7 more surveys and maps

Plan of the village at the University with the adjoining lands belonging to the institution.

1804

Early hand-drawn plan of the University village at Chapel Hill and the lands around it, which Archibald Henderson dated to between 1797 and 1812. It shows town lots with owners' names, Main Building (South Building), the steward's and president's houses, the chapel, Franklin Street and a Grand Avenue, plus a partial list of buyers at the 1793 lot sale.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC DPLA

Plan of the village of Chapel Hill on a scale of 200 yards to an inch.

1812

An early manuscript plan of Chapel Hill drawn at 200 yards to the inch, dated 1812, with a note on the verso reading September 4, 1817. It copies an earlier pen and ink plot in the possession of William Pannill, taken in turn from one by John Craig, and it marks boundary lines, town lots with some owners named, the University buildings, the president's lot, the chapel and the preparatory school.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Map of Chapel Hill as it was in 1875 to 1885

Carter, H. D. (Henry Dennis), -1941 · 1934

Henry Dennis Carter's reconstruction, drawn as a blueprint in 1934, of Chapel Hill as it stood between 1875 and 1885, showing the buildings of the village. A note on the map says the information came from old residents who gave it to Mary L. Thornton.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill and vicinity].

Harris, Hunter Lee, 1866-1893 · 1888 · Hunter Lee Harris?

Dating from 1888 and attributed to Hunter Lee Harris, a map of Chapel Hill and its vicinity, reproduced as a photocopy measuring 22 by 37 centimeters. Harris died in 1893, which brackets the drawing to the late nineteenth century. An early depiction of the streets of the village and the land around it.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill].

1895

Pen-and-ink manuscript map of Chapel Hill dated 1852, with a table of measurements, showing the University campus, the village around it, street widths and layout, and the town limits. Later notes attributed to Kemp P. Battle give the longitude and latitude of landmarks as measured from atop New East Hall in 1880.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC DPLA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.

1925

Sanborn Map Company fire insurance map of Chapel Hill, June 1925, on eleven sheets, with Carrboro also drawn. Sanborn maps recorded the outline, construction and use of each building for fire insurers, so the set shows both towns block by block in the mid 1920s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Map of Chapel Hill & vicinity.

1933

Street and property map of Chapel Hill and the surrounding country, revised to 1 January 1933 and printed in the town. Topics include streets, real property and the historical geography of Chapel Hill along with maps of the University of North Carolina in its 1793 to 1962 period. A useful sheet for tracing lot lines and street names as they stood at the start of the 1930s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Old East, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 STO Chapel Hill: A Pictorial History Stolpen, Steven · 1978

      Steven Stolpen's pictorial history of Chapel Hill, one of the Donning Company's photographic town histories, published in Norfolk, Virginia in 1978. Photographs and portraits carry the story of the town and the university, including references to Thomas Wolfe's years as a student at Carolina. 156 pages with illustrations.

    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 HIS Historic Buildings and Landmarks of Chapel Hill, N.C Chapel Hill Historical Society · 1973

      A pocket-sized guide to the historic buildings and landmarks of Chapel Hill, prepared by the Chapel Hill Historical Society and printed by Creative Printers in 1973. Forty pages with illustrations and maps, 14 by 22 cm. Topics include architecture, historic buildings and historic districts in Chapel Hill, and the guide is useful for a walking tour of the older parts of town.

    In the chronology

    Storylines about this site, each with a page of its own:

    1. James Patterson of Chatham County is hired to build the university's first building The commissioners contracted with Patterson for 2,500 pounds to build a house about 96 feet long and 40 feet wide. It became Old East, the first building raised on the campus of a state university in the United States. People: James Patterson Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 78-79
    2. Richard Bennehan gives shells for mortar for Old East Bennehan donated fifty bushels of shells for making mortar for the university's first building. In 1796 he gave an air pump and thirty-two books. NCpedia: Bennehan, Richard (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
    3. James Patterson buys two lots at the first Chapel Hill lot sale At the sale held the day Old East's cornerstone was laid, Patterson, the building's contractor, bought village lots 4 and 5 for 108 pounds 10 shillings. The cornerstone procession that day set out from his inn. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 46
    4. Old East cornerstone is laid William Richardson Davie and fellow trustees laid Old East’s cornerstone; October 12 is observed as University Day. People: William Richardson Davie, Samuel Eusebius McCorkle UNC
    5. Enslaved men owned by contractor James Patterson paint the roof of Old East James Patterson, the slaveholding contractor who built Old East between 1793 and 1795, reported in a 1795 letter that several of his own enslaved workers had painted the building's roof. Their names were not recorded. People: James Patterson UNC University Archives (For the Record): Slave Labor and Old East
    6. Old East is finished as a two-story dormitory of sixteen rooms The university's first building was ready in 1795 as a two-story brick dormitory with sixteen rooms. Its plan is in effect two center-hall houses joined end to end, with a fireplace for every room, and it kept that height until a third story went on in 1822. NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 12
    7. Trustees vote to build a house for the university's grammar school With Old East crowded and many students too young or unprepared for college classes, the board ordered a separate preparatory school building with lodging rooms, in the woods south of Rosemary Street. Richard Sims, an advanced student, seems to have been its first master. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 71
    8. Student John Pettigrew draws Old East Pettigrew sent his father a colored drawing of the building, then two stories high and two-thirds its later length, with a white band between the stories and a platform at each door. Battle reproduced it as the frontispiece view of Old East. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 93
    9. 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 Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 280
    10. 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 UNC University Archives (For the Record): Slave Labor and Old East
    11. Dabney Cosby takes the masonry subcontract for the lengthening of Old East and Old West Chapel Hill contractors Isaac J. Collier and Kendall B. Waitt subcontracted the masonry of the university additions to Cosby, who put enslaved workmen including the brothers Osborne and Albert on the job. Cosby and the architect Alexander Jackson Davis quarrelled over the drawings, and president David L. Swain asked the Hillsborough builder John Berry to look at the brickwork, which Berry reported was defective. People: John Berry, David L. Swain, Alexander Jackson Davis, Isaac J. Collier, Kendall B. Waitt North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Cosby, Dabney (1779-1862)
    12. The university awards Isaac J. Collier and Kendall B. Waitt the contract for the Old East and Old West additions On December 23, 1844, Collier and Waitt won the contract to build A. J. Davis's three-story brick additions to Old East and Old West, at $9,360. They subcontracted the masonry to Dabney Cosby; the next day trustee secretary Charles Manly asked that they hire his enslaved carpenters. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, Dabney Cosby, Charles Manly, Kendall B. Waitt North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Collier, Isaac J. (b. ca. 1810)
    Show all 40 dated events
    1. Brothers Albert and Osborne, enslaved by Dabney Cosby, plaster the lengthened Old East The additions to Old East and Old West, contracted in December 1844 and finished in 1848, used the labor of Albert and Osborne, brothers enslaved by Dabney Cosby, who plastered the lengthened Old East in 1845 and 1846. Cosby praised Albert's plastering as first-rate work. People: Albert, Osborne, Dabney Cosby, Alexander Jackson Davis UNC University Archives (For the Record): Slave Labor and Old East
    2. Osborne begins the masonry on the additions to Old East and Old West Dabney Cosby, who held the masonry subcontract for the university additions, sent Osborne to Chapel Hill carrying a letter to the main contractors saying that Osborne would have his mortar made up. Cosby ordered meal and bacon for him and wrote that what Osborne said could be relied on. People: Dabney Cosby North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Albert and Osborne (fl. 1820s-1850s)
    3. Dialectic and Philanthropic societies draw lots for the east and west buildings The trustees had the society presidents, William M. Howerton and Matt W. Ransom, cast lots before Governor Graham, President Swain and Charles Manly; the Philanthropic won the east side and the Dialectic the west, and South Building rooms facing north went to the Phis and those facing south to the Dis. The arrangement lasted until 1868. People: Matt W. Ransom, William A. Graham, David L. Swain, Charles Manly Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 513
    4. Albert joins his brother Osborne to plaster the halls at the university Cosby sent Albert from Smithfield in Virginia to Chapel Hill, where Osborne was already at work on the additions to Old East and Old West. Albert carried a letter to university president David L. Swain saying he came to help his brother plaster the halls and would judge the sand to be used together with Osborne. People: Dabney Cosby, David L. Swain UNC Libraries, Slavery and the Making of the University: Dabney Cosby to David L. Swain, 11 May 1846
    5. Free Black cabinetmaker Thomas Day supplies woodwork and furniture for the new society halls Thomas Day, the free Black cabinetmaker of Milton, North Carolina, supplied woodwork and furniture for the halls and libraries of the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies in A. J. Davis's north additions to Old East and Old West. Little names him, with the Virginia builder Dabney Cosby, among the craftsmen who carried out Davis's design. People: Thomas Day, Dabney Cosby NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 23
    6. Literary societies move into new halls in the enlarged Old East and Old West The northward extensions of Old East and Old West, designed by A. J. Davis and built by Isaac J. Collier and Kendall B. Waitt for $9,360, were finished in 1848 with debating halls and library alcoves for the two societies. At the Dialectic opening James Mebane, the society's first president in 1795, sat beside the student president, Kemp P. Battle. People: Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, Alexander Jackson Davis, Kemp Plummer Battle, Isaac J. Collier, Samuel Field Phillips, James Mebane, Kendall B. Waitt Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 513
    7. A lamp fire sets a student's room ablaze in the East Building Late on the night of July 29, 1849, a student refilling a burning lamp with oil or camphine set his bed and the ceiling of his room in the East Building afire. The blaze was seen from the South Building, and Thomas M. Garrett, who roomed next door, put it out with water before it spread through a building where fifty students slept. Internet Archive: Thomas Miles Garrett, Diary (1849), ed. John Bowen Hamilton, North Carolina Historical Review 38 (1961), p. 260
    8. University library moved from South Building to Smith Hall The university's books were taken from the president's lecture room in South Building to the new Smith Hall, and Hubbard, Charles Phillips and the librarian were told to prepare a catalogue. At the start of the Civil War the books were stored in a room of the East Building. People: Charles Phillips, Fordyce M. Hubbard Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 634
    9. 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. 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
    10. University Day is established At Kemp P. Battle's request, seconded by Zebulon B. Vance, the executive committee in September 1877 made October 12, the anniversary of the laying of Old East's cornerstone in 1793, a permanent holiday. At the first observance in Gerrard Hall on October 12, 1877, decorated by Cornelia Phillips Spencer and village women, Battle spoke on the charter and the cornerstone. People: Zebulon B. Vance, Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Kemp Plummer Battle Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 135 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 12, 1983, p. 1
    11. A brass plate from the Old East cornerstone is returned on University Day University Day, October 12, 1916, brought back a brass plate that had once been part of the Old East cornerstone. A Tennessee foundry owner had found it in a pile of scrap metal, and how it got there was unknown. Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 127 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 12, 1977, p. 3; The Daily Tar Heel, October 12, 1993, p. 8
    12. Firemen put out a fire in the basement of Old East The Chapel Hill firemen were called about 12:40 in the morning to a fire in the basement of Old East, the University's oldest building, and put it out before it did much damage. The News credited the town's new equipment and its volunteer firemen. The News (Chapel Hill), March 9, 1922, p. 1
    13. Atwood and Nash rebuild Old East inside a fireproof concrete frame When workmen tore out the inside of Old East in the summer of 1923, they found the outer walls out of plumb, and the building was pronounced unsafe. The trustees' building committee decided in July to save it, and the firm of Atwood and Nash put a fireproof concrete frame inside the building, restored its eastern porches and left the outside lines unchanged. The Weekly reported in September that the middle and southern sections would not be ready until Christmas 1923. It was back in use as a dormitory by 1925. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Old East, National Register nomination (OR0013), p. 2 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 5, 1923, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 26, 1923, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 6, 1923, p. 1
    14. Old East is condemned as unsafe Workmen tearing out the interior of the university's first building to remodel it as a modern dormitory found some of its walls bowed as much as three inches out of plumb. They were ordered out and the public kept away while the trustees' building committee met, and by late July the committee had decided to save the building. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Old East, National Register nomination (OR0013), p. 2 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 5, 1923, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 26, 1923, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 6, 1923, p. 1
    15. Nash renovates South Building and adds its portico Nash carried out the renovation of South Building and added the portico in 1926 and 1927, part of his remodelling of older campus buildings that also took in Old East, Old West and Gerrard Hall. NCSU Libraries, North Carolina Architects and Builders: Nash, Arthur C. (1871-1969) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 26, 1926, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 20, 1926, p. 1
    16. UNC marks 150 years since the Old East cornerstone was laid On October 12, 1943, the University of North Carolina celebrated the 150th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Old East, its oldest building. President Frank Porter Graham and President Harold W. Dodds of Princeton University gave the addresses. People: Frank Porter Graham Internet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 21 (1944), p. 90 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, October 15, 1943, p. 1
    17. Old East receives its National Historic Landmark certificate and plaque At the University Day ceremony, Deputy Under Secretary of the Interior Robert M. Mangan, a former UNC graduate student, presented Chancellor Sitterson a certificate and plaque designating Old East, the oldest state university building in the nation, a National Historic Landmark. Residents of Old West hung a fifty-foot sign making fun of the honor, which campus police had cut down before the ceremony began. People: J. Carlyle Sitterson The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1966, p. 1
    18. Old East is listed in the National Register On October 15, 1966 the National Park Service listed Old East in Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places. NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, Orange County · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Old East, National Register nomination (OR0013)
    19. UNC trustees vote that Old East and Old West remain residence halls The UNC Board of Trustees unanimously passed a motion that Old East and Old West continue as residence halls, answering reports that the two oldest buildings might be turned into offices if renovation proved too costly. At the same meeting the board raised campus parking permit and meter rates for 1986-87 and swore in Student Body President Bryan Hassel as an ex officio member. People: Richard H. Jenrette The Daily Tar Heel, March 3, 1986, p. 1
    20. A University task force sends three renovation options for Old East and Old West to the architects A ten-member task force sent Dodge and Associates of Raleigh three options for the two oldest residence halls: upgrading them as dormitories, upgrading them with fewer beds and added common space, or also giving part of Old East to academic programs with a historical theme such as an honors program. The Daily Tar Heel, November 25, 1986, p. 1
    21. A task force recommends renovating Old East and Old West as residence halls The Old East-Old West task force recommended that the two historic buildings be renovated as residence halls with common rooms and possibly faculty offices, making no recommendation on use by the Honors Program; the plan went to Dean Donald Boulton, the chancellor and the trustees' Oct. 22 meeting. The Daily Tar Heel, October 2, 1987, p. 1
    22. UNC trustees choose Dodge and Associates to renovate Old East and Old West The UNC Board of Trustees approved the Raleigh firm Dodge and Associates as architects for renovating Old East and Old West residence halls, a projected $4,097,000 job to be finished by summer 1993, in time for the 200th anniversary of the laying of the Old East cornerstone. The Daily Tar Heel, February 12, 1990, p. 3
    23. Old East and Old West close for renovation By September 11, 1991, Old East Residence Hall was closed and roped off while special contractors removed asbestos from around its pipes, the first step of a $4.2 million renovation of Old East and Old West. The work, paid with $1.2 million in housing funds and $3 million in bicentennial money, was to add elevators and new wiring and plumbing, and both halls were to reopen in 1993. The Daily Tar Heel, September 11, 1991, p. 3
    24. UNC keeps Old East and Old West as men's residence halls after their renovation University housing director Wayne Kuncl said Old East and Old West would remain all-male when they reopened after renovation, after women in Kenan, Alderman and McIver halls circulated petitions against making either one a women's hall. The Daily Tar Heel's editors criticized the decision on February 4 as keeping a tradition rooted in the years when women could not attend UNC. The Daily Tar Heel, January 31, 1992, p. 1
    25. Rot and damage push back the Old East and Old West renovation Rotting woodwork, damaged joists and failing chimneys found during the renovation of Old East and Old West pushed completion from February to April 1993, UNC officials said in November 1992. The work, begun in spring 1991, was 65 to 70 percent done; the halls were to reopen as men's dorms in fall 1993, with a rededication on October 12, 1993, opening the Bicentennial. The Daily Tar Heel, November 6, 1992, p. 3
    26. UNC chooses 97 men by lottery to live in the renovated Old East and Old West University housing drew 97 of 236 applicants to live in the two oldest dormitories when they reopened in fall 1993 for the Bicentennial, after two years of renovation that added elevators and new bathrooms while keeping the old framework. The Daily Tar Heel, March 5, 1993, p. 3
    27. Old East and Old West reopen as residence halls after their renovation Old East and Old West reopened to students as residence halls in the week of August 16, 1993, after two years and $4.6 million of renovation for the University's Bicentennial, as halls for men only; a Daily Tar Heel editorial asked the University to open them to women. During the work a crew had found a 1923 time capsule in a wall of Old West. The Daily Tar Heel, August 26, 1993, p. 14 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, September 17, 1993, p. 3
    28. UNC and Chapel Hill celebrate their bicentennial UNC marked 200 years since the laying of Old East's cornerstone with a Bicentennial Convocation in Kenan Stadium, where President Bill Clinton spoke to about 45,000 people. The town dedicated Michael Brown's mural of the October 12, 1793, lot auction at the Franklin Street post office. People: Bill Clinton The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1993, p. 1: Clinton Calls for Courage to Change America

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