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Old West

Old West

Completed in 1823 as a companion to Old East, located to the west of the Old Well. Construction was under the direction of architect William Nichols, who also designed a third floor for Old East at the same time to make the buildings match. Nichols and architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who oversaw an addition and renovation in 1848, used enslaved laborers on this construction. In the 1880s Old West was home to the North Carolina Historical Society for a brief period. It also housed faculty offices and lecture rooms for the early medical school faculty, making it the first building used exclusively for medical instruction in Chapel Hill.

Old East and Old West have undergone multiple repairs and renovations over the years. A major restoration project in the mid-1990s removed virtually all of the interiors and restored the exteriors to resemble their 1848 appearance.


Date Established: 1822

Date Range: 1822 – Present

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