North Carolina

St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is one of the oldest Episcopal churches in North Carolina built for a Black congregation. It traces its beginnings to the Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, which was founded in 1794 by members of the Free African Society. In 1863, during the Union Army occupation, AME churches began forming in the South, and by the end of the war, AME churches were established in several North Carolina locations: New Bern, Washington, Roanoke Island, and Charlotte.

The Burgwin-Wright House is the largest and most imposing of the few extant Georgian houses in Wilmington. It is situated in the heart of what is now the Wilmington Historic District, just two blocks east of Front Street.

St. James Episcopal Church is a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture in eastern North Carolina. It sits on a prominent corner site two blocks from Front Street in what is now the Wilmington Historic District.

The Temple of Israel is the first permanent synagogue in North Carolina, home to the oldest surviving congregation of Jewish residents in the state, and one of few congregations in the U.S. still gathering in its original nineteenth-century building. The Moorish Revival structure is located in the heart of downtown Wilmington, at the corner of South Fourth and Market streets, and is distinguished by its onion domes sitting atop square towers.

Old East is the oldest building on the University of North Carolina (UNC) campus. Along with the South Building (1814) and Old West (1823), these early buildings provide a terminus to the south end of the main campus quad, now known as McCorkle Place. The three buildings currently congregate around the Old Well, a diminutive but iconic symbol for the university.

Thalian Hall was built to house both a performance center and the Wilmington city hall. The combination building type was not uncommon in North Carolina; at one time or another, Durham, Greensboro, High Point, Raleigh, Smithfield, Tarboro, Warrenton, and other towns had similar hybrid structures. Located on a downtown city block, between Princess, Chestnut, and North Third and Fourth streets, City Hall occupies the front or western portion of the original L-shaped building, with a grand, two-story portico facing North Third.

The Louis Round Wilson Library on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus symbolizes early-twentieth-century progressive educational intentions. Designed by prominent New York firm McKim, Mead and White, the classical design indicates the elevated stature of the university as a major institute of learning. The edifice was an integral part of the university’s campus expansion to the south of the main quad.

The Playmakers Theatre is one of the architectural treasures of the University of North Carolina campus. Designed by Town and Davis, the building resembles a Greek temple. It sits on the northeast corner of Polk Place, a quad that includes other historically important buildings such as Wilson Library, and is adjacent to the South Building (now the main administration building) on a prominent site within the central part of campus.

Ayr Mount is the first major residence built of brick in the area surrounding Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Penderlea is the most complete remaining example of New Deal subsistence homesteads in North Carolina. Its origins date to 1906, when Wilmington businessman Hugh MacRae (1865–1951) purchased 10,000 acres in Pender County as part of his larger initiative to establish farm cities. In 1921, MacRae founded the Farm Cities Corporation of America and, on the advice of British planner Thomas Adams, hired John Nolen design a landscape plan.