The Burwell School is an American

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

and former school, located in Hillsborough,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. It is owned and operated by the Historic Hillsborough Commission, Inc., a North Carolina 501 (c) (3). The site is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and located in the

Hillsborough Historic District Hillsborough Historic District is a national historic district located at Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 529 contributing buildings, 9 contributing sites, 13 contributing structures, and 2 contributing obj ...

History

The house was first built in 1821 by Captain John Berry, a carpenter in the area. In 1835, Reverend Robert Burwell, his wife, Margaret Anna Burwell, and his two oldest children, Mary and John Bott, moved into the home after the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church bought the property to serve as a parsonage. Living with them was their slave Elizabeth Keckly (then Hobbes), who would as a free woman be known for her association with

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) served as First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Mary Lincoln was a member of a large and wealthy, slave-owning ...

. Two years later, James Webb approached Mrs. Burwell and asked her to educate his daughters. She agreed, and opened a school for young ladies in her home. The school ran from 1837 to 1857, and enrolled more than 200 girls over those twenty years. In 1848, the Burwells hired the home's original builder to expand the home after they purchased it from the church. After Reverend Burwell left his position with the church, he joined the school's teaching staff, which also included several graduates of the program. The Burwell School remained open for 20 years before they shifted their attention to founding a women's college in

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, North Carolina, that evolved to become

Queens University of Charlotte The Queens University of Charlotte is a private university in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has approximately 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students through the College of Arts and Sciences, the McColl School of Business, the Wayland H. Cato, ...

. In the years that followed, two notable families lived on the site: the Collins family from Edenton, North Carolina, and the Spurgeon Family, who were descendants of one of the Burwells' students. In 1964, the Historic Hillsborough Commission bought the property from the Spurgeon family and restored it to appear historically accurate for the antebellum period. The site is open to the public for tours and events.

References

External links

burwellschool.org
Burwell School Historic Site's official website {{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina 1837 establishments in North Carolina 1857 disestablishments in North Carolina Houses completed in 1821 Defunct schools in North Carolina Educational institutions established in 1837 Federal architecture in North Carolina Former school buildings in the United States Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Museums in Orange County, North Carolina Organizations disestablished in the 19th century Clergy houses in the United States Schools in Orange County, North Carolina Hillsborough, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, North Carolina Houses in Orange County, North Carolina Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in North Carolina

History

See also

References

External links