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13 <br />NPS dorm 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 <br />(8-86) . <br />United States Department oir the Interior <br />National Park Service <br />NATIORIAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES <br />CONTINUATION SHEET <br />Section 7 Page 2 ~ Murphey School <br />name of property <br />Orange County. NC <br />county and state <br />-- 6 <br />building. The one-story building has chip-on-hip roof covered in pressed metal shingles designed <br />to imitate terra cotta tiles and a projecting central hip roof front entrance on the north elevation. <br />Metal pinnacles on the roof ridgelines also imitating terra cotta tiles add additional ornamen#ation. <br />The ridgeline of the roof is covered temporarily with a long narrow section of metal roofing. <br />Groupings ofi four six-over-six wood sash windows flank the entrance section, which comprises <br />two arched nine-over-nine sash windows on either side of the front door. The window sills are <br />composed of rows of headers. Brick corner pilasters a# each corner of the entry bay and also at <br />the junctions of the entry bay and main facade complete the symmetry of the facade. The multi- <br />pane and paneled door has a wood surround and a tall arched transom that matches the arched <br />windows that flank it. The arches of the entry bay windows are connected by soldier-course <br />springers. At a later date (c. 1970-1990) a small porch not in keeping with the architectural style of <br />the building, was added over the front entrance; but it has since been removed. Concrete steps <br />lead up to the front door. At the southwest comer of the school building is a hip roof west wing <br />with a secondary entrance on its north elevation that also connects the main building to the <br />auditorium. This entrance also has a brick round arch with weatherboard infill in place of the . <br />transom over the multi-pane and paneled double-doors. The building is executed in brick veneer <br />laid in a running bond (frame construction underneath) separated from a continuous brick <br />foundation by asoldier-course water table. A soldier course also sits beneath the overhanging <br />wooden tongue-and-groove boxed eaves. The simple exterior wood trim is in keeping with the <br />style of small, rural consolidated schools. Original features such as the imitation terra cotta the <br />roof and the wrought iron hardware on the exterior front door hint at Spanish Revival-style <br />influences popular in the 1920s. The exterior of the school building is remarkably intact with very <br />few changes to original materials and architectural features. <br />The east elevation contains only two large door openings on the hip roof east wing projecting from <br />the southeast corner of the main block. Brick round arches surmount the doors and concrete steps <br />lead up to the doorways from the lawn. Brick pilasters flank each of the doors. The door opening <br />on the east elevation is now covered with T !II siding. According to oral sources, it possibly once <br />served as a side entrance or a drop-off point for children transported by bus. The doorway facing <br />north on the east elevation has also been filled with T-III siding, as well as atwo-over-finro <br />horizontal sash window. Overhanging wooden eaves provide shel#er and shade. <br />The south elevation is symmetrical, containing three groups of four six-over-six sash windows, <br />flanked by pairs of narrow four-over-four sash windows with brick pilasters separating and defining <br />each grouping into five sections on the rear elevation. In the center of the south elevation and <br />sitting partially below grade level is a damaged brick boiler room, square in shape, with an exterior <br />chimney that is stuccoed above the roof Line rising vertically through the eaves of the main <br />