These grounds were the original Trinity College campus and preserve the bell, columns, and urns from that institution. The site’s educational history began with Brown’s School House, an elementary subscription school from 1832 to 1839, followed by Union Istitute Academy, a private academy from 1839 to 1851, and Normal College, a state affiliated training school for teachers from 1851 to 1859. From 1859 to 1892, Trinity College operated here as a liberal arts college controlled by the N. C. Conference of Methodist Espiscopal Church, South. In 1892, Trinity College moved to Durham and in 1924 became Duke University, and the place is dedicated to the memory of those who served the cause of education for the Trinity community and the State of North Carolina.