Completed in 1923, it was the first brick building on the university's campus, then known as the Cherokee Indian Normal School of Robeson County.

[3] The building hosted twelve classrooms, an auditorium that could seat several hundred people, two offices, four toilets, and a picture booth.

[4] It was used over subsequent decades for school events as well as private functions including musical performances and funerals of community leaders.

Clifton Oxendine, a professor, stated he coined the term "Old Main" after the move, in homage to a building with the same name at his alma mater, McKendree College.

[4] By the 1970s, Old Main was the oldest standing structure on the university campus, and had become dilapidated, suffering from a leaking roof and a termite infestation.

[7] In June, Republican gubernatorial candidate James Holshouser visited Pembroke and offered his support to the renovation of the original building.

[11] The Robeson County Sheriff's Department investigated the building and observed that a latch had been forced off of a rear door and fires had been set in at least seven places.

[12] Standing with Locklear in front of the smoldering ruins, he addressed an indigenous crowd, offering a $5,000 reward for whoever could identify the arsonist responsible for the fire.