The Alvin Bynum house was built about 1875, according to John London in his book Bygones and Survivors: Old Homes and Structures in and around Pittsboro, 1787-1900. Bynum was in partnership with William Lord London in building Chatham County's fourth courthouse in 1881.

   
Probably the most ornate home in Pittsboro, it is the only house known to have had a mansard roof. Later owned by J. C. Lanius, the house was located on West Salisbury Street, half a block west of Hillsboro. It was demolished in the 1960s or 1970s when a chain grocery store was built on the site.

   
This photograph, taken in 1954, was donated to the Chatham County Historical Association by Jonathan Manning.