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Throwback Thursday

I thought I would do a Throwback Thursday article. This is a popular thing to do on Facebook, and yes I have commented on a picture or thrown a picture or two in myself. Today I am showing a place in an old photograph and what it looks like today. All older photographs are from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library or the Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission and the newer photos have been taken by me.

Today, let us look at the intersection of 4th Street and Queens Road, which is the entrance to Myers Park. Back when this photo was taken, the tree cover had not been planted yet:

Entrance to Myers Park (1912). Picture courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

According to the library, the trolley entrance was designed by John Nolen and built by the Stephens Company of Winnsboro, South Carolina. Here what it looks like today:

Queens at 4th Street 2015. Picture taken by the author.

While the trolley entrance is long gone, the two shelters are still there. Please look for another entry next Thursday when I show you a location from the past and what it looks like now.

1 Comment

Posted by mariaperry1 on February 26, 2015 in History, Neighborhoods

Tags: Myers Park, Streets, trolley cars

Image

Belgrave Pavement

12 Feb

No I am not kidding, I was looking for anything that may give me a clue as to the location of Wream Field, home of the Charlotte Hornets from 1908-1948 before the owners built Crockett Park (another lost treasure, which I will explore in another article) when I found this on a 1935 Charlotte City Map:

Okay, most of us are familiar with street naming, like Avenue, Street, Boulevard, and even some alleys from the early days of Charlotte but this one threw me for a loop. Located in Dilworth, which is one of Charlotte’s earliest suburbs, similar to Myers Park was a planned neighborhood with wide winding streets with names such as Berkley, Romany and Buchanan centered around Latta Park, named for Edward Dilworth Latta, Founder and President of the 4C’s Company (Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company) and designed by the Olmsted brothers, one of the first architects and city planners who also designed Central Park in New York City.

Now known as Belgrave Place, it runs between Berkley Avenue and Romany Road ending at Latta Park. Like many streets in Dilworth it is a tree lined peaceful street with speed humps and large houses of which many were built around the turn of the last century with some modern built homes which for the most of them they were designed to fit into the neighborhood.

Belgrave Place. Image courtesy of Google Earth 2015

If you want to learn more about the Dilworth Neighborhood, Edward Latta or about how our neighborhoods got started, please check out:

Sorting out the New South City by Dan Morrill (1998 University of North Carolina Press). This can be ordered at Park Road Books located in the Park Road Shopping Center. Written by the Historian at the Levine Museum of the New South located on North College Street, this was actually his doctoral dissertation and is a well written and through look at how Charlotte’s neighborhoods were shaped not only by geography, but politics and history.

1 Comment

Posted by mariaperry1 on February 12, 2015 in History, Neighborhoods, Places, Streets

Tags: 4C's, Dan Morrill, Dilworth, Edward Dilworth Latta, Latta Park, Streets

What is the name of this street now?

19 Jan

I had seen an report about a year ago on our local ABC affiliate about a forgotten cemetery located in Southwest Charlotte. The story stated that it was a slave cemetery owned by the Shuman Family. Now back around the 1930’s and 1940’s this street went by Shuman Avenue. The name changed sometime during the 1950’s. Do you know what the street is known as now?

Shuman Avenue 1935. Courtesy Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room (cmlibrary.org)

1 Comment

Posted by mariaperry1 on January 19, 2015 in Places, Streets, Uncategorized

Tags: forgotten cemetery, Maps, Shuman, Shuman Family, Streets

Where did part of North Myers Street go?

01 Jan

I was doing so research into my next entry about the old Abbie’s Apartment House which was listed in the 1957 Hills Charlotte City Directory as the “finest hotel for Negros”. As many of you know, this was during the Jim Crow era which by law and custom, travelers had to stay in separate hotels. White travelers could stay in the Hotel Charlotte or the Barringer Hotel which blacks had to stay at the Hotel Alexander or the Ebony Guest House. But when I went to photograph where the hotel was located at 516 North Myers Street, I found this:

This would have been the 500 block – the street was removed during urban renewal. Photo taken by the author on December 31, 2014.

Which leads me to another question, why was this part of North Myers Street taken out? This area, known as First Ward could count as its residents people such as Bishop George Clinton of the AME Zion Church, Thad Tate who not only had a successful barber shop, but also co-founded several business’ including the Mecklenburg Investment Company. But, I am digressing somewhat and let me get back to my original question.

According to a 1935 Charlotte City map, Myers Street extended north to 12th Street:

1935 Charlotte City Map Courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

The street was still complete in a 1962 map, but by the early 1980’s, the 500 block was gone.

While Charlotte has bulldozed not only buildings but also its streets to accommodate the city’s growth. Streets that people may remember from the 1940s and 1950s may have had their routes or names changed or eliminated altogether. While most people that visit our city often complain about streets that change names sometimes in the middle of an intersection (think of the intersection of Woodlawn Road at South Tryon Street, Woodlawn Road turns into the Billy Graham Parkway). I’ll be exploring more streets in upcoming entries that have either been plowed under in the name of progress, changed names or had their route changed due to progress.

I hope you will take this journey with me.

Happy New Year!

Lost Charlotte

Tag Archives: Streets

Throwback Thursday

Belgrave Pavement

What is the name of this street now?

Where did part of North Myers Street go?

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