[Justadude]

There's been a lot of discussion lately about old vs. new in Charlotte. Someone suggested making a thread dedicated specifically to older buildings in the city, and I think that's a great idea. So, in lieu of actually being able to hit the streets with a camera, I scoured the net for what I could find of old buildings around the city.

This list is not anywhere near complete, but I hope it's representative. I'd like to have more wide-angle shots of neighborhoods, but I did what I could. Most of what's on here is in the middle of the city, especially inside the 277 loop.

None of these are my own pics; all are linked to other websites. I take no credit for anything other than consolidating them into one place. The biggest contributor was the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Association at http://www.cmhpf.org/index.html, which has many many more pics of old residences, mills and such. Some of you will recognize your own pics in here, linked from other threads.

I hope this will be a helpful thread to those who have only seen the business district and new development. Eventually I'm gonna get out there and get photos of Central, Thomas, East/West and other old-development streets.

First National Bank Building

Mayfair Hotel 1929

Johnston Building 1924

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Plant 1930

Federal Reserve Bank 1942, heightened 1956

Charlotte Water Works 1924

Builders’ Building 1927

Latta Arcade 1914

Charlotte City Hall 1925

Mint Museum of Art 1837

Ivey’s Department Store 1924

Ratcliffe Flower Shop 1929

Carnegie Library (J.C. Smith University) 1911

St. Peter’s Catholic Church 1878

First Presbyterian Church 18??

First United Presbyterian Church 1893

First United Methodist Church 1926

First Baptist Church 1908

Steele Creek Presbyterian Church 1889

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church 1893

First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church 1926

East Avenue Tabernacle ARP Church 1914

Addison Apartments 192?

Grace AME Zion Church 1902

Mt. Zion Lutheran Church 1896

Little Rock AME Zion Church 1911

Providence Presbyterian Church 1858

Myers Park Baptist

North Carolina Medical College 1907

Queens University of Charlotte: various early 20th c.

St. Peter’s Hospital 1892

Settler’s Cemetery 1776

Sugaw Creek Schoolhouse 1837

Charlotte Country Club 1931

Joseph Sykes Brothers Building 1926

Nebel Knitting Mill 1927

Nebel Mill Annex 1946

Old Mecklenburg Mill 1903

Hoskins Mill 1907

Textile Mill Supply Company 1922

Park Manufacturing Company 1896

The Miller House 1891

Leeper & Wyatt Store 1903

Century Building 1924

Pure Oil Gas Station 1936

The Double Door: opened in ’73, no clue when it was built

Mecklenburg Investment Company Building 1922

Hand Pharmacy 1912

The old Alpha Mill, 1888

Frederick Apartments 1927

Belk Mansion 1918

Duke Mansion 1915

W.H. Belk House 1924

Biberstein House 1905

Alexander House 1913

Scott-Hoke House 1901

Randolph Scott (the actor) house 1926

Major Alexander James House 1929
Fourth Ward:

Myers Park:

NoDa:

Please, add to this thread!

 

[uptownliving]

These can't be pics of Charlotte...we have no history!!! Blasphemy.

 

[TarheelsCubs]

Good job justadude,

You will never convince a certain someone from Birmingham anything. Charlotte has no history Charlotte just builds huge skyscrapers.

 

[Raleigh-NC]

Well done, Justadude kay: Glad to know all these old buildings of Charlotte still standing today. I will be visiting this thread in hope to see more, as I am sure additional photos will be posted.

 

[Style™]

adding my photos to this thread could prove to take forever.

i'll give it a try...later.

i must say, very nice thread!

 

[LSyd]

Good job justadude,

You will never convince a certain someone from Birmingham anything. Charlotte has no history Charlotte just builds huge skyscrapers.

:dunno: :hilarious :tongue2:

one of those pics is by me. :bash:

great thread.

i found this, which is pretty cool. reminds me of how Columbia looked at the same time...a couple high-rises, a big dome, churches.

1918 pano. this is from the top of the City Hall?

-

 

[teshadoh]

What is wild is Charlotte's Fourth Ward looks like some of Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward - especially around Auburn Avenue, otherwise like some of Grant Park:

 

[Justadude]

1918 pano. this is from the top of the City Hall? -

I'm not positive, but it looks like the roof in the lower left is that of City Hall.

Look how close those pastures are to the middle of the city! Apparently the NoDa area (at that time, simply North Charlotte) actually used to be a separate mill village with fields between it and the city. It is seriously freaking mind-blowing to stand in that area and try to imagine fields between yourself and BoA.

 

[astro]

Great pictures! Everyone knows Charlotte has great, new architecture, but great to see some of Charlotte's more preserved architecture.

 

[Justadude]

I had almost forgotten about this thread, but now that I have some of my own material (as opposed to hotlinking others) it's probably worth updating.

For those from out of town or unfamiliar with the setting and history of the city, it's worth noting that Charlotte was primarily a mill town from about 1850 to about 1950. Before banking became the driving force behind the economy, manufacturing and distribution of textiles and other products was the main source of money. As a result, mill villages surrounded the central business district. For the most part, they are still intact. Typically, a mill town would be a grid of streets filled with bungalows like this:

The older residential districts of Charlotte -- NoDa, Elizabeth, Cherry, and others -- are full of these old houses... in various states of repair. They are actually quite expensive in some places.
On a typical street you'll have at least a couple of larger houses that belonged to supervisors and other high-end mill workers:

In some places such houses congregated together (this was a later phase), but in most neighborhoods they are still mixed in with blue-collar homes.
Then, you have one or two large mansions that belonged to mill owners:

The example pics are from SouthEnd, but this pattern applies to most of Charlotte's old streetcar suburbs. Some districts are slightly different; Myers Park was designed for the relatively wealthy and has far more mansions than bungalows. Fourth Ward is slightly more dense and has more diversity of style. But by and large most of Charlotte's historic neighborhoods look about like this. Because the city boomed post-WWII and went straight into suburbanization, there are no old tenements and very few examples of old apartment buildings.

Anyway, here's some other miscellaneous stuff. Most is from inside the 277 loop, except for the pics from NoDa, Myers Park, Thomas St., and the Morehead St. area.

Brevard Court, the back end of Latta Arcade, 1914

The old Medical College, 1907

The Dunhill Hotel, formerly the Mayhill Manor, 1929

An old building overshadowed by the Hearst Tower

Old Federal-style courthouse building, 1918

NoDa, mostly late-1920s and earlier

The Mellow Mushroom in NoDa, formerly one hell of a house

Administrative Building at J.C. Smith (the pic does it no justice), 1883

Builders' Building, 1927

Carolina Theatre remains, 1927

Johnston Building, 1924

Bell tower of First United Methodist Church, 1927

The old Waterworks, a neat Art Deco building from 1924

Camden Square, formerly a block of 1920s textile mills

Formerly Frederick Apartments, Charlotte's first apartment building, 1927

SouthTrust Bank HQ, formerly the First National Bank Building, 1926

Fuzzy shot of the gargoyles

Not sure what this large old building was...

Settlers' Cemetery and First Presbyterian. The cemetery dates from before the Revolution, and the church from 1895

St. Pete's Episcopal, 1893

Myers Park Elementary School, ~1925

Myers Park mansions (there are waaay too many to get all of them, this is just a representative shot)

Myers Park Methodist, late 1920s

Myers Park Baptist

Statue of Diana, the unofficial emblem of Queens University

Fourth Ward houses

Uptown storefronts

Very old industrial shops near BoA Stadium. Despite promises that the stadium would cause a major boom in Third Ward, it's still surrounded by small industrial businesses like the steel shop to the left.

Similarly, the fate of this old development near the new arena is still unsure.

Victorian house w/ modern apartments in the background

Steeple of Covenant Presbyterian, 1895

Spirit Square, formerly First Baptist, 1908

Converted old mill buildings. Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of the adjacent Charlotte Cotton Mills, one of the original mills that put Charlotte on the regional map as a manufacturing center and recently converted for office space.

More conversions along Graham Street

Coke Plant, 1930

Library Main Branch, 1954

Mecklenburg-County Courthouse, 1925

Grinnell Company off Morehead, 1920s?

 

[Matthew]

Some of these buildings are demolished!

Demolished in 1997 or 1998 for Three Wachovia Tower

Demolished around 1999 or 2000 for The Arlington Condo Tower. It was a burned-out shell around the time of its demolition.

Others are improperly labeled.

This is the BellSouth Building. It was originally 4 stories and was built around 1929-1930. It was expanded in 1947, if I remember correctly?

The Double Door Inn was built sometime between 1925-1935 as a single family home.

 

[SChristopher]

Awesome pictures, gives you a different angle on Charlotte.

 

[Raleigh-NC]

Great additions to the original thread kay: I think that Charlotte's older buildings are simply overshadowed by the modern ones, but we can't say that Charlotte has lost all of its older charm. There may be a day when all those historic structures will get the necessary facelift and upgrades that will place them in the front burner again. Still, it will be hard to ignore the modern skyscrapers in favor of the older gems, I am afraid. Maybe some infills that emphasize architecture from yesteryears could help the visitors focus on the older structures...

 

[Justadude]

This is the BellSouth Building. It was originally 4 stories and was built around 1929-1930. It was expanded in 1947, if I remember correctly?

Are you sure? I may have mislabeled it, but it looks a lot more like the Builders' Building:

than the Bellsouth Building:

 

[Matthew]

No, it's a different building. Charlotte has two BellSouth Buildings. One built in 1929 and the other built in 1995.

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=211009

This is a great thread. I enjoyed the photos of old buildings and houses. It is a side of Charlotte not seen too often on the forums. I think the new buildings give Charlotte it's own unique feel and identity though.

http://www.pbase.com/mcc2000/image/42154115.jpg
I've read the Hall House (link above) built in 1940 is in danger of demolition by Bank of America for a possible 40 storey tower at the other forum? Anyone know if this is true or not? This is one of my favorite Charlotte buildings. It actually looks taller than it is when you drive into Uptown on North Tryon. I think it can be incorporated into a 40 storey tower and saved.

 

[atlrvr]

The hall house is now not included in the proposed tower. It will only occupy a parking lot and 1960's 2 story building that has a art gallery and police station. The project should be officially announced within the next month.

 

[Justadude]

No, it's a different building. Charlotte has two BellSouth Buildings. One built in 1929 and the other built in 1995.

Ed McMahon voice You are correct sir! For what it's worth, here's a drive-by of the real Builders' Building (can't say that name enough) from this afternoon:

I think the new buildings give Charlotte it's own unique feel and identity though.

I feel the same way. Charlotte's got some nice older architecture, but its signature is the modern stuff. Almost all of the historic buildings are under 5 stories tall, which tells you something about how small a city Charlotte was up until it started plopping skyscrapers everywhere. It doesn't have that mid-range level of historic development, 5 to 12 stories, that most large cities have. It's very easy to spend a day in Uptown and not really even notice the old 2- and 3- story buildings tucked away between the highrises. That gives the city an unusual feel, especially to people used to older city centers.

Maybe some infills that emphasize architecture from yesteryears could help the visitors focus on the older structures...

It's starting to happen a bit already. Almost all new development inside the 277 loop is done in brick, which matches the exteriors of most of the old mill and office buildings. Also, the city's been very proactive in demanding architectural compromises from developers. Examples include the Mellow Mushroom below, and a freestanding Eckerd off Providence Road that was built to match a nearby historic building.

Speaking of which, here is a current shot of that Graham Street mill conversion:

Also, I found a good skyline shot from the mid-1920s on the CMHPF site:

Things had hardly changed by the late '40s:

This was definitely a low-rise city for a long time.

 

[QueenCityDrag]

I went to the elementary school about 20 pics up. It was originally a one story building with a bomb shelter under it. The bomb shelter was converted into the cafeteria, and they always left the biohazard sign above the 1st floor door (which of course no kid could ignore, ah the rumours)

you could do a whole thread on Queens Rd. West

 

[Justadude]

Here are a few more:

Charlotte Cotton Mills, 1881. This was a major player in Charlotte's history, starting a mill boom that put Charlotte on the map as a regional city. Thankfully it was taken care of and is now converted to lofts.

Tryon Street restaurants and other shopping. This block gives us just a little glimpse of what Tryon St. looked like in the early 20th century.

This development on W Morehead St. near the stadium screams: "Buy me! Renovate me! Gentrify me!". This and the adjacent blocks are beginning to look a little like Thomas St.

 

[Justadude]

These are more photographs pulled from the website of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commision. This is basically a collection of panos and wide-angle shots of Uptown and its surrounding neighborhoods, to give a general "feel" for what those areas were like 75+ years ago. I can't recommend the CMHPF website highly enough for this sort of material, as this represents only a very small fraction of their collection.

The city skyline, viewed from Myers Park sometime in the early 20th C.

Early aerial of Uptown in the '20s.

Uptown in 1924.

Manufacturing companies in Dilworth. The neighborhood has improved somewhat

I believe this is Dilworth Road, originally intended to be a primary boulevard for streetcars.

Myers Park in its infancy.

This is old Elizabeth College, which was replaced by Presbyterian hospital when it moved to Virginia. It sits at the highest point in the Elizabeth neighborhood, today one of Charlotte's most eclectic former-streetcar-suburbs.

This photo was taken from in front of Atherton Mill, which is in today's South End. It's actually the final stop on the current streetcar line. The thought of cotton fields in South End is just baffling.

The Louise Mill (as in Louise St). I believe that the houses in the background are part of NoDa. At the time they constituted a small village of their own, commonly called North Charlotte.

Nearby, the Alpha Mill village that also makes up part of today's NoDa.

Chadwick Mill village, off Rozelle's Ferry Road in northwest Charlotte.

These shots are linked to http://www.cmstory.org, a project set up by the county library system to archive all sorts of historic information. Again, I would highly recommend a visit to their site.

Aerial views

Dilworth

Myers Park