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History of Charlotte


city123

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My brother in-law's family has a house on the Neuse River in Oriental.  It sadly had a 9 foot storm surge and their ground floor was flooded.  The good news is that they were planning on tearing down and rebuilding the house anyway in the next few weeks, so they might get some flood insurance proceeds out of it to fund the demo.  So, ultimately, this might work out ok for them.  Hoping the recovery is rapid for everyone else.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My parents lived in the neighborhood behind Bojangles Coliseum, their first house, near Monroe Road and Eastway. They were extremely lucky, that neighborhood had a lot of pine trees, and while the house was surrounded by fallen trees, the doghouse and shed were smashed, the house itself saw no damage whatsoever. They were some of the last people in the entire city to get power back, 28 days if I remember correctly. 

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1 minute ago, nakers2 said:

My parents lived in the neighborhood behind Bojangles Coliseum, their first house, near Monroe Road and Eastway. They were extremely lucky, that neighborhood had a lot of pine trees, and while the house was surrounded by fallen trees, the doghouse and shed were smashed, the house itself saw no damage whatsoever. They were some of the last people in the entire city to get power back, 28 days if I remember correctly. 

Was the dog ok?

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I teased this a month or two ago:

I moved to Charlotte in 19(wipes mouth) and was searching for a job. This included downtown Charlotte. All buses transferred at the square then, lots of bus traffic and passengers. I needed change to make a call from a pay phone and had none. I entered the Eckerd and the cashier had a sign that said NO CHANGE GIVEN meaning the register was for purchases not bus passengers. Foolishly I thought a young white man would be served. I placed a dollar on the counter and asked for change as I did not need it for the bus but for the pay phone that was in sight. "No change" he said. A short explanation brought the same response. There was penny candy at the register and I took one and offered my G Washington. He looked down at the dollar and the penny candy in my hand and said "Keep it." I took a second piece and he sneered "Keep it". I took a handful and turned and he said "Wait a minute" and made change for my purchase.

We were both between the bark and the tree.

That was the first and last time in the store for me. It was just as KJ has presented it hereabove. I believe his photo is from the overstreet connector from Belk to Ivey stores. Note that there is not a bus in sight at the square.

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10 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

I teased this a month or two ago:

I moved to Charlotte in 19(wipes mouth) and was searching for a job. This included downtown Charlotte. All buses transferred at the square then, lots of bus traffic and passengers. I needed change to make a call from a pay phone and had none. I entered the Eckerd and the cashier had a sign that said NO CHANGE GIVEN meaning the register was for purchases not bus passengers. Foolishly I thought a young white man would be served. I placed a dollar on the counter and asked for change as I did not need it for the bus but for the pay phone that was in sight. "No change" he said. A short explanation brought the same response. There was penny candy at the register and I took one and offered my G Washington. He looked down at the dollar and the penny candy in my hand and said "Keep it." I took a second piece and he sneered "Keep it". I took a handful and turned and he said "Wait a minute" and made change for my purchase.

We were both between the bark and the tree.

That was the first and last time in the store for me. It was just as KJ has presented it hereabove. I believe his photo is from the overstreet connector from Belk to Ivey stores. Note that there is not a bus in sight at the square.

This story makes me feel much less bad about that block being bulldozed for BAC CC and Blumenthal.

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Here is a couple an attorney and investor who have 3 historical buildings renovated and possibly saved due to their efforts.  

Subscriber story https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/10/01/photos-law-firm-to-move-uptown-after-couple-upfits.html

""Nicole and Ron Sodoma aren't setting out to save historic properties.  But the Sodomas today own three buildings that are more than a century old in Charlotte, a city frequently criticized for developers tearing down old structures to make way for new projects. The couple's holdings include the Walter Brem House on East Boulevard, the G.G. Galloway House on East Morehead and, as of this summer, a long-vacant, three-story commercial building near Graham and Sixth streets in uptown that was built in 1913.""

and here is the latest building next to the Charlotte Cotton Mills at 6th and Graham  I always thought this was apart of Charlotte Cotton Mills development but it seems to be surrounded by it instead.  Check out google maps for a shot of it. 

""It was the building at 217 Graham St. in uptown, near Sixth and Graham streets, a three-story, 18,270-square-foot brick building that's been mostly unoccupied for years — in fact, furniture dating to the mid-20th century is collecting dust in a vacant office on the ground floor.""

One couple is making a difference too bad some of the big developers don't follow suit as much as they could. 

Edited by KJHburg
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We should start re-taking identical shots of some of these old photos with existing landmarks (like the Ivey’s Building) today so people can re-re-take them 100 years from now, just in case the old existing landmarks don’t make it. 

 

#showerthoughts

 

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I'm new on here though I've been observing from afar for years. I remember some of these old structures from when I was growing up in the 70s. They are gone. I always wondered back then why Charlotte was all parking lots, where was the old part of the city. I've collected a lot of photos over the years of old Charlotte. It amazes me what is lost. There was another city here before the current one. All gone. The few remaining structures tell little of the story. Urban renewal.

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Uptown has always been the oldest part of town but also under the most pressure to check and build anew.  We have some of our 1920s towers 3 of them but they just got lost in the forest of taller newer high rises.  Johnston Bldg, Tryon Plaza and Dunhill and of course the Latta Arcade.  Unfortunately we can't change the past but we can save what we still have and we have some good ones left big and small but we need to protect them from the wrecking ball.  Some that we need to protect uptown the Mecklenburg Investment Bldg south Brevard and the Hall House and also the Coddington /Polk Building on West trade. 

Edited by KJHburg
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That first photo is The Addison, McDowell at Morehead and the view is from Dilworth Road. Addison built 1926 as residences for the affluent. This was pre-A/C thus awnings on the windows. It was converted to offices 20 some years ago and I knew a man whose office was there. He enjoyed the location but the conversion required modern wiring, communications, HVAC and thus ceilings are lower than contemporary buildings.

It appears to be the sole building extant of those pictured.

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