History of Charlotte

[NCMike1990]

8 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Yoy must just be looming at certain areas. That's just the standard circumstance of roads only having so much ROW? If a road in Charlotte has space you'd better believe it has a turning lane!

The places I tend to see it the least is when the ROW either allows 4 general lanes or 2 general lanes and a turn lane.

Thanks for the explanation. I was talking about some of the major roads, or at least long sections, that have no center turn lane, e.g. Tryon, South Blvd., Graham and Central Ave. Now, when I look at a city like Greensboro, it seems like most of their roads have center turn lanes. Generally speaking, Greensboro's streets just seem wider than Charlotte. Am I looking at this wrong?

[SgtCampsalot]

17 minutes ago, NCMike1990 said:

Thanks for the explanation. I was talking about some of the major roads, or at least long sections, that have no center turn lane, e.g. Tryon, South Blvd., Graham and Central Ave. Now, when I look at a city like Greensboro, it seems like most of their roads have center turn lanes. Generally speaking, Greensboro's streets just seem wider than Charlotte. Am I looking at this wrong?

Tragic lack of ROW 

[NCMike1990]

Tragic

[nakers2]

6 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Yoy must just be looming at certain areas. That's just the standard circumstance of roads only having so much ROW? If a road in Charlotte has space you'd better believe it has a turning lane!

The places I tend to see it the least is when the ROW either allows 4 general lanes or 2 general lanes and a turn lane.

I think he's referring to a continuous center turn lane, not turn lanes at intersections or breaks in the median. Kind of a 'refuge' in the center of the road, usually bordered by yellow lines on each side with dual directional arrows which allows you to turn left at any point along the roadway (I.E. not U turns.) And on the assumption that is what he meant, I will attempt to answer the question he presented. 

The big one on streets like Graham is because of space, I can hardly manage to pass anything larger than a big sedan on that road because of how narrow the lanes are, perhaps creating reversible lanes (two going inbound, with one center turn lane and one outbound lane in the morning, and switch in the evening) or a road diet with two lanes and a center turn lane as well as bike lanes would allow for this, but as was said, the ROW on Graham makes any turn lanes difficult without some major work. On other roads in Charlotte, the lack of a center turn lane really comes down to traffic flow. By having a hard center median you force traffic from smaller shopping centers and businesses, apartment complexes, etc, to make a right and execute a U turn at the nearest point possible. Inconvenient for the individual, but better for traffic flow as a whole. You typically see the center turn lanes in smaller towns and cities where traffic is rarely heavy enough to warrant a hard median and left turns can be safely executed at any point, The same concept goes for traffic leaving the roadway, in Charlotte traffic the free flowing right turn is king, imagine two popular businesses, one one the north side of the road, the other on the south side, if the freedom of choice allowed by a center turn lane were given to motorists, the congestion and potential for accidents would be high because there is no "control" over the exact point at which a car must position itself to make the necessary turn across traffic.  

[CLTranspo]

In general NCDOT is moving away from two-way left turn lanes (TWLTL’s) -also called suicide lanes- due to the higher crash rate associated with them. They greatly increase the number of conflict points on a roadway, and having them on high volume corridors, particularly roadways with four lanes or greater,  is seen as a bad decision. However, converting four-lane roadways to two-lane roadways with bike lines and a TWLTL is seen as appropriate for streets such as East Blvd, if they have a desirable range of daily volumes for the “road diet” conversion. 

[Windsurfer]

8 minutes ago, CLTranspo said:

In general NCDOT is moving away from two-way left turn lanes (TWLTL’s) -also called suicide lanes- due to the higher crash rate associated with them. They greatly increase the number of conflict points on a roadway, and having them on high volume corridors, particularly roadways with four lanes or greater,  is seen as a bad decision. However, converting four-lane roadways to two-lane roadways with bike lines and a TWLTL is seen as appropriate for streets such as East Blvd, if they have a desirable range of daily volumes for the “road diet” conversion. 

Very nice, re "suicide lanes", but by the same token I"m seeing more and more of those double U turn lanes like the ones at Poplar Tent and Odell.  There are two (on Poplar Tent) even though many do the illegal U turn at Odell. All this because of no left turns at the stop light. I guess I"m fine with turning right and driving 1/4 mile to make a U turn, but the double lanes, which are necessary for the volume of traffic, must cause some bumps farther down, no?

The Statesville  Rd 1/4 mile road diet just below Atando makes NO SENSE to me. I drive it several times a day and get blocked by buses that don't have turnout lanes, and drivers rushing to merge ahead of the 'diet'.  Working on Statesville Ave, I can tell you that, MAYBE 4 bikers use the road a day.   Arrgh. 

[CLTranspo]

The road design you’re referring to is called a super street. Yes, there are increasingly more of those in the state because they do reduce the number of conflict points and have much lower and less severe accident rates. However I do agree NCDOT is going a bit crazy with them. 

Also yes, I think it’s important to use road diets wisely and consistently within their context. Abrupt changes from one road type to another are almost never good for traffic flow. 

[QCxpat]

Charlotte has been called the "City without a past,"  a "Potemkin Village with a drawl," and "a bland bankers' paradise".    People can't seem to find Charlotte on a map.   Jerry Richardson, former NFL player and principal owner of the Carolina Panthers, said about his efforts to beat Baltimore, St. Louis, and Memphis for the team that would become the Carolina Panthers: "If you want to know the truth of the matter, people we are talking to really don't know where Charlotte is.  They can't get Charlotte straight from Charleston."   Folks constantly confuse the Queen City with Charleston, SC, or Charlottesville, VA, as in the following astonishing remark  made by an eminent historian originally from Chicago who received his Ph.D. at UNC-Chapel Hill:  “I didn’t know much about Charlotte.  Like most people, I knew it was a beautiful city on the South Carolina coast [wrong, Charleston] where the University of Virginia was [twice wrong  Charlottesville, VA].”  

Why don't most people know where Charlotte is?  Why is Charlotte, arguably, the least well-known of America's 25 largest cities?

One possible explanation -- Charlotte has saved very little of her cultural and architectural heritage.  Here's a partial inventory of Charlotte's demolished properties:

First Ward

• the imposing residence of the A.M.E. Zion bishop G.W. Clinton on North Myers Street
• Hotel Alexander on North McDowell where Louis Armstrong stayed when he played in Charlotte

Second Ward

• the wood-frame Myers Street Elementary School, Charlotte's first Black public school opened in 1882
• Second Ward High School, the city's only Black high school for many decades
• Charlotte's Black YMCA
• the Carnegie Library, the first public library for Blacks in North Carolina
• the 1926 Wilder Building at 237 South Tryon, demolished in 1983, a 10-story Neoclassical skyscraper
• C.C. Hook's 1913 Masonic Temple, demolished in 1987, with its enormous stone globes balanced on pylons flanking the entrance, an outstanding example of Egyptian Revival style architecture
• the 1942 Federal Reserve Bank, demolished in 1997, at 401 South Tryon, a crisply detailed blend of Art Deco and Neoclassical influences, which was an important factor in Charlotte's growth after the Second World War into a major banking center
• Urban Renewal demolished 1,480 structures, displacing 1,007 families, in Second Ward from 1960-1967.  Not a single new residential unit was built to replace the 1,480 structures demolished.

Third Ward

• the Piedmont and Northern depot and freight station 
• the Charlotte Supply Building at West First and Mint streets, a well-preserved warehouse building (the company was an important supplier of textile machinery to the region) 
• the 1924 Hotel Charlotte designed by architect William L. Stoddard, a 10-story Neoclassical structure with elegant terra cotta trim
•  the Victor Cotton Mill which opened in 1884 near the intersection of Clarkson and Westbrook Streets
• Good Samaritan Hospital built in the 1880s and reputedly the first privately funded Black hospital in the United States

Fourth Ward

• the Independence Building built in 1909 and demolished in 1981; it was NC's first skyscraper.
• Several hundred Victorian and Queen Anne style homes once stood in Fourth Ward.  About 40 of those houses have been retained.

By the end of the 1970s, Charlotte had created "acres of grass and parking" just as "... public officials slowly realized that there were not enough developers waiting in line for the glut of vacant Center City parcels, even at low prices."

Recently, @ricky_davis_fan_21 wrote a marvelous story for CharlotteFive entitled "The 22 Major Development Questions Charlotte faces in 2018".  He graciously invited his readers to submit additional questions.   Well, I'm hoping that he'll write a follow-up story about how a so-called "bland bankers' paradise with no unique character, no true soul, and no sense of place at all" managed to make a course correction so that most Americans finally knew how to find Charlotte on a map.  

Links:

(1) http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/charlotte_nc  --  Graves, Wm. and Smith, Heather A., Eds., Charlotte, NC, The Global Evolution of a New South City, University of Georgia Press, 2010, (Chapter by Matthew D. Lassiter “Searching for Respect: From New South to World Class at the Crossroads of the Carolinas”).

(2) http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/April-2015/The-Story-of-Charlotte-Part-12-Blotting-Out-the-Sun/ -- "The Story of Charlotte, Part 12: Blotting Out the Sun" by Chuck McShane, Charlotte Magazine, April, 2015.

(3) http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/mark-washburn/article56274945.html  -- "Charlotte historian Tom Hanchett's next chapter," The Charlotte Observer, 01/23/2016

(4) https://www.charlottefive.com/development-questions-charlotte/  -- "The 22 Major Development Questions Charlotte Faces in 2018" by Clayton Sealey,  CharlotteFive on 12/18/2017

Edited March 12, 2018 by QCxpat
Add a link

[Cadi40]

Hopefully Charlotte can create more culture, Sad we can't get what we've already destroyed, But it's not to late to create a cosmopolitan and desirable culture. 

[teeg]

18 hours ago, QCxpat said:

Charlotte has been called the "City without a past,"  a "Potemkin Village with a drawl," and "a bland bankers' paradise".    People can't seem to find Charlotte on a map.   Jerry Richardson, former NFL player and principal owner of the Carolina Panthers, said about his efforts to beat Baltimore, St. Louis, and Memphis for the team that would become the Carolina Panthers: "If you want to know the truth of the matter, people we are talking to really don't know where Charlotte is.  They can't get Charlotte straight from Charleston."   Folks constantly confuse the Queen City with Charleston, SC, or Charlottesville, VA, as in the following astonishing remark  made by an eminent historian originally from Chicago who received his Ph.D. at UNC-Chapel Hill:  “I didn’t know much about Charlotte.  Like most people, I knew it was a beautiful city on the South Carolina coast [wrong, Charleston] where the University of Virginia was [twice wrong  Charlottesville, VA].”  

Why don't most people know where Charlotte is?  Why is Charlotte, arguably, the least well-known of America's 25 largest cities?

One possible explanation -- Charlotte has saved very little of her cultural and architectural heritage. 

I don't want to say that you are overplaying the demolition card here, but I think you might be overlooking the fact that -- at the time -- Charlotte was actually not a very big city.   I know that we are the 18th largest city as of the 2010 census, but if you look back to the census just before the NFL expansion, in 1990 Charlotte was 35th (just a smidge bigger than Virginia Beach).  A decade earlier, it was 47th, edging out Omaha.  

I lived in Memphis during its bid for that NFL expansion team, and -- at the time -- all I knew about Charlotte was that sometimes people changed planes there.  But even having an airline hub was not all that special back then.  I could not have pinned Charlotte on a map.  It just was not that important of a city back then, at least compared to today.     

 

 

[RiverwoodCLT]

Remember the Chairs of Charlotte in 2001.

 

[archiham04]

On 3/10/2018 at 2:44 PM, teeg said:

I don't want to say that you are overplaying the demolition card here, but I think you might be overlooking the fact that -- at the time -- Charlotte was actually not a very big city.   I know that we are the 18th largest city as of the 2010 census, but if you look back to the census just before the NFL expansion, in 1990 Charlotte was 35th (just a smidge bigger than Virginia Beach).  A decade earlier, it was 47th, edging out Omaha.  

I lived in Memphis during its bid for that NFL expansion team, and -- at the time -- all I knew about Charlotte was that sometimes people changed planes there.  But even having an airline hub was not all that special back then.  I could not have pinned Charlotte on a map.  It just was not that important of a city back then, at least compared to today.     

 

 

I fell like I have been registering this point on numerous threads recently, but here we go again...   Charlotte is young, VERY young.  We have torn down buildings, but we didn't have that many buildings to begin with (comparatively speaking).  All of the other large cities have, in their first 100 years as a CITY (not a town)  torn down just as manyhistoric buildings as we have.   

People assume that downtown Charlotte was wall to wall commercial within the loop, but we tore it down.  It was not like that.  It was Trade, and Tryon, and a few developed intersections on the periphery. TINY.

We are a young up-in-coming city where people who move here can be a part of what it is, and it is to become.  We found that out after the DNC, but seem to be slipping back into our "who are we?" rut.  Get over it, and get out there people. 

Sorry, rant over.

Edited March 12, 2018 by archiham04

[Spartan]

 

On 3/5/2018 at 7:56 PM, NCMike1990 said:

Since we're talking about roads I have to ask why do so many of Charlotte's major streets lack center turn lanes? This is something that I've noticed from looking at Google Maps imagery. I don't live in Charlotte but it seems the lack of turn lanes would cause plenty of traffic headaches.

The short answer is that civil engineering has evolved over time to encourage more left turn lanes. Most of the roads inside of Route 4 were widened in the late 50s-70s, and thus they all look the same... and have the same problems. Traffic congestion is actually a fairly minor problem compared to the issues pedestrians and bicycles face trying to cross those streets.

 

 

[Exile]

On 3/10/2018 at 2:44 PM, teeg said:

I lived in Memphis during its bid for that NFL expansion team, and -- at the time -- all I knew about Charlotte was that sometimes people changed planes there.  But even having an airline hub was not all that special back then.  I could not have pinned Charlotte on a map.  It just was not that important of a city back then, at least compared to today.    

Yeah--having a hub was almost run-of-the-mill for cities of a certain size back in that day. I used to fly NWA through MEM to various European destinations. But think of all the de-hubbed airports: RDU, BNA, STL, MEM, CVG, PIT. Those are the ones that come to me immediately. After all that airport carnage, CLT's AA fortress is something remarkable.

[QCxpat]

Tomorrow, Friday, March 16, 2018, is another Red Letter day for Charlotte as it celebrates the opening of the 9.3 mile LYNX Blue Line Extension from the 7th Street Station in  Center City north to the UNC-Charlotte campus.   Link: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/long-awaited-lynx-blue-line-extension-opens-friday/715948577 -- Long Awaited Blue Line Extension Opens Friday," by John Paul,  WSOC-TV, March 15, 2018.

Photo Credit:  https://lightrail.uncc.edu/  -- "UNC-Charlotte: Light Rail Connects Us"

Historically, the rails have been the key transformative catalyst underlying Charlotte's emergence from back country village in the mid-19th century  to  one of the nation's leading commercial and financial centers in the early 21st century.  Here's a sample of what historians have said about the impact of railroads on the City of Charlotte's growth and development:  

"More than any other event, the arrival of the railroad in 1852 set Charlotte on its way to being the largest city in the Carolinas.  When the Charlotte and South Carolina completed its track up from Columbia in that year, it was one of the first railways in the western half of North Carolina.  Suddenly Charlotte had the advantage over the half-dozen similar sized villages in the region.  In 1854, the State of North Carolina began work on a state-owned railroad from Raleigh and Goldsboro to Charlotte, in part to connect the eastern cities with the railroad to Columbia.  This North Carolina Railroad, passing through Greensboro and Salisbury, made Charlotte an important railroad junction.  It also made the city for the first time truly a part of North Carolina, for it was finally as easy to go east to Raleigh as it had been to go south down the river valleys to Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina."   ...   "Up to the year 1852, the cotton raised in the vicinity of Charlotte  ...  not consumed immediately through the aid of the old fashioned loom, wheel and cards was forced to seek a market  ...  by being hauled to Fayetteville, Camden, Cheraw, or Charleston by wagons.  When the completion of the Charlotte and Columbia Railroad took place in 1852, for the first time in the history of Charlotte she had an outlet  --  a highway to the sea."  Link: http://www.cmhpf.org/educhargrowth.htm --  The Growth of Charlotte: A History by Dr. Thomas W. Hanchett, see "The Railroad Center, 1850s - 1870s"

"On October 28, 1852, thousands of people line the railroad's path, just a block and a half east of the Square.  The first train from Chester, 15 cars long and full of people and freight, arrives at the new depot in the early morning.  Then, around lunchtime, a second train from Winnsboro brings more.  The passengers join the crowds celebrating in the streets.  By the time the final train from Columbia arrives in the early afternoon, 20,000 people surround the new depot as a brass band plays.  Local politicians give speeches and lead the crowds south from the new railroad depot to a huge barbecue on the grounds of the town's girls school.  Fireworks fill the sky as night closes in, and the 'young gentlemen and ladies' of town head to a dance.  It is, the newspapers say, 'the most brilliant and glorious day that the history of Charlotte has furnished in seventy odd years."  Link:  http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/August-2014/The-Story-of-Charlotte-Part-4-Whistles-to-War/ -- Charlotte Magazine, "The Story of Charlotte, Part 4: Whistles to War" by Chuck McShane, published July 23, 2014.

Charlotte's is the only city in the Carolinas with either a light rail or a streetcar system.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_light_rail_systems_by_ridership.  The dedication of the LYNX Blue Line extension, in the year that marks the 250th anniversary of Charlotte's founding in 1768, heralds Charlotte's Emergence as a global city.  Link: https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/greater-charlotte-in-the-global-economy-benchmarking-the-regions-global-competitiveness-assets/

Additional links:

(1) http://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_charlotte_sc.html -- The old Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad

(2) https://www.ncrr.com/nc-rail-map/ -- NC Rail Maps

(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city -- Global City - Wikipedia

Edited March 18, 2018 by QCxpat
Oops! Corrected typo - changed 1952 to 1852. Thanks!

[Windsurfer]

On 3/10/2018 at 11:44 AM, teeg said:

"More than any other event, the arrival of the railroad in 1952 set Charlotte on its way to being the largest city in the Carolinas.  When the Charlotte and South Carolina completed its track up from Columbia in that year, it was one of the first railways in the western half of North Carolina.  

 

 

1852

[teeg]

2 minutes ago, Windsurfer said:

1852

I appreciate the correction, but funny that it wasn't me that said that!

[KJHburg]

Here is an example of facade and whole historic building being saved thank you First Union Wachovia Wells Fargo but I think it was FU's project at the time.   The Ratcliffe. 

[SgtCampsalot]

^Love it.

One thing I've noticed is that Charlotte's uptown historical facades and structures are so dispersed that they are difficult to notice.

Take this building, right next to the ornate SunTrust building entrance (off Independence Square, west side of S Tryon). Very cool...

 

[tozmervo]

9 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

^Love it.

One thing I've noticed is that Charlotte's uptown historical facades and structures are so dispersed that they are difficult to notice.

Take this building, right next to the ornate SunTrust building entrance (off Independence Square, west side of S Tryon). Very cool...

The brushed aluminum at the entrance of that building is an abomination

[KJHburg]

This is more history in the Charlotte area.  The historic Stonewall Jackson Youth Development center in Concord.  Now mainly a youth prison which is in newer buildings in the back of the property.  These photos of the are of the historical old homes used as group homes.  The state wont tear them down which is good but won't restore them either.  I wish somekind of private public partnership could be done to restore these old group homes into apartments or something.    This is off Old Charlotte Rd and Hwy 49.    The property is wonderful old trees and something should be done.  Plus you have a view of the skyline of Charlotte from here as this site is on a ridge. 

Here is some general information  on it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson_Youth_Development_Center

[videtur quam contuor]

I remember when this was the active detention center for juveniles not old enough for prison but too (something) to remain on the street and in their home, if they had one. The newer higher security center is adjoining this one but the new one is security fenced and well secured. The old one is available for strolling, if one dares.

Here is a visit:

https://architecturalafterlife.com/2016/05/25/stonewall-jackson-youth-development-center/

It is absolutely worth a few minutes to drive around the place if one is on Hwy 49 north of Mecklenburg County.  Each time I pass I whisper a prayer for my good fortune.

Edited March 18, 2018 by tarhoosier

[nakers2]

13 hours ago, KJHburg said:

This is more history in the Charlotte area.  The historic Stonewall Jackson Youth Development center in Concord.  Now mainly a youth prison which is in newer buildings in the back of the property.  These photos of the are of the historical old homes used as group homes.  The state wont tear them down which is good but won't restore them either.  I wish somekind of private public partnership could be done to restore these old group homes into apartments or something.    This is off Old Charlotte Rd and Hwy 49.    The property is wonderful old trees and something should be done.  Plus you have a view of the skyline of Charlotte from here as this site is on a ridge. 

Here is some general information  on it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson_Youth_Development_Center

For those geologically inclined, the boulders in the foreground are part of this interesting geo formation, for reference this school is roughly just east of Frank Liske Park, the green space in the pink on the image I posted. I’ve heard it said this is either from a volcano or an impact crater but I have been able to find very little info on it, though I’d lean towards volcano as there is a list of known impact craters and it doesn’t seem to be on it. If anyone wants to provide insight or prove me wrong I welcome it, but one driving through this area will definitely notice the massive boulders all around, in yards and along the roadway. The ones in the pictures look tame in comparison. Along with the old houses and a railroad bridge it makes for a surreal scene. 

 

Edited March 19, 2018 by nakers2
Added additional photographs. (Google street view)

[Windsurfer]

2 hours ago, nakers2 said:

For those geologically inclined, the boulders in the foreground are part of this interesting geo formation, for reference this school is roughly just east of Frank Liske Park, the green space in the pink on the image I posted. I’ve heard it said this is either from a volcano or an impact crater but I have been able to find very little info on it, though I’d lean towards volcano as there is a list of known impact craters and it doesn’t seem to be on it. If anyone wants to provide insight or prove me wrong I welcome it, but one driving through this area will definitely notice the massive boulders all around, in yards and along the roadway. The ones in the pictures look tame in comparison. Along with the old houses and a railroad bridge it makes for a surreal scene. 

 

Having grown up in Cabarrus County/ Mecklenburg County, I've heard these theories all my life.  The volcano theory is somewhat accurate in the sense that the granite boulders you see through this part of Cabarrus County were part of an ancient intrusion.  The intrusions occurred hundreds of  millions of years ago when the mountains in this area were in excess of 15k feet high.  When an intrusion (magma surging up through the crust ) occur under so much weight, then once the weight of the mountains erode the intrusions start to flake off.  Hence the rounded features. The intrusions never reached the actual surface.  Stone Mountain, NC is an example of an intrusion like this.  I believe Stone Mountain is refered to as a "Pluton",  You can see a huge 'flake' running right down the western side of Stone Mountain as it was formed under intense pressure too.

 

 

2 hours ago, nakers2 said:

 

 

 

 

[Exile]

9 hours ago, nakers2 said:

For those geologically inclined, the boulders in the foreground are part of this interesting geo formation, for reference this school is roughly just east of Frank Liske Park, the green space in the pink on the image I posted. I’ve heard it said this is either from a volcano or an impact crater but I have been able to find very little info on it, though I’d lean towards volcano as there is a list of known impact craters and it doesn’t seem to be on it. If anyone wants to provide insight or prove me wrong I welcome it, but one driving through this area will definitely notice the massive boulders all around, in yards and along the roadway. The ones in the pictures look tame in comparison. Along with the old houses and a railroad bridge it makes for a surreal scene.

There are boulders all over southern Cabarrus County, particularly loose boulders, including in my yard, with no apparent source. When you're headed south on I-85 towards Bruton Smith, there are huge boulders on top of the hill to the left just before you get to that exit. Even if the other side of the hill isn't as steep or as high, still, they're way too big to have been moved by anything artificial, and I don't see how they could have formed the way they have by erosion. That's why I've always subscribed to the impact theory, which, to my mind, the plethora of boulders seems to lend some credence to. The way it was told to me, the impact site was basically Harrisburg. But, like Nakers2, I haven't found any info about it.

Whatever the case--and I'm no scientist, much less a geologist--there are a lot of fascinating geological features around Charlotte.