History of Charlotte

[KJHburg]

From UNCC Twitter account tonight

 

The year is 1976.  @cedricmaxwell81 , the soon-to-be NBA star, is studying at  @unccharlotte  . 
You and your friends grab 69¢ sodas and listen to your Abba 8-track tape after class.

[nicholas]

^that looks like the Cone University Center, it's still there right next to the library.

[videtur quam contuor]

Fashion snapshot: Man with big polka dot tie six inches wide; denim everywhere; young men with fly-away collars; doubleknit print shirt on young man in foreground center. Fashion chronologist could date this with near certainty. 

[videtur quam contuor]

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/c5-food-drink/article252923528.html

Love the kicker to this fine story

[NCMike1990]

1968 around Charlotte. From this short documentary on the Piedmont Crescent. 

1-3: I-85 at Little Rock Rd. near the airport

4-6: I-85 at Statesville Ave.

7-10: Wilkinson Blvd. near Morehead St.

11: Douglas Municipal Airport

12: Tank farm in west Charlotte

13: Cowans Ford Dam at Lake Norman

14: Charlotte skyline

15, 16: Fairly new buildings on Chesapeake Dr. in west Charlotte.

17-23: Asian Corner Mall and surrounding area

24, 25: Graham St.

26-28: The location of AvidXchange Music Factory. 

29-31: Location of the Walmart on Independence Blvd.

32, 33: The Charlotte Reservoir on Brookshire Blvd.

34: A subdivision but not sure of the location

35: Construction of I-77 at Clanton Rd. looking south

36-38: Construction of I-85 at U.S. 29 in Concord

[KJHburg]

Great snapshots and loved the newly built Tryon Mall aka Asian Square now on N Tryon bring backs memories of going to Woolco with my aunt and uncle to shop.  

[rancenc]

Thanks for sharing all of these pictures and the YouTube video as well, @NCMike1990!!

[nicholas]

On 8/5/2021 at 1:24 PM, NCMike1990 said:

1968 around Charlotte. From this short documentary on the Piedmont Crescent.

36-38: Construction of I-85 at U.S. 29 in Concord

How long had this part of 29 been built when these pics were taken?  The original route followed the two lane road on the far right and went through downtown Kannapolis before being bypassed by the four lane section.  Looks like pretty fresh pavement all the way into Concord.

[NCMike1990]

56 minutes ago, nicholas said:

How long had this part of 29 been built when these pics were taken?  The original route followed the two lane road on the far right and went through downtown Kannapolis before being bypassed by the four lane section.  Looks like pretty fresh pavement all the way into Concord.

Since at least the mid 1950s. I'm guessing at the time that stretch of 29 had just been resurfaced as part of the construction or I-85. If you go to this site, Historic Aerials, they satellite imagery that goes back to the 50s. It works best on a desktop, but it has a slider option that let's you compare imagery from 1960 to 2018, for example. It's fascinating to see how much the Charlotte area has changed over time.

[KJHburg]

I am old enough to remember and have been in all these places.  On the golf course at Ballantyne resort course,  shopping in its prime at Eastland, visiting and attending UNCC at Cityfair and attending games and concerts like U2 at the old Charlotte Coliseum.

Here and gone: When major buildings don't even make it to middle age | UNC Charlotte Urban Institute | UNC Charlotte

[rancenc]

Article on the tragic 1974 crash at the then Douglas Airport!

https://www.ourstate.com/the-1970s-fatal-distraction/

[videtur quam contuor]

I was on my way to work on West Boulevard that morning. West was the route to the airport terminal at that time, the current freight terminal. I thought every emergency vehicle and siren in Charlotte passed me. After I arrived at work someone informed me of the reason for the rush of emergency vehicles. It was a somber day for me, our workplace, and Charlotte in general.

There must be some comparative compendium somewhere of commercial air crashes over time. The risk of commercial flight has declined dramatically. Planes just no longer explode, fly into mountains, fail to ascend, lose important parts during flight, run out of fuel or the other fatal issues of the past.

My first flight was in 1957 on a DC-3. I recounted it in the CLT thread some time ago. I flew a sprinkling of times in the 1960's before deregulation, when prices for flying were much higher than today due to an agreement with the government that airlines would be allowed guaranteed profit to maintain safety cushion and improvement. (?)

In the 80's I had a commercial flight on a Fokker, I believe it was a Fokker F27, maybe the Fokker 50. Philadelphia to somewhere (cannot recall the destination). After that the equipment and service and safety improved noticeably, even to a non expert such as myself.  I no longer seat myself in the tail to provide for crash safety consideration as I used to. For many years in airports one could buy life insurance for your next flight from a vending machine with the paper policy delivered to you from the machine after your payment was inserted. Ask your parents or grandparents about this. They were in every airport I used, even (especially?) the smaller ones.

[videtur quam contuor]

https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/14310hjpg

Here is an example from the Air and Space Museum. Pay with quarters and mail to your next of kin/beneficiary/lawyer, whomever. DO NOT CARRY WITH YOU ON THE PLANE.

[videtur quam contuor]

Upon reflection my Philadelphia flight memory was for travel on a DeHavilland. Dash 7 I believe:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_Dash_7

No checked luggage since there was no place to check it. Toss it into the rear compartment. No toilet, no pressurization. Driving was a real option compared to flights such as this.

My Fokker experience must have been from Charlotte. No one can forget the name of that aircraft. Historic, museum quality equipment which are still flying today though not  scheeduled major airlines which was the case in the past.

[nakers2]

Photo from my grandpa’s house. Former CFD firefighter and captain. This is now the Domino’s pizza and Devils Logic brewing on 4th street. He doesn’t recall when the picture was taken but likely the 60’s. He is the firefighter to the left with his back facing the camera.

[Zeitgeist_4131]

On 7/28/2021 at 8:20 PM, KJHburg said:

From UNCC Twitter account tonight

 

The year is 1976.  @cedricmaxwell81 , the soon-to-be NBA star, is studying at  @unccharlotte  . 
You and your friends grab 69¢ sodas and listen to your Abba 8-track tape after class.

So funny…the guy with the wide, polka dot tie was my advanced algebra and trig teacher at Northwest Cabarrus (1983-84). Pretty sure he ended up a Providence High School after it opened.

[KJHburg]

Story about a banker in World Trade Center 9/11/2001 and how he is escaped.

Here’s the story of a Charlotte survivor of the 9/11 attacks | Charlotte Observer

 

on a personal note I was about as far as way and still be in the country that fateful morning.  I had just landed around 4 am EST in Fairbanks Alaska on my first trip to the largest of these United States. 

I have met several people who decided to move away from NYC metro after 9/11 to the Charlotte area including a man I met who was also in the WTC that morning.  

[nicholas]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Story about a banker in World Trade Center 9/11/2001 and how he is escaped.

Here’s the story of a Charlotte survivor of the 9/11 attacks | Charlotte Observer

 

on a personal note I was about as far as way and still be in the country that fateful morning.  I had just landed around 4 am EST in Fairbanks Alaska on my first trip to the largest of these United States. 

I have met several people who decided to move away from NYC metro after 9/11 to the Charlotte area including a man I met who was also in the WTC that morning.  

One of my professors at UNC Charlotte, Cynthia Bush, worked in NYC during the attacks (can't remember if she worked in the WTC or one of the adjacent buildings).  I believe she happened to be taking her kids to school when it happened....her family was not affected, but they knew many people through work and kids' school who were not so lucky.  Great professor, if anyone ever has the chance to talk to her or take any of her finance classes, do it because you will not regret it.

[SentioVenia]

On 9/6/2021 at 5:42 PM, nakers2 said:

Photo from my grandpa’s house. Former CFD firefighter and captain. This is now the Domino’s pizza and Devils Logic brewing on 4th street. He doesn’t recall when the picture was taken but likely the 60’s. He is the firefighter to the left with his back facing the camera.

 

 

[EllAyyDub]

The above post reminded me of a little Atlanta history in my family (I know this is a Charlotte forum but history is cool). Before and after of some level of great-grandfather's home in Downtown:

 

[KJHburg]

More of the history of 9-11-2001 as seen through the eyes of people now living in Charlotte.

a NY firefighter now in Charlotte who worked on the pile

This Charlotte fire marshal was a 9/11 firefighter in NY | Charlotte Observer

a Charlotte based pilot who landed one of the last commercial planes on that day in Gander NF

This 9/11 U.S. Airways pilot was the last to land in Gander | Charlotte Observer

My friend was a young pilot with CC Air a commuter affliate on US Air and he was down in Greenville Spartanburg.  He just help a handicapped woman in a wheelchair into the small plane when he got the No Fly order.  He then had to carefully help her back out.

I was in Alaska as noted above and I have driven from Fairbanks across the state to Anchorage where I had a ticket out 9/18.  Flying  resumed at this point but the scene was chaotic inside the Anchorage airport.  All of these people were trying to get back to the lower 48  and lots of people were carrying guns (as it was hunting season)  I heard someone talking about renting a car in Anchorage and driving the Alaksan Highway back to Seattle a multiday trip at best.  Because my ticket was for 9/18 I was able to get on with no problem and the flight was completely full back to Salt Lake (flew Delta).  SLC was less busy but then on my flight back to Atlanta the flight was about half full mainly people coming back from Hawaii and far away points.  By the time I got back to Atlanta then and now the busiest airport in the world it was deserted.   a few airline employees and a handful and I mean handful of passengers.  It was very eerie and surreal.  I had a good time in Alaska but there was a dark cloud over the whole trip but the fantastic scenery including the northern lights really helped (and the very nice people) 

 

 

[KJHburg]

I take a photo of this often to prove Charlotte can save facades and use them again.  Today. 

[Bikeguy]

Irene Whiteside was laid to rest today..  She supported her family ( on her own)  as a waitress at The Open Kitchen  for 33 years.  She served the first mixed drink in Mecklenburg County.  It was a BIG DEAL.  

https://hankinsandwhittington.com/tribute/details/227638/Irene-Whiteside/obituary.html#tribute-start

[Bikeguy]

Ok...  maybe Irene wasn't the first, but she was pretty damn busy that day. .."Hundreds of people crowded The Open Kitchen because owner Steve Kokenes had promised to sell mixed drinks for 5 cents until his five cases of alcohol were gone."

A well-written, deep-dive article on the politics of how it all came to pass. ..

https://www.charlottemagazine.com/how-charlotte-got-liquored-up/ 

 

 

 

[KJHburg]

Not Charlotte but we can never forget what happened that day.  September 11 2001

The One World Trade Center now.