Charlotte: Its Historic Neighborhoods

The history of Charlotte is inseparable from the history of its neighborhoods. From the citys founding until the late 1890s the four wards created by the crossing of Trade and Tryon Streets defined the residential fabric of Charlotte. As the twentieth century approached the Southern textile boom fueled labor and housing demands that were met by the earliest suburbs that rose out of the farms and pastures surrounding the small town. Dilworth was the first of these suburbs connected to the town center by the citys maiden electric streetcar line. More new communities quickly followed. Some such as Myers Park and Elizabeth have remained strong throughout their history. North Charlotte Belmont and others have changed under economic and social challenges. Still others such as Brooklyn are gone; they survive only in the memories and photographs of the families that called them home.