Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission

The Historic Landmarks Commission welcomes your thoughts on two recommended historic landmark designations.

You're invited to attend the Historic Landmarks Commission's meeting on June 8, where public hearings for the designations of the Dilworth Methodist Church South (1829 Cleveland Avenue, Charlotte) and the Foard House (7410 Shady Lane, Charlotte) will be held.

Visit HL.MeckNC.gov for information on attending this meeting or to learn more about these properties.

We're excited to share that Settlers' Cemetery has been chosen as one of the sites for the Atlas Preservation 48 State Tour 2026! Only one cemetery in each of the contiguous 48 states is chosen annually, so this is a big deal for Settlers' Cemetery, which is the final resting place for many of Charlotte's early settlers.

This interactive event held on June 11 will include demonstrations on how to properly clean headstones using safe cleaning techniques. Participants will also have the chance to clean and help repair headstones.

The event is free and open to the public. For more details: https://meck.co/4vfFayL or 48 State Tour Archives

Thanks to those who rode along with us on our latest history bike tour as we celebrated both Historic Preservation Month and National Bike Month!

This ride went from South End through Uptown Charlotte and into NoDa, discussing how different modes of transportation shaped the Queen City.

A special thanks to our event partners, Charlotte Department of Transportation and Charlotte Spokes People, for helping plan this fun and informative bike tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgJwWFbRgnk

Want to join us next time? Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with our happenings: https://meck.co/4cHWbKd

May is not only Historic Preservation Month, but also part of snake season!

We’re here with a friendly reminder that if you see a snake or a historic landmark, or a snake ON a historic landmark!, stop and admire, take a picture, and go on about your day. They're both just doing their best trying to survive in the modern world.

A big thanks to our friends at Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation for letting us hang out with some corn snakes!

A few fun facts about corn snakes:
- They're also commonly called “red rat snakes.”
- Although they may resemble our local venomous snake, the copperhead, corn snakes are actually constrictors and are non-venomous.
- While they're generally fairly docile, they can bite if they feel threatened so giving them some space is appreciated!

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners recently proclaimed May 2026 as Historic Preservation Month in Mecklenburg County!

This proclamation urges all residents to take the time to celebrate our history and to thank those who work to preserve it.

Historic preservation can only succeed if it's supported and we're proud to serve a community that cares about its history. Thank you for supporting historic preservation!

Camp Greene was a WWI boot camp located between Wilkinson Boulevard and Tuckaseegee Road in Charlotte, consisting of 2000 buildings on over 2500 acres before it was largely dismantled in July 1919 after the war ended.

A monument to memorialize the site and honor the men who trained there was erected in 1926 at the corner of Wilkinson Boulevard and Monument Street by the Mecklenburg Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

The monument has a striking, tall fluted column that stands on a large granite plinth on a triple base with inscriptions naming every unit stationed at Camp Greene. The site is surrounded by a black wrought iron fence and landscaped with daffodils. In 2017, the monument was rededicated during the Camp Greene 100th anniversary event.

For more on the history of the Camp Greene Memorial: https://meck.co/3uhgs40

Before there was Bank of America Stadium, there was Good Samaritan Hospital. Built during the days of Jim Crow segregation as the original occupant of that same Uptown Charlotte property, the hospital was North Carolina's first privately funded, independent hospital exclusively for the treatment of Black patients.

Good Samaritan Hospital was dedicated in 1891 and was in service until 1959 when Charlotte Memorial Hospital assumed ownership before the building was sold to the City of Charlotte in 1961 and renamed Charlotte Community Hospital. In 1982, the building was remodeled and converted into Magnolia's Rest Home, which closed in 1996. The building was demolished in 1996 to make way for Bank of America Stadium.

A North Carolina Highway Historical Marker for the site has been approved and will be a permanent recognition of the importance of Good Samaritan Hospital to the Charlotte community during segregation. There will be an unveiling ceremony for the marker on May 28 and we hope you can make it to this significant celebration:

- Date: Thursday, May 28 at 11 a.m.
- Location: Ebenezer Baptist Church, 2020 W. Sugar Creek Road, Charlotte
- The event is free and open to the public. There will be a reception afterwards.

For more on Good Samaritan Hospital: https://meck.co/3NCoprp

Our very own Historic Preservation Specialist, Tommy Warlick, recently won a 2026 Charlotte Gem Award, presented by the Charlotte Museum of History!

Tommy won the Preservation Special Project Award for the cemetery headstone cleanings that he has led since 2022. In that time, Tommy has trained and assisted some 400 volunteers from across Mecklenburg County as they've cleaned and preserved more than 800 gravestones in six historic cemeteries, raising community awareness and hands-on involvement with historic preservation.

If you've ever been to one of our headstone cleaning events, you know that Tommy is very knowledgeable of headstone cleaning methods and enjoys teaching others how to appropriately care for these delicate resources.

Help us congratulate Tommy on this well-deserved recognition!

Pictured: Terri White, Charlotte Museum of History President and CEO; Tommy Warlick, Historic Landmarks Historic Preservation Specialist; and Ken Kramer, Aldersgate Executive Director

Happy Meck Dec Day!

It's been a year since Historic Landmarks staff allegedly uncovered what appears to be an original first page of the historic Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Our search for additional pages continues.

The legend goes that on May 20, 1775, the people of Mecklenburg County adopted a declaration declaring freedom from Britain, predating the U.S. Declaration of Independence by more than a year! There is doubt surrounding the document’s existence, with some historians proposing that the document and the event were conflated with the well-documented 1775 Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of revolutionary anti-British resolutions adopted by the early European settlers of the County.

Regardless of what or how it happened, Meck Dec Day is a wonderful celebration of our County’s legacy of revolutionary spirit: https://meck.co/42mqbHD

On May 18, 1987, the Walter L. Alexander House was designated as a local historic landmark.

This house was built in 1915 for Walter Lamar Alexander, the son of one of Charlotte's most prominent real estate developers in the early 1900s. It was built on a lot within an entire block purchased by Walter's uncle in an effort to create an Alexander family compound.

Alexander only lived in the house for four years before he moved to Blowing Rock, NC, where he was a successful land developer, building the opulent Mayview Manor Hotel, which hosted notable guests including sharpshooter and Wild West Show star Annie Oakley, author Margaret Mitchell, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

Alexander sold the house to William Cook Wilkinson and family in 1919. Wilkinson is likely best known for his work as head of the State Highway Commission for the 6th District as reflected by the fact that Wilkinson Boulevard – a 20-mile road built in 1926, considered as one of the best highways of that period – was named in his honor.

The Walter L. Alexander House is located at 523 Clement Avenue, Charlotte, and remains the grandest residence dating from the 1910s in the streetcar suburb of Elizabeth.

For more on the house's history: https://meck.co/4tFB81n