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West Boulevard Corridor
Westover Hills
Capitol Drive
Clanton Park
Reid Park
Ponderosa
Renaissance West
Revolution Park
Pinecrest
Carr Heights
Arbor Glen
BarringerWoods
Kings Park
TyvolaCrossing
Wingate
Bent Oaks
1701 City View
Little Rock Apts
Roseland
1
Charles H Parker
Born into slavery 50 miles east of Charlotte, Charles Parker secretly learned to read as a child. His lifetime commitment to
education bore fruit with the creation of Plato Price School.
“Pioneering leader and visionary” of Moore’s AMEZ.He helped acquire land for the church and later for
the Brothers and Sisters Aid Societies.
Planting Churches and Fraternal Societies
2
150 Years of Community Building
Fewer than one in ten African American farmers owned the land they farmed.
Farming the land, 1880
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library photo circa 1900
75% of the land of Mecklenburg County was
owned by <2% of the population.
3
Growing cotton for cash limits available food
crops.
Buying Land
By 1920 the area was home toa number of African American
farm owners. Many were relatedto the Parkers.
Charles and Rachel Parker bought 12 acres of land on
Remount Road in 1898.
US Geological Survey, 1902 4
Buying Land and Building Homes
West Boulevard
Nathaniel and Lizzie Carr created Carr Heights on West Boulevard
for black buyers in 1924.
5
“To be used only for religious purposes
by the Baptist denomination of the
colored race.”
Nat and Lizzie Carr provide land for
Shiloh Baptist Churchin Carr Heights
1927
1986/2006
New Churches, Stronger Community
2600 Elmin Street6
New church building, 1959 2400 West Boulevard
Amay James started a Sunday school in 1922 which grew into a church in 1942.
The Amay James Community Center opened in 1977.
Amay James, Community Builder
Deep Roots, New Growth
7
Ross Reid grew up in the corridor, working on a farm and getting only months of formal schooling. He would became a
carpenter and a builder of homes.
Deep Roots, New Growth
He was able to acquire more than 150 acres of
land and shape the development of that land
for the benefit of his family, friends, and
neighbors.
8
Deep Roots, New Growth
Reid Park was created out of land that Ross purchased and made available for
sale to black residents in 1946.
9
Olivia Sims
Ollie Parker
AnnisePettice
Pearl Torrence
Julia Davis
RosaMoore
The Legacy of Community BuildingChildren of Charles and Rachel Parker
The Parker children created theParker Heights Apartments in 1970
to provide affordable housing on the land that Charles and Rachel Parker
bought in 1898.
10
New Subdivisions for White Homebuyers
1954-63
11
Revolution Park (part)
BarringerWoods
Pondersosa
Pinecrest
Rollingwood
Clanton Park
Westerly Hills #2
Ashley Park
Wandawood
Westerly Hills
Marlborough
Regal Heights
Walls o
f Segregation
Clo
se In
12
Revolution Park (part)
BarringerWoods
Pondersosa
Pinecrest
Rollingwood
Clanton Park
Westerly Hills #2
Ashley Park
Wandawood
Westerly Hills
Marlborough
Regal Heights
“Big Four” contractors build more than 2,000 new single family
homes, 1954-63
Walls o
f Segregation
Clo
se In
13
Revolution Park (part)
BarringerWoods
Pondersosa
Pinecrest
Rollingwood
Clanton Park
Westerly Hills #2
Ashley Park
Wandawood
Westerly Hills
Marlborough
Regal Heights
Walls o
f Segregation
Clo
se In
All exclude African American homebuyers and renters
14
“Big Four” contractors build more than 2,000 new single family
homes, 1954-63
Supermarkets follow the
new homes
1961
White Flight and Black Arrival
1970
West BoulevardCorridor
West Boulevard Food Desert Today
West Boulevard Convenience Stores
Building the Future
19
Three Sisters MarketCooperative Grocery
Legacy of Community Based Self-Help