Grier Heights

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Grier Heights is a historically Black neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded around the 1890s, originally called Grier Town, when a former slave Sam Billings bought 100 acres of land in the land. [1]

Contents

History

Grier Heights was originally a farming community of four houses in 1886. [2] Billings wanted to create a place where Black people could learn and thrive in their own community. [1] Eventually, it became a suburb that was home to lower-income families as well as middle-class African Americans. [2] By the 1920s, Grier Heights was the home to several prominent Black residents, including Arthur Samuel Grier, a funeral-home director for whom the community is named after, and James McVay, founder of Grier Heights’ Antioch Baptist Church. [1]

Additional land was purchased in 1907. [2] In 1927, the landowner pursued the need for a school. However, the Board of education offered a structure. Instead, the community, supervised by Nellie B. Dykes raised $505. The School Board Committee granted $500 and Rosenwald Fund. After this, the neighborhood got a school, Billingsville School. [1]

The school was eventually renovated into the Grier Heights Community Center, currently a virtual learning hub due to the coronavirus pandemic. [1] The neighborhood grew until the 1940s when Arthur Grier built 100 homes that were sold to African American soldiers returning from World War II. [2]

Gentrification

Like many inner-city neighborhoods, Grier Heights faces gentrification. Houses are being converted to rental property. The neighborhood is adjacent to several highly sought-after and extremely affluent neighborhoods. [2]

Website

Grier Heights Community Center

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "FAQ City: What Happened To Grier Heights?". WFAE 90.7 – Charlotte's NPR News Source. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "HISTORIC CHARLOTTE NEIGHBORHOODS".

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