The church that stood before South End's boom — and what happens next
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Photo: Ashley Mahoney/Axios; Rendering: Courtesy of the Levine Museum of the New South
A church with a rich history that has stood at the corner of 1800 South Blvd. for more than a century — witnessing South End's evolution from a textile manufacturing hub into a popular neighborhood filled with gleaming office towers and trendy retailers — is about to begin a new chapter.
Why it matters: The land where the church sits is being sold to the Levine Museum of the New South, which plans to build its new campus on the site. The museum is also exploring how to preserve the building.
- Billy Graham grew up attending the church. He went on to become a world-renowned evangelist and perhaps the most famous member of the church.
State of play: Plans for the prominent cultural institution's new campus at the intersection of East Boulevard and South Boulevard are still being determined, and a timeline for opening the new space has not been set. The historic church will be taken into consideration as the project develops, a museum spokesperson tells Axios.
- "The goal is to thoughtfully explore how it could be preserved and integrated into the broader campus, informed by architectural analysis, feasibility studies, and community input gathered through ongoing engagement efforts," according to a Levine Museum spokesperson.
Flashback: Before a church marked the corner of the intersection surrounded by high-rise buildings, it was a streetcar stop in Dilworth.
- The neighborhood, Charlotte's first streetcar suburb, emerged in 1891 under the direction of Edward Dilworth Latta and his Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company (also known as the Four Cs).
Zoom in: The Chalmers Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was founded on Nov. 15, 1908. Church members originally met in Sims Grocery Store at the corner of Bland Street and South Boulevard.
- The physical church at 1800 South Boulevard was dedicated on May 1, 1910, years before Fuel Pizza and later U.S. Bank opened across South Boulevard. It was modeled after a New England-style church. Stones carved above the church's entrance share its history, from the dates it was founded and dedicated to the name: "Chalmers Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Meeting House."
- Graham attended Chalmers Memorial throughout his boyhood and into his teenage years. After he died in 2018, Graham's funeral motorcade procession briefly stopped in front of the church, which is about 5 miles from where Graham's childhood home stood, WCNC reported.
- The church was named for Pastor John Chalmers, the leader of Charlotte's First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in the late nineteenth century. The congregation continued to use the building until 1996, when the church moved to a new location on Starbrook Drive (the church is now known as Starmount Church).
- Grace Covenant Church purchased the half-acre site for $480,000 in December 1995, Mecklenburg County records show. More than 30 years later, the site is transitioning hands for $7.5 million to the Levine Museum.
The big picture: Charlotte is known for tearing old buildings down to make room for something new. But in recent years, there has been a wave of preservation giving historic spaces new life, from Camp North End (where Model T and A Ford vehicles were once made) to Optimist Hall (one of Charlotte's former textile mills), plus the historic Leeper Wyatt building.