Historic Districts

McCrorey Heights Local Historic District

Photo of 1708 Van Buren Av

The McCrorey Heights neighborhood has undergone a rezoning process to become a locally designated historic district. To qualify for this city-sponsored rezoning, a minimum of 51% of property owners were required to sign a petition of support. In addition, the neighborhood also had to meet certain state-mandated requirements including a property-by-property neighborhood survey and a Local District Designation Report (Draft).

The McCrorey Heights Rezoning petition number was 2022-098. The public meeting dates were as follows:  

  • June 30, 2022: Community Meeting held via Zoom

  • July 18, 2022:  Public Hearing with City Council held as a virtual/in-person meeting

  • August 2, 2022:  Zoning Committee meeting & recommendation held as a virtual meeting

  • August 15, 2022: City Council Decision

McCrorey Heights became a historic district in August 2022.

McCrorey Heights Historic District Map

Map of McCrorey Heights Proposed Local Historic District

Commission Staff

Ms. Kristi Harpst
Program Manager - Local Historic Districts
emailKristina.Harpst@charlottenc.gov

Ms. Cindy Kochanek
Planning Project Coordinator - Local Historic Districts
emailCynthia.Kochanek@charlottenc.gov

Ms. Candice Leite
Planner - Local Historic Districts
emailCandice.Leite@charlottenc.gov

Mr. David PettineProgram Manager - Entitlement Services - Rezoning
emailDavid.Pettine@charlottenc.gov

Ms. Nichelle Bonaparte
Neighborhood Exploratory Committee
emailnichelle.bonaparte@gmail.com

Ms. Marilyn T. Brown
Neighborhood Exploratory Committee
emailmatmbrown52@gmail.com

Mr. Doug Jones
Neighborhood Exploratory Committee
emailselldjsell@aol.com

Mr. Sean Langley
Neighborhood Exploratory Committee
emailsean.langley80@gmail.com

Quick Links

McCrorey Heights Proposed Local District Fact Sheet

McCrorey Heights Draft Local District Designation Report

McCrorey Heights SHPO Letter

HDC Design Standards

Charlotte's Historic Districts

Rezoning Division

McCrorey Heights, located just north of Johnson C. Smith University off Beatties Ford Rd and Oaklawn Ave, is one of Charlotte’s most historically important neighborhoods. Founded by JCSU president H.L. McCrorey in 1912, it really took off after World War II as a development of ranch-style suburban homes for Charlotte’s African American educated elite.  Many of the men and women who built and led key Black institutions in the era of

segregation made their homes here. As the Civil Rights movement heated up during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, McCrorey Heights residents often took the lead locally and even nationally. Today, McCrorey Heights looks much as it did in its heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The rectangular grid of straight streets includes five major avenues running up from Irwin Creek linked with a few shorter cross-streets. (excerpt from McCrorey Heights Draft Local District Designation Report)


What Local Historic District Designation means:
Protects all buildings/sites through a local design review process - including demolition/new construction, additions, and painting brick.

Requires property owners to contact the Historic District Commission (HDC) office before starting any work to the exteriors of homes or yards, including:


Local Historic District Designation does not:

  • Restrict use

  • Review interior changes (ex. kitchens/baths)

  • Require specific paint colors

  • Require improvements or changes

  • Qualify owners for grants or tax incentives

  • Prevent demolition for more than 365-days 

  • Additions

  • Fences/Walls

  • Windows/Doors

  • Tree Removal

  • Painting Brick

  • Decks/Patios

  • Front Porches

  • Sheds/Carports/Garages

  • Walkways/Driveways

The HDC Design Standards provide guidance on the types of projects and materials that are permitted in a local historic district.

How We Got Here

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this is a photo of our house when we
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moved in in 1953 when i was four years
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old
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and as you can see the roads are dirt
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and there are no houses around dr
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mccrory
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had all these lots that he had
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purchased so that black families would
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have somewhere to live
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and so my father
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walked down the street and found the
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slot well i'm mildred smith grier
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and i am 99 years old i moved here
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over 60 years ago i moved into mccrory
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heights in 2018 so it's been almost four
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years
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i
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heard about mccrory heights because i
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had moved to charlotte and had gone to i
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think some kind of exhibition
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uh
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that was covering the delaney family
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reverend joseph a delaney was kind of
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like a superhero to us my husband and i
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love mid-century modern architecture
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we didn't really know about the
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neighborhood until we saw the house on
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the market and we were able to move in
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in november 2018. my name is uh eddie
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byers
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been living here most of my life
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macquarie heights three months old when
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my parents moved in and built the house
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at that particular time a lot of african
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americans were living either in brooklyn
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and there were not a lot living on the
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west side
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so the neighborhood opened up to a lot
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of people
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a lot of professional people doctors and
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lawyers and teachers part of what made
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us fall in love with this home history
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of the house so
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dr reginald reverend dr reginald hawkins
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was the owner
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and the house was bombed in the 60s
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along with four or five others in this
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area
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because he was such a he was a civil
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rights activist
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the father of civil rights the carolinas
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i learned about this neighborhood and
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then i learned about all of the other
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trailblazers that were part of this
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neighborhood and it was just something
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that i felt i needed to be here some of
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the best things about living in
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macquarie heights was being able to run
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around and be free we could run all over
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the neighborhood and feel safe
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and we knew the neighbors and they'd
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invite us in or give us water or give us
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treats and it was a wonderful place to
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be oh the best memories
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i just love to see the children
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running up and down the streets
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we belong to clubs too
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some of us belong we had good times with
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our sororities the men's
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fraternities
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and the latest for
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sororities just had a good time and
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everybody
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it was just this community was just like
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family playing basketball on different
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basketball courts it was like six or
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seven basketball courts
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playing in the woods back there where
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the
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freeway is now
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uh
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go cars making our own go cars racing
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them
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racing up and down the street
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i would say
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the
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home the down-home feel the neighborly
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feeling that i've encountered
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i immediately got involved with the
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neighborhood association and so
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just the camaraderie that we have
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looking out for each other
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my neighbor if she sees my garbage can
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she grabs it we see her as we grab it we
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tell we talk to each other tell each
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other look out for each other when you
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know there's a package i love that i've
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always yearned for that we've been
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brought into the fold
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and
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we just really love our neighbors um
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it's nice to
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say hello to people and have you know
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borrow tools and
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get a cup of sugar if you still need it
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but what has happened is as some people
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died
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they didn't have children and so
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relatives in other states inherited the
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property and they didn't know the
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history behind mccrory heights so some
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people sold to realtors so we don't have
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that
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neighborhood field that we had before
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but we're trying to reach out and make
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an effort to everyone who lives here now
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well a lot of different people have
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moved over a lot of people have died and
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a lot of people just passing on people
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passing on a lot of people might not
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have had kids and stuff and so they sold
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the houses or a lot of people could have
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someone left the city and so
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it's not it's still a few of us left but
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for the most part everybody's gone
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what's changed is
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well growth really um obviously there's
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some developers who've come into the
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neighborhood
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that's part of why
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a lot of the neighbors including us are
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gung-ho on the
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historic designation i think that
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there's a real risk without going
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historic with such great land nearby the
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city
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and all the growth that we have
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to see this neighborhood
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leveled which is scary to think about
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it's just nice
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for our neighbors to enjoy that
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that history
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because
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i think mccrory heights is really
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special
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in black history in charlotte i'm hoping
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that the historic designation is going
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to help us preserve the character of our
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neighborhood
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as i said there are some large homes
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being built so it's all about
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preservation of the neighborhood keeping
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it a neighborhood that values the
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families that are moving in here it
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means a lot to me because that way you
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want people to be able to come in and
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build these oblique arm-shaped looking
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houses about the house would be brick
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and you know it'll be more preservative
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like some of the other neighborhoods
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like wilmore mars park and western
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heights like that because of the history
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that
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i
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identify with and that i believe is so
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important
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i would
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like to see that the respect and the
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integrity of the character of the
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neighborhood is maintained and so
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with the local historic designation
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that is the best vehicle that we could
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use
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um to do that where
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we could protect that character that we
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could um continue to
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build things that look like it belongs
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here because the people that created
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this neighborhood or the particularly on
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dr uh mccrory that created this
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neighborhood he had a vision and i think
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it's important that we honor that and
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try to maintain that

In 2020, McCrorey Heights residents concerned about increasing development pressure formed a neighborhood exploratory committee to evaluate the possibility of local historic district designation.  With the goal of establishing protections to preserve the character and architecture of the neighborhood, the committee sought guidance and assistance from the Charlotte Historic District Commission staff about the designation process. 


The effort to create a McCrorey Heights local historic district officially launched in early 2021 with neighborhood residents leading the entire project by:

  • Presenting information at regularly scheduled neighborhood meetings.

  • Hosting special information session meetings via zoom for neighborhood residents. 

  • Conducting one-on-one outreach conversations with residents about local district designation.

  • Hosting HDC staff for a walk-and-talk tour in April 2021. 

  • Coordinating with Dr. Tom Hanchett who researched the history of each building in the neighborhood and wrote the historical development essay.

  • Compiling the house-by-house survey spreadsheet using Dr. Hanchett's research.

  • Photographing every building in the neighborhood. 

  • Facilitating the petition of support, required for the rezoning process. 

​HDC FAQ

Citizens appointed by the Mayor and City Council to administer the Local Historic District Program. The majority of HDC members have proven expertise in architecture, preservation, history, etc.

Property owners in local historic districts are required to contact the HDC office before undertaking any exterior changes to a property or existing structures, or before beginning any project involving new construction or demolition.
If the project meets the HDC design guidelines a Certificate of Appropriateness will be issued. A building permit for exterior work cannot be issued in an historic district without a Certificate of Appropriateness.

Typically includes fencing, signage, windows and doors, rear yard improvements, retaining walls, driveways, walkways, some tree removal.

Typically includes new construction, large additions, demolition, front/side porch enclosures, substitute siding, large accessory buildings, major tree removal, significant landscape features, front yard parking, the painting of unpainted masonry and others.

Routine maintenance is encouraged. We typically do not review repair and maintenance projects, as long as no significant material or design changes are made.

Application requirements and fees vary, depending on the nature and complexity of the proposed project. Photos, architectural plans, product samples, etc. are often required.

Administrative approvals usually take only a few days. Projects that require full HDC approval will take up to thirty days or more. The Commission meets monthly.

No. The Historic District Commission only gets involved when you decide to do something to your property.

Not always. The majority of our customers make minor improvements which would usually cost the same anywhere. Major projects usually require industry professionals who understand historic structures (new construction, major additions). We also encourage repair versus replacement of older building features to reduce costs.

No. The purpose of Charlotte’s historic district program is to ensure that changes that are made are compatible with the neighborhood.

Projects holding a valid building permit at the time a local historic district is established are not affected.

Properties within local Districts do not receive tax credits or reduced property taxes. However, if the property is a designated individual landmark (through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, Preservation North Carolina, etc.) tax incentives are available.

Yes. Grants for projects such as architectural and archaeological surveys, National Register nominations, publications, preservation planning, and archaeological excavations are available through the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Façade Improvement Grants are available through the City of Charlotte for commercial properties.
The Housing Services department within the City of Charlotte provides funding for rehabilitation of residential structures.

No. Those are private property matters governed by others.

When Commission staff learns of a project that is underway without HDC approval every attempt is made to contact the property owner and resolve the situation as quickly as possible. Financial penalties may be imposed.