Historic Districts

​Oaklawn Park Local Historic District

The Oaklawn Park 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 Oaklawn Park Owner 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.

The Oaklawn Park Rezoning petition number was 2020 Petitions 2020-037. The public meeting dates were as follows:

  • November 16, 2020:  Public Hearing with City Council

  • December 1, 2020:  Zoning Committee meeting and recommendation

  • December 21, 2020: City Council Decision

Oaklawn Park became a historic district in December 2020.

Oaklawn Park Historic District Map

Commission Staff

Ms. Kristi Harpst
Program Manager
emailKristina.Harpst@charlottenc.gov

Ms. Cindy Kochanek
Project Coordinator 
emailCynthia.Kochanek@charlottenc.gov

Ms. Jenny Shugart
Project Coordinator
emailJenny.Shugart@charlottenc.gov

Ms. Candice Leite
Planner
emailCandice.Leite@charlottenc.gov

Ms. Linda Keich
Administrative Assistant
emailLinda.Keich@charlottenc.gov

Quick Links

Oaklawn Park Local District Designation Report

SHPO Letter

Charlotte's Historic Districts

Rezoning Division

​Oaklawn Park is one of Charlotte's best-preserved post-World War II suburbs. The neighborhood was created by Charles Ervin, Charlotte's biggest developer, and used FHNVA lending to provide homeownership opportunities specifically for African Americans in the latter days of racial segregation. Today, Oaklawn Park is a time-capsule of late 1950s suburban architecture and planning. Built during the years 1955 - 1961, no two Oaklawn Park houses look exactly alike, but all are quite similar in the ranch and split-level style with red brick exteriors accented with yellow brick or stonework.

​

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:

  • Additions
  • Fences /Walls
  • Windows/Doors
  • Tree Removal
  • Painting Brick
  • Decks/Patios
  • Front Porches
  • Sheds/Carports/Garages
  • Walkways/Driveways

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

DRAFT HDC Design Standards Supplement for Oaklawn Park:

See the HDC Design Standardsfor the final adopted version.

​How We Got Here

​
 

​0:02
hello this is Tom Hansen I'm a community
0:05
historian here in Charlotte with a
0:06
five-minute Charlotte neighborhood
0:09
history this time get to know Oakland
0:11
Park a 1950s time capsule along the bay
0:15
DS Ford Road corridor near Johnson C
0:17
smith University in West Charlotte
0:21
Johnson C Smith just celebrated its
0:23
hundred and fiftieth birthday founded
0:26
right after the Civil War by the
0:27
Presbyterian Church to train preachers
0:31
and teachers leaders among the newly
0:34
freed African American population on the
0:37
map can you see Beatty's ford road
0:39
running north from Johnson C Smith
0:42
campus and there in the big green circle
0:45
that's Oakland Park about halfway
0:47
between Northwest School of the Arts and
0:49
interstate 77 it took years for a little
0:53
old Charlotte to grow out that far in
0:57
the 19-teens the first african-american
1:00
streetcar suburb opened up just past
1:03
Johnson C smith University it was called
1:06
Washington Heights in honor of educator
1:08
Booker T Washington a national voice for
1:11
economic empowerment in 1938 the
1:16
original West Charlotte high school
1:17
opened a couple of blocks further up
1:19
matey's Ford today that Fine Art Deco
1:23
building is Northwest School of the Arts
1:25
which recently won Broadway's first Tony
1:29
Award for theater arts education with
1:34
that educational anchor in place new
1:37
black subdivisions began popping up
1:39
along Babies Ford Road as soldiers came
1:41
back from World War two McCoy Heights
1:45
held many civil rights leaders in the
1:48
photo a group who sued in 1951 to
1:52
desegregate Charlotte's Golf Course and
1:54
public parks starting in 1954 gross
1:59
really took off along the corridor a new
2:03
West Charlotte high opened about a mile
2:05
further up matey's Ford Road and more
2:08
neighborhoods began springing up here's
2:12
an ad for you
2:13
Christie Park right next to West
2:15
Charlotte High School quick buy a house
2:17
they're giving away a Chevrolet sedan
2:22
1954 was the year that Oakland parks
2:26
planning began here's the very first ad
2:30
to mention Oakland Park in the Charlotte
2:33
Observer you can see that the United
2:36
States Supreme Court's Brown versus
2:38
Board decision which outlawed racial
2:41
segregation had not taken hold yet
2:45
Oakland Park would be an African
2:47
American Enclave quote an up-to-date
2:49
residential area quote with all city
2:52
conveniences the developer Charles urban
2:57
would become the biggest home builder
3:00
not just in Charlotte but in the entire
3:02
United States by the early 1970s this
3:07
1957 Irvan ad shows a whole ring of
3:11
similar urban suburbs all around
3:13
Charlotte and note on the left side both
3:17
black and white neighborhoods in the
3:19
western part of the city first thing a
3:24
developer like Ervin would do file a
3:27
plat map laying out his new suburban
3:30
streets note at the top of this map Gunn
3:34
Street in Oakland Park
3:36
perhaps named for JH Gunn
3:39
Charlotte swing band leader Jimmy Gunn
3:42
recorded for RCA Victor and toured
3:45
nationally with his band when he came
3:48
off the road he became music minister
3:51
for first United Presbyterian Church
3:53
downtown and also a school principal at
3:57
what's now JH Gunn elementary Charles
4:02
Ervin energetically advertised Oakland
4:05
Park quote two large bedrooms with big
4:07
closets quote a modern kitchen with
4:09
plenty of cabinet space brick exteriors
4:12
are those big picture windows that
4:15
people loved in the 1950s quote children
4:19
have no trouble getting to school in
4:21
Oakland Park one of the prime factors in
4:24
the location of Oakland Park is
4:27
easy accessibility to elementary and
4:29
high schools families who bought in
4:33
Oakland Park in the late 50s often
4:35
stayed for decades
4:36
Reverend Raymond Worsley J CSU professor
4:39
and one of the city's leading ministers
4:41
at First United Presbyterian Clara Jones
4:45
North Carolina's our state magazine told
4:47
how she taught piano to hundreds of
4:49
children heading to her house every time
4:52
she bought another piano Anna hood first
4:56
african-american manager in the Social
4:58
Security office for this region and her
5:00
husband Reverend Calvin wood a professor
5:03
at Johnson C Smith
5:05
Reverend J a figment lived in Oakland
5:08
Park for just a few months
5:10
soon after photographer James peeler
5:13
snapped this proud photo
5:15
Reverend fid Mont perished in a car
5:18
accident his house became the parsonage
5:21
for subsequent ministers from Greater
5:23
Mount Sinai Church the Johnson family
5:27
publishers in the Charlotte Post
5:29
newspaper son Gerald Johnson carries on
5:31
the family business and still lives in
5:34
the family home place and dr. Mary
5:37
Turner Harper distinguished UNC
5:40
Charlotte professor who co-founded
5:42
Charlotte's Harvey Gantt Center for
5:45
african-american art and culture well
5:48
that's a five-minute glance at Oakland
5:51
Park today it looks much like it did
5:54
when Charles Ervin built it way back in
5:57
the 1950s a time capsule of American
6:00
suburbia I'm Tom hatchet

The Oaklawn Park Neighborhood Improvement Association approached City of Charlotte staff about establishing protections in order to maintain the character and architecture of the neighborhood due to development pressure in an around the area.

In 2019 community members and city staff documented the neighborhood and by the end of 2019 a comprehensive survey of the properties in Oaklawn Park was completed. On November 20, 2019 a town hall meeting was held for all interested parties to discuss Oaklawn Park history and what a historic district would mean for the community. Dr. Tom Hanchett, a local Charlotte Historian, was in attendance and to discuss his research into the neighborhood. Dr. Hanchett drafted a historic essay regarding Oaklawn Park for the Local District Designation Report as well as for a potential National Register nomination.

For more information, including notices for the town hall meeting, Oaklawn Park How We Got Here.

​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.