See how NoDa has developed throughout the years through photographs
On Friday, NoDa Company Store opened a new photography exhibit entitled, “The Villages of Highland, Mecklenburg and Johnston.” Thirty-eight photos, each with a detailed description, dating from 1909 through 1977, are displayed throughout the store.
Joey Hewell and Scott Lindsley, co-owners of NoDa Company Store, approached NoDa Neighborhood and Business Association’s Back in the Day committee about doing an historic photo exhibit in their store.
A few months earlier, Hewell and Lindsley’s interest was piqued by a few old photos they saw. They liked the idea of showing the history of North Charlotte, its architecture and people through photographs.
Lindsley’s favorite photos capture the buildings being used for new businesses and purposes. It helps put change in perspective for current residents and visitors. For example, there is a photo of Hand’s Pharmacy, which is now Cabo Fish Taco.
“Everybody screams about how horrible it’s changing. To me, these [photos] show people that it’s always changing,” said Lindsley. “[The buildings] all had multiple lives.”
Photos for the exhibit were collected from a few places. One photographer, Barry Lester, was a student at UNC Charlotte. According to Back in the Day committee member Michele Lemere, Lester did a photo essay of North Charlotte in 1977.
“He took dozens and dozens of photos,” Lemere said. “The people, the businesses and a mix of everything happening in ’77. At that time, the neighborhood was in a state of decline.”
Photographer Lewis Wicks Hine’s photographs of the adults and children working in Mecklenburg and Highland Mills are also included in the exhibit. Hine’s photographs of young children working in factories and mills across the nation were influential in getting the child labor laws changed. His photos of North Charlotte show children as young as 8 years old working at the mills.
Photos from the 1930s and 1940s were provided by the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County. Others were provided by past residents who still have a connection to the neighborhood.
Carol Hopkins Williams, 78, and her brother Tom Hopkins, 69, grew up on 37th Street and attended the opening event on Friday. Photos from their childhood are displayed in the exhibit.
Their father worked in the Johnston Mill and their grandmother lived and died in what is now the NoDa Company Store. Looking around at all the beer and wine, Hopkins wondered if his grandmother haunts the premises because she was a teetotaler.
They both were surprised that their old photos of their neighborhood were part of an exhibit.
“It’s kind of weird,” said Williams. “It’s surreal. We’ve seen them many, many times and we didn’t know they’d mean anything to anyone else.”
When I told Williams and Hopkins where I live on 37th Street, they instantly remembered Mrs. Lowe, the original owner of our 1916 home.
“We would go there for Halloween. They had the best Halloween treats. But you had to do a trick, like a cartwheel, to get one.”
The exhibit runs through the end of August.
NoDa Company Store, 3221 Yadkin Avenue
Hours:
12 p.m.- 10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday.
12 p.m.- 11 p.m. Friday
11 a.m.- 11 p.m. Saturday
12 p.m.- 8 p.m. Sunday
Closed Monday
Photos: Vanessa Infanzon, Tom Hopkins
This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 10:00 PM with the headline "See how NoDa has developed throughout the years through photographs."