Grier Heights
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]
History[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
Grier Heights Community Center