One of the more unique neighborhoods in Charlotte is Historic Dilworth. Located just southwest of Uptown and adjacent to SouthEnd, Dilworth was the city’s first suburb. Up to that point, most of the city’s residents lived in one of four wards that encompassed what is now Uptown.
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In 1890, successful businessman, Edward Dilworth Latta, envisioned building an electric streetcar traveling south from Uptown until it ended at 400 acres that Latta had bought for development. And so on May 18,1891 Charlotte's first electric streetcar began operation. Suddenly, Charlotte residents could live outside of the city center but still get to work in the city in much less time than by horse. Two days after the opening of the streetcar, a portion of Latta’s development called Dilworth opened. The first homes to be built were along East Blvd which was envisioned to be the dramatic entry into the neighborhood. Most of those homes were built for some of Charlotte’s business leaders You can still see some of those homes along the East Boulevard today which have been converted to offices or retail. One of those is a longtime favorite restaurant in Dilworth called 300 East.
Dilworth is known for its walkability, both within the neighborhood, as well as to lots of restaurants, shops, and offices located in SouthEnd and along East Blvd which splits the neighborhood. It is home to two city parks. The first, Latta Park, was named after Mr. Latta. It is a 31 acre park located along East Park Avenue next to Dilworth Elementary School and St Patrick’s Cathedral which also has an elementary school. Freedom Park, located at 1900 East Boulevard, is the second and the larger of the two at 98 acres with its own 7 acre lake. The park contains a 2-8-0 locomotive, which when I was a child and going to the park, you could climb all over. My friends and I spent, what seemed like, hours playing on and in the train. It has since been fenced in though, you can still walk into the cab. Back then, there also used to be two fire engines, an F-86 Sabre jet fighter and an Army tank which we could play on as well. Dilworth is also home to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway which is a 4 mile long paved trail spanning from Brandywine Road, near Park Road Shopping Center, past Atrium’s main hospital, all the way to 7th Street at the edge of Uptown. This trail is part of the Mecklenburg County Greenway System which encompasses over 70 miles of greenway trails. It is also part of the 300 mile long Carolina Thread Trail which goes through 15 counties and 2 states.
Dilworth encompasses a variety of classical architectural styles. Many of the early homes reflect late Victorian and Colonial Revival styles. The Bungalow and Arts and Crafts styles were built later on the development of the neighborhood and are now very prevalent in Dilworth. In 1983, Dilworth was designated as a local historic district thus ensuring protection of the look and feel of the neighborhood. And in 1987, it was added to the National Registry of Historical Places. Today, there are 1,025 homes that have been designated as historically significant.
In 2012 as we were just coming out of the Great Recession, I helped some clients sell their Dilworth home for $1.7 million which was the most expensive home that sold in the neighborhood at the time. The median sale price in Dilworth that year was $540,000. In 2023, the most expensive sale was $3.2 million, and the median price had become $1.33 million. This is due to price appreciation on top of Dilworth’s popularity skyrocketing.
If you are interested in living in a neighborhood that is close to Uptown, very walkable, and has lots of classically-styled homes, call us. We will gladly tour you through beautiful Historic Dilworth.
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