HISTORY
Located in Charlotte’s Second Ward, the Brooklyn neighborhood was a predominantly black community that thrived as a self-sustainable town within a town. With vibrant shops, schools and places of worship, Brooklyn was home to some of the black community’s families from all socioeconomic backgrounds. During the 1960s and 1970s, Brooklyn was razed in Charlotte’s first wave of “urban renewal,” displacing thousands of neighborhood residents and ultimately destroying more than 1,480 structures. Below are some of the historic landmarks that made up what the Brooklyn neighborhood once was.
Creating History
Our public meetings provided clear guidance from many former residents who emphasized that they wanted a place that is historically memorable but not a 'new Brooklyn' or a place that is memorialized. The Development Partnership is committed to doing justice to the memory of what Brooklyn once was. Indeed, there is something transformational here with the nation's largest black developer leading the redevelopment of what was once a black neighborhood.