Welcome to Dilworth, Charlotte's original "streetcar suburb."

Trolleys built Charlotte’s earliest neighborhoods—moving people around town and bringing neighbors together daily in their community. Today, Charlotte Trolley, Inc., a volunteer-driven non-profit, continues to bring people together as neighbors, to connect with history, learn and have fun on Charlotte’s favorite mode of transportation.

Charlotte Trolley, Inc. Launches “History On Call”

If you drive through the historic Dilworth neighborhood, you’ll probably notice these new street signs displayed prominently:

Charlotte Trolley, Inc. launches History On Call,” a free cell-phone based tour about significant people and places of Charlotte's history. History On Call is a series of audio dramas you can access by telephone or computer. Each drama tells the story of a moment in history for a specific location. Currently, History On Call showcases six stories of Charlotte's first streetcar suburb, Dilworth. Download a map of the tour at Charlotte Trolley’s website: http://www.charlottetrolley.org and call the tour at 408-794-0860 – a free call on most cell-phone subscription plans.

“So much of our city’s history is embedded in our historic streetcar neighborhoods,” says CTI Executive Director Lisa Gray. “It’s one thing to learn about historic people or events through an exhibit of pictures in a museum. We thought it would be more interesting to create a new kind of experience – one that uses our existing, changing cityscape to showcase some of the stories of Charlotte’s past.”

The audio dramas were penned by local playwright Stan Peal and performed by Peal and local actors Jill Bloede, Mark Sutton, Van Coble and Melanie Baron. The dramas are based on historical records, researched through many sources, including those of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission and the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room at the Main branch of the Public Library.

“The stories we've included are only one layer of Charlotte's history,” says Gray. “Listeners can dial "0" at any point in the History On Call tour, and tell us their stories of these historic places or give us their feedback about the tour.”

Gray notes that future History On Call plans include tours in other historic neighborhoods and foreign language renditions of existing messages. “History On Call gives Charlotteans and visitors alike an easy, fun way to connect with our city’s past – and explore our outstanding neighborhoods.”

Read more...

 

 

 

Check back here soon to read a brief profile of the Dilworth Community.