Grier Heights Presbyterian Church Anniversary, 1946. Arthur Grier is in a dark suit with white hair in the center of the group. Other notable Grier Heights residents include Haywood Polk, Pearline Wallace, Carrie Grier Polk, Irma Grier, Leroy Grier, John Grier, Rev. Henderson, John Buford Brown, Tina Price, and Bobby Davis. Courtesy of the family of Doreatha Polk Dunn.

The search for information on the history of Grier Heights began earlier this year. 

With the help of the Grier Heights Community Center and members of the community, stories and photographs detailing 140 years worth of history will be depicted in a new exhibition titled “Grier Heights: Community is Family.” 

This exhibition is a collaboration between the Levine Museum of the New South, Grier Heights community members and the Knight Foundation, the exhibition’s sponsor. 

Grier Heights, formerly known as Billingsville and later on, Grier Town, was a Black community established by Sam Billings, a formerly enslaved man who purchased land in the 1890s, according to Keri Peterson, senior director of history and exhibits at the Levine Museum.

Originally a commercial farming community, Billings invested in additional real estate and sold pieces of land to Black families. He envisioned an independent Black community that could thrive on its own.

Arthur S. Grier, who the town is named after, would soon come in and expand the community, establishing a grocery store and the Grier and Thompson Funeral Home, presently known as Grier Funeral Service. Grier also helped create more housing for Black soldiers coming home from World War II.

As of today, the community is still inhabited by Black people, but it is one of many historical Black neighborhoods being affected by gentrification, according to longtime Grier Heights Resident James Lee.

What to expect at the exhibition

The exhibition will debut at the Grier Heights Community Center and is expected to stay there until early 2023.

Part of the visuals sit on freestanding banners and the exhibit is divided into several themes including Billingsville, Grier Town, churches, places and traditions.

Each banner will have a QR code that will connect to interviews with current and former residents of Grier Heights.

In the meantime, check out a few historical photographs of the Grier Heights community.

Grier Heights Presbyterian Church Anniversary, 1946. Arthur Grier is in a dark suit with white hair in the center of the group. Other notable Grier Heights residents include Haywood Polk, Pearline Wallace, Carrie Grier Polk, Irma Grier, Leroy Grier, John Grier, Rev. Henderson, John Buford Brown, Tina Price, and Bobby Davis. Courtesy of the Family of Doreatha Polk Dunn.
The Billingsville School. Courtesy of Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library.
The Rock Apartments, built by Leroy Gilliam and other community brick masons, provided affordable housing to the neighborhood starting in the mid-1940s. Children in front of the Rock Apartments in 1945 (girl) and 1952 (two boys). Courtesy of Mrs. Hazeline Belk.
Ruth Ella Vaughn Polk, Doreatha Polk Dunn, Velories Figures, and Richard Brown under the chinaberry trees outside of their home on Skyland Avenue, 1953. Courtesy of the Family of Doreatha Polk Dunn.

Want to go?

When: Saturday, Nov. 19

Time: 2 p.m.

Where: 3100 Leroy St., Charlotte, NC 28205

Cost: Free

For more information: https://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/events/community-is-family-open-house/

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