Last updated: June 20, 2024
Place
Dilworth
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Charlotte, NC
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Suburban Community
MANAGED BY:
While parks are often paid for by a town or city, a subdivision is often financed by a private citizen. Edward Dilworth Latta would be the private citizen who played a pivotal role in transforming Charlotte, North Carolina from a modest commercial center to an industrial and financial metropolis. While the city expanded, Latta wanted a suburban retreat from Charlotte.
Latta would help form and become the Supervisor of Development for the Charlotte Consolidation Construction Company. The Four C’s, as it would be known, reached out to Olmsted Brothers in the summer of 1911, to design the street plan and landscape of their new suburban community, known as Dilworth, to honor Latta. It was Latta himself who would travel to Brookline, Massachusetts and strike an agreement with Olmsted Brothers: create a general plan for a 400-acre section at $5.00 an acre.
The first thing Olmsted Brothers did after being hired was to direct Latta to hire a local engineering firm to meticulously survey and map the existing topography and conditions of the area. The second was to assign primary responsibility for the design of Dilworth of Olmsted Brothers associate Percival Gallagher.
Land was broken into a northern and southern section, connected by a slim strip of creek. Olmsted Brothers had no issues with this, but insisted it was “essential, however, that the entire tract be considered”. The Olmsted Brothers plan tied the sections together with a curving grand drive, with smaller side streets branching off. Today Dilworth Road and the pleasant curving streets off Dilworth Road East and Dilworth Road West bear the mark of this outstanding design firm.
Source: "Dilworth: The 1911 Expansion," History South
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Latta would help form and become the Supervisor of Development for the Charlotte Consolidation Construction Company. The Four C’s, as it would be known, reached out to Olmsted Brothers in the summer of 1911, to design the street plan and landscape of their new suburban community, known as Dilworth, to honor Latta. It was Latta himself who would travel to Brookline, Massachusetts and strike an agreement with Olmsted Brothers: create a general plan for a 400-acre section at $5.00 an acre.
The first thing Olmsted Brothers did after being hired was to direct Latta to hire a local engineering firm to meticulously survey and map the existing topography and conditions of the area. The second was to assign primary responsibility for the design of Dilworth of Olmsted Brothers associate Percival Gallagher.
Land was broken into a northern and southern section, connected by a slim strip of creek. Olmsted Brothers had no issues with this, but insisted it was “essential, however, that the entire tract be considered”. The Olmsted Brothers plan tied the sections together with a curving grand drive, with smaller side streets branching off. Today Dilworth Road and the pleasant curving streets off Dilworth Road East and Dilworth Road West bear the mark of this outstanding design firm.
Source: "Dilworth: The 1911 Expansion," History South
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr