County identifies 2 possible temporary locations to re-site historic tenant house
Sharecropper House / Photo by Jason Benavides
March 15. By Dave Yochum. Mecklenburg County has identified two temporary sites in Cornelius for the Alexander Farm tenant house, according to Deputy Town Manager Wayne Herron.
The county says it can accommodate the structure at either nearby Robbins Park or along the greenway at Bailey Road.
“Depending on discussions, other sites may be in play, but these are the two sites the county would like to coordinate until the structure comes to its permanent location in the Town park,” Herron said.
Dan Morrill
Construction begins next month
Construction on the multimillion-dollar mixed-use project on 55 acres at Westmoreland and West Catawba is set to begin in April.
“We now have a clear path forward to preserve the J. Wilson Alexander Farm Tenant House,” said historian Dan Morrill, a retired UNC-Charlotte history professor and consultant for Preserve Mecklenburg.
The now rare structure will remain at the interim site until the new park land that WIN Development has set aside at Alexander Farms is ready. The tiny house is significant because so few are left in a once agricultural county where sharecropping and tenants farming were commonplace.
“Thereafter, the Town of Cornelius will use the tenant house as a passive interpretive site. The lives of thousands of tenant farmers and sharecroppers who lived and labored in Mecklenburg County will now be honored and remembered,” Morrill said.
Cooperation made it happen
The structure will be saved because of the cooperation of an array of institutions, he added.
“Special thanks should go to WIN Development, the State Historic Preservation Office, Preserve Mecklenburg, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, the local press, the citizens of Cornelius and North Mecklenburg, and history-minded people throughout Mecklenburg County,” Morrill said.
“Thousands of families, Black and White, were sharecroppers or tenant farmers in Mecklenburg County. We will now have a historic site that honors their history,” Morrill said. Preserve Mecklenburg has about $20,000 set aside for one move.
The tenant house is sited in the upper left corner of the 55 acre farm facing West Catawba. Westmoreland runs along the bottom of the image taken from Mecklenburg County property records
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I’ve been fascinated by this house for years, always slowing to take a look and imagining what it looked like brand-new. What families lived there? Did children play among the trees lining the spot?
I’m so thankful various organizations came together to ensure this piece of history is preserved. I hope wherever it lands, the location can include interactive history lessons so we never forget the sacrifices our long-ago neighbors made to develop this land.
THANK YOU!
Thank you Maureen for your comment. We all stand on the shoulders of past generations. Preserve Mecklenburg looks forward to moving the house where it will remain for future generations to ponder.
I agree with Maureen about the sharecroppers house. When I moved here seven years ago my children lived a few blocks away. I would come bye and steal a look at the house and wonder. Wonder who lived there, what year – what did they do for a living? How old were they if they were farmers? How many rooms – how did they handle no electric, no running water, how could they possibly live there? I tried to put myself and my imagination in the moment. As balanced as North Carolina weather is I can’t imagine the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter in that tiny little house. I’ll bet it’s filled with millions of memories of days gone by . I should imagine, whatever year that was, my great great grandparents didn’t have much more than that. We/I are so spoiled.I’m so glad we’re
preserving it. Thank you for that! 🇺🇸