Foundations of Business

The business district along Central Avenue grew as slowly as the adjacent neighborhoods.  The earliest commercial development in what became known was Charlotte’s Miracle Mile was Long’s Grocery (circa 1916).  But it was not until more homes were constructed that businesses moved into the corridor along the streetcar line.  The Central Avenue business district grew up where the streetcar turned onto The Plaza.  This type of transit-oriented commercial growth was common in many of Charlotte’s streetcar suburbs, including Dilworth, Washington Heights, and Villa Heights.

By the 1930s, the Miracle Mile had become the destination for suburban shopping.  Even with the transition from streetcars to buses, Charlotteans still flocked to the area to avoid the traffic congestion downtown.  However, as the city emerged from World War II set upon rapid expansion, a new establishment threatened the small commercial strip along Central Avenue:  the shopping center.  Suburban residents began to avoid the older commercial corridors of Charlotte.

As the maps below show, the business district was still sparse in the late 1920s.  It was not until the next decade when the city's first suburban shopping area began to prosper.