My Home Town

I am from Charlotte, NC and compared to a lot of my friends, I am an anomaly.  I am a native Charlottean.  While not all that uncommon for a person to still live in the city in which they were born, Charlotte seems to have more than its share of imports, and often when I tell someone that I was born here, I get a response like "wow, you're the first native I have met" Often this makes me feel like a fossil or at least a subject of some rare curiosity like Piltdown man or Bigfoot.  Then when I tell them the next line, they assume I have lived in a cave for 50 years.  You see, I have never lived or worked anywhere more than 3 miles from where I live right now.  I am a throwback to the days when people were born, lived, worked and died all within a few miles radius.  But before we start making funeral arrangements (Forest Lawn Cemetery is literally 3 miles from my house) take a look at a few pictures of my hometown, Charlotte, NC.

If you are from Charlotte you may recognize some of the places.  Some are shots of places that were established long before I was born.  If you have moved away, some of the pictures may be unfamiliar to you as things have changed quite a bit over the years.

Click on any picture for a larger image

Above and below are some of the art pieces at "the square" the corner of Trade and Tryon.

 Above is the old Coca-Cola Bottling Co. on Morehead St.  all decked out for Memorial Day.

Below is the entrance of the old Wachovia Building.  This was quite an impressive building back when it was built.  It was a landmark of the night skyline for years, bathed in bright white light on all four sides.  Wachovia was recently acquired by Wells Fargo.

 Above is the sign from Ratcliffe's Flowers, a now closed uptown Charlotte institution. 

 The sign now hangs outside of a restaurant.

Below is Fuel Pizza.  It resides in an old Pure Oil service station on Central Ave.

 Above is Herrin Brothers Coal and Ice Co. on 36th Street

Below is the statue of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg that greets all travelers at the Charlotte airport

 Above is a shot of the outside of the NASCAR Hall of fame 

Below is a shot from inside the Hall of Fame

I am working on a calendar of iconic places in Charlotte. 
Maybe one or two of these pictures will make the cut.

E-mail me if you have a suggestion for a must-have shot for the Calendar

keith@keithlewisphoto.com

Visit my website: keithlewisphoto.com

 Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/KeithLewisPhotography

 Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KeithLewisPhoto