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[ Oscar J. Thies Building ]
[ Itinerary ]
[ Tour Guide ]
[ Related Sites ]
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[ Walking Tour ]
[ Directions ]
[ Oscar J. Thies Building ]
The remainder of the Walking Tour of Uptown Charlotte will mostly be
along Tryon Street, named for Governor William Tryon, the Royal Governor
of North Carolina when Charlotte was established in 1768. Until the early
1900's, Tryon Street was lined with elegant homes, except for one
block immediately north and south of the Square. As the size of
Charlotte exploded in the twentieth century, however, all of the old
buildings were torn down aside from a few churches and early
skyscrapers, plus one florist shop and a lavish arcade. You will visit
them all!
First United Methodist Church is an extravagant example of the Late Gothic Revival style. Typically constructed of stone, structures of this type were especially popular as churches or college buildings, such as Princeton University in New Jersey, Yale University in Connecticut, and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
James Buchanan Duke, whose money created Duke University, played a role in establishing First United Methodist Church in Charlotte. In the early 1920's, Duke met with Charlotte Methodist E. R. Bucher, an employee of what is now Duke Power Company, and said, "You know, I'm going to spend a great deal of time in Charlotte. I think I ought to do something for Charlotte Methodism." Later Duke promised to contribute $100,000 if Trinity Methodist Church and Tryon S Street Methodist Church, both in Uptown Charlotte, would merge and "build a representative stone church." On November 24, 1926, Trinity Methodist Church and Tryon Street Methodist Church did vote to unite. The first service was held here on October 30, 1927. Although J. B. Duke had died in 1925, his estate did contribute money to the building of First United Methodist Church. The architect of the Charlotte church was Edwin Brewer Phillips of Memphis, Tennessee.
Cross Tryon Street at the Eighth Street intersection and stop in front of the fancy, two-story brick building on the corner of Tryon Street and Eighth Street. Oscar J. Thies Automobile Building.
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[ Walking Tour ]
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[ Oscar J. Thies Building ]