Welcome to Grove Park Memories

Neighborhood History from Acree Armstrong

Did you know that the first house built on Terry Lane was at 6620 Terry Lane? Tom and Helen Terry were the owners and architect Helen Terry designed the house. Later on Helen Terry was instrumental in developing the rest of Terry Lane. The Terrys lived on Terry Lane for about a year. They sold the house and they built another at 7201 Lakeside Lane.

Grove-Park History from Peggy Sue and David Henry

“In March of 1955 we built our home on Grove Park Blvd., at that time it was a gravel road with no house in sight. Lawyer Erwin’s house was the next block over - there was nothing here, we really lived out in the country. In 1956 we started going to a church in a barn on the corner of Hickory Grove - Newell Road which now is W.T. Harris. The church, Hickory Grove Baptist Church was built in 1957.

After the church was built we started growing in Grove Park; our street was paved and that was such a great improvement. A number of firsts: Winn-Dixie, first grocery store (East Town Market, now Compare Foods); Hickory Grove Volunteer Fire Department (across the street on the left from HGBC); Spoon’s Pharmacy was located in the same block as the Fire Department. Mr. Spoon was the main doctor. There was a Gulf Service Station where Rite Aid now sits across from HGBC. Food Lion and the rest of the stores across from HGBC are located in the former cow pasture. Going towards Hickory Grove Methodist Church was Deans, a small grocery store. Mr. Dean lived on the corner past HGMC. The Gym for the Methodist Church is where Dean’s Grocery was located. Across from the Methodist Church is Hickory Grove Elementary School, where our children attended (the school is in use today).

Grove Park’s lakes were a drawing point for the many homes that began to be built here. The oldest house (the gray house at Williams and Oakwood) was the Williams home (Williams Road is named for Mr. and Mrs. Williams). We have truly seen it all grow up. It was then and still is an area loved by many, here in the east side of Charlotte.

LEARN More about Peggy Sue HERE

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE GROVE PARK

Generational `apples' don't fall too far from the trees

MICHELE WAYMAN (c)The Charlotte Observer Posted Sunday, January 7, 2007

Would you move back to the neighborhood where you grew up? Ron Stading did. So did the Whiteside girls. And the Joneses, the Stewarts, the Stegalls and the Kales, to name a few.
In a city where it seems everyone has moved in from somewhere else, and it's a struggle to meet your neighbors, Grove Park neighbors count more than a dozen multigenerational families living here.

Take the Stadings. Mary and Ron Stading built their lakeside home on Oakwood Lane in 1960. Their son, Ron, grew up fishing, boating and swimming in the lake during the day and camping under the stars at night. So when it came time for Ron and his wife, Sue, to get their own home and start a family, they chose the lot two doors down. Their backyards meet through a grove of mature trees bordering the lake.

Ron and his father built the rustic, 1970s cedar-sided house with help from friends. Back then, you could buy a lot and build whatever house you wanted, within reason. That's why Grove Park has an eclectic mix of homes. Fifties-style ranches, two-story brick structures and farm-inspired homes peacefully coexist.

Ron and Sue's oldest son, Mark, used to stand on the back deck and wait for his grandfather to come home. Mark was just 4 when his grandfather died, and Ron treasures the short but sweet time his father and son shared together. Since then, his mother is just a backyard of trees away. They don't barge in on each other, but they're there for each other. "I couldn't live here without them," she said.

Margaret and Bobby Whiteside lived in a two-bedroom house next door to Mary Stading 43 years ago. A Charlotte native, Margaret picked Grove Park for its abundance of kids. After their daughter, Donna, was born, Margaret's doctor told her she wouldn't have any more children, she recalls. Their goal was to adopt a son and move into a larger home. But Margaret got pregnant after all -- not once, but twice.

They bought a vacant lot backing up to a lake and built a four-bedroom home where Margaret and Bobby still live. Their girls -- Donna, Patty and Teresa -- grew up playing pool with friends in their rec room and sunbathing on the roof when mom and dad were at work. "Patty was always so proud to say she lives in `The Grove,' " Margaret said. "She just thought everyone who lives here is so cool."

Now Patty lives on nearby Williams Road, and Teresa lives in the house next door. The girls and their families pop in and out of the Whiteside home, and sometimes beat Margaret to the pantry. "Cereal for breakfast? Gone. Milk? Gone," she jokes.

Patty and her husband, Scott, moved into Rick Stewart's childhood home. (Stewart still lives in the house he built next door.) Yes, Patty moved back to be close to her mother. But the past also drew her back. The smell of springtime air when her mom opens the windows is still the same as her childhood. She missed the sounds of the owls, frogs and geese on the lake when she moved away. Walking the same streets she did as a kid and paddling a boat on the same lakes.

"As an adult, it's really strange," Patty said. "I have flashbacks to when I was little and I was in the same place." "I still do that stuff. I did it as a kid and still do it. It's really cool."