Dilworth, Charlotte, NC

Dilworth is a neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina. The neighborhood was Charlotte's first streetcar suburb and was established by Edward Dilworth Latta in the 1890s on 250 acres southwest of the original city limits. It included the Joseph Forsyth Johnson designed Latta Park. Planned largely with a grid pattern similar to the city's original four wards, Dilworth was initially designated the Eighth Ward. Dilworth was born out of the powerful impact that the newly minted streetcar had on Charlotte's original four ward neighborhood. The first streetcars were horse-drawn and later mule-drawn. These precursor streetcars and walking were Charlottean's primary mode of transportation which kept development close to Trade and Tryon Streets, Charlotte's urban core. The first electric streetcar, Latta's Charlotte Street Railway Company, began operation May 18, 1891, just two days before Dilworth was opened. The original streetcar was replaced just five short years later by Charlotte Electric Railway.