Historic West End
Biddle Memorial Hall
The Romanesque brick centerpiece of Johnson C. Smith University still crowns Beatties Ford Road, its clock tower chiming the Westminster quarters across the West End.
- Historical
Hours & practicals
- Address
- Beatties Ford Rd at W. Trade St, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC
- From your base
- Sorts every list here by walk time.
The take
The hall was built in 1883 as the main building of the university founded in 1867 by the Presbyterian Church for the education of African American students, and it honors Mary D. Biddle, whose early gift helped establish the school. The three-and-a-half-story Romanesque Revival building carries a pyramidal slate roof and the clock tower nicknamed 'Big Johnson,' whose Westminster chimes sound every fifteen minutes and carry about a mile. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Heritage context
Biddle Memorial Institute
Active today
Biddle Memorial Institute — school, appearing in the Charlotte record across 6 documented year(s).
Johnson C. Smith University
Active today
Historically Black university on Beatties Ford Road whose students led Charlotte's 1960 sit-in movement.
Check in
Your passport…
Sources
- Facts — en.wikipedia.org, verified August 2026
- deepCut — the guide’s own research notes — no published source, August 2026 — not independently verified
Similar nearby
All tagged Landmark.
The neighborhood
The 9 things this place connects to in the guide's map of the town — one step out, and nothing beyond it.
District
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Categories
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People
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Eras
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See Biddle Memorial Hall on the wiki, with every connection listedArriving in Historic West End? The first-hour guide