The Hidden Valley Mission Statement
To Advocate, Educate, Enhance and Promote (AEEP) a safe well-maintained neighborhood for the Hidden Valley residents.
Hidden Valley Community Association is dedicated to providing the latest information on events, memberships, volunteer opportunities, and resources to the community. Our platform aims to encourage residents to be actively involved and connected within the neighborhood. We are committed to offering senior services, organizing community events, and providing diverse volunteer opportunities for individuals of all ages.
The History of the Hidden Valley Community
In the 1960’s, Developer George S. Goodyear built one of Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest subdivision communities, Hidden Valley. It is five miles from the center of uptown Charlotte, twenty miles from Charlotte-Douglas Airport, five miles from two large medical centers, and its boundaries are North Tryon Street, West Sugar Creek and Reagan Drive and Tom Hunter Road. It includes 4,500 single-family homes. Mr. Goodyear used a story-book theme for Hidden Valley with streets named Cinderella Road, Candy Stick Lane, Snow White Lane and Hidden Forest Drive. The community was occupied with all-white residents or homeowners until the 1970’s, when it was integrated with African Americans home buyers.
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“White flight” is the termed used to describe Whites selling their homes to African Americans out of fear and misinformation regarding, property value, schools, crime, and other social issues. There was resistance from some of the white homeowners, and as a result, the homes of black residents were shot into and experienced cross-burnings on lawns. The integration continued through the seventies and eighties, as blacks and other minority groups purchased homes in Hidden Valley.
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The African American buyers soon became the majority homeowners, as most whites moved out of the neighborhood. As the majority African American residents, the neighbors formed several influential organizations, acquired several previously white-owned neighborhood churches, and started neighborhood businesses.
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In support of the integration of Hidden Valley Elementary School, the residents responded to Judge James B. Mc Millan’s court order to end segregation of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 1970. The black residents formed the Hidden Valley Community Association (HVCA) in 1975 to address busing of the children, and other issues of the community. The Hidden Valley Optimist Club of Charlotte, NC (HVOC) is a not-for-profit service club chartered in 1979. Similarly, the Hidden Valley Community Development Corporation (HVCDC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization chartered in 1996. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Lynx Blue Light Rail service has caused the acceleration of apartments construction nearby, bringing more residents into the neighborhood. As a result, Hidden Valley community continues to grow with 10 subdivisions. The neighborhood has become a destination for many, that live and work in Charlotte.
Written by:
Priscilla Duncan, Patricia McDonald, and John F. Wall.