CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council approved to resolution to designate a west Charlotte institution a historic landmark at its meeting Monday night.
McDonald’s Cafeteria sat at the corner of Beatties Ford Road and La Salle Street in the 1970s until it moved to a new location in 1981.
The restaurant became a place for community groups to meet and organize grassroots efforts to advance civil rights and social justice in Charlotte.
John McDonald built the McDonald’s Cafeteria and adjoining Beatties Ford mini-center.
His granddaughter, Kisha Poage, has been working to see her grandfather’s legacy and the site where the cafeteria stood preserved.
“I thought the legacy was forgotten, and to have the memory, the building preserved, just everything to come back, it’s wonderful,” Poage said.
Poage described the building as a safe haven where people could come to discuss politics and more. It also fostered Black entrepreneurship, providing several Black business owners with a space.
“He [McDonald] brought jobs, opportunities, just everything to this corridor, and he made sure that whatever he did was for the community,” Poage said.
In 2020, plans were set in motion to renovate the building into what it is today. Chase Bank now anchors the space, but other Black-owned businesses have plans to move in.
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“I feel that they’re keeping it true to my grandfather’s vision to give back to the community,” Poage said.
While the Beatties Ford Road corridor changes Poage hoped if the site is designated a historical landmark, it will serve as a history lesson into Charlotte’s past and the progress that’s already been made.
“To know Charlotte is to know where it came from,” Poage said.
Contact Kendall Morris at kmorris2@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.