Victor Shaw House
(ca. 1928)
Home of two-term Charlotte mayor Victor Shaw (1949-1953), whose mayoral tenure included securing the bond referendum to finance the Charlotte Coliseum and Ovens Auditorium.
2400 Mecklenburg Ave,. Charlotte, NC 28205
Victor Shaw (1888-1966) and his family resided in this two-story brick Colonial Revival house during the entirety of his two terms as mayor of Charlotte (1949-1953). Following his service as an Air Corps lieutenant in France during World War I, the third generation Charlottean returned to his hometown to work with his father William at the family’s Shaw Tire Company. Despite having only a sixth-grade education, Shaw helped build the business into one of the city’s largest tire distributors. He purchased the Club Acres house in August 1944 from its original owners, Duke Power engineer James W. Knowlton and his wife Marie Wheeler, remaining in the home until 1954.
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Despite his active civic involvement, included service as chairman of the Mecklenburg Civil Service Commission, Shaw was a surprising opponent for three-term incumbent Charlotte mayor Herbert H. Baxter. Running on a platform of continued civic progress (not unlike Baxter’s existing programs), Shaw scored more than twice the number of votes cast for Baxter in the primary, leaving Shaw – as the only remaining mayoral candidate on the municipal ballot – the de facto winner. Shaw’s two terms as mayor saw the conclusion of Independence Boulevard’s full extension from Monroe Road to East Morehead Street, a variety of infrastructure upgrades across the city, continued development of the Charlotte Municipal Airport (a former World War II airfield known as Morris Field that later evolved into Charlotte/Douglas International Airport), beautification improvements at Old Settlers’ Cemetery, and the funding and planning of Ovens Auditorium and the original Charlotte Coliseum (now Bojangles Coliseum).