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https://raleighnc.gov/parks/places/charlotte-hilton-green-park
12/29/2023 9:22 am

Purple crocus in field

Charlotte Hilton Green Park

Updated: Dec 29, 2023

Year 1986 | Acres 3.56

East of Joslin Garden is West Lake Park. This north-south linear park is 3.56 acres, approximately 1330 feet long and ranges in width from 50’ to 150’. A stream runs through the center of the park. There are no structures and the environment is a natural woodland.

Charlotte H. Green Park abuts West Lake Park to the north. A group of neighbors and purchased the three wooded parcels. Once purchased, the group donated the land to the city for preservation as a park, thus preventing the land from residential development. The deed identifies the participating neighbors as well as the restrictions preserving the property as a park.

Contact

 

919-996-3285

Address

3103 White Oak Road
Raleigh, NC 27608

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History

Charlotte Hilton Green, while not a Raleigh native, left an indelible mark on her adopted city. Charlotte was one of Raleigh’s earliest conservationists, an avid birder, and author of two books in addition to a weekly newspaper column dedicated to gardening and gardens. She and her husband Ralph moved to Raleigh in 1920 and promptly invested in some real estate along the then-dirt White Oak Road. No developer wanted that old land, formerly tobacco and corn fields. Development would never happen that far from town, they said.



Charlotte and Ralph worked for decades improving their property, using it as a learning lab for renewing the land, planting trees and creating a habitat to attract birds. After Ralph died in 1948, Charlotte began to subdivide the property, which is still identified as “Green Acres,” the name they called the property. As late as 1986, NCSU horticulture classes were still visiting Greenacres as part of their curriculum.



As the last three lots were slated for development, neighbors got together and urged the City of Raleigh to create a park and name it after Charlotte. After a concerted fundraising effort, the park was established in 1986. Charlotte, well into her 80s by then, attended the dedication.



In 2019, the Raleigh Garden Club adopted the park as part of Raleigh’s “Adopt a Park” program, removing invasive species, planting hundreds of bulbs, and most recently rediscovering a stone walkway through the upper field.