Billy Graham Leaves Behind Lasting Legacy in Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, NC – Rev. Billy Graham may have been known as “America’s Pastor,” but he leaves behind a lasting legacy here in Charlotte.
This is where he grew up and where he will be laid to rest.
Graham’s story begins on a dairy farm in South Charlotte.Β As a boy, he milked cows, at what’s now the Park Road Shopping Center.
A monument marks his birthplace.
“We know there was a story there,” says Marette Jorgenson, who came to pay her respects.
“The average person, I think respected him for his ability to communicate. He was a very gifted communicator. But also he had a passion for what he believed in,” Jorgenson says.
Graham used that gift of communication to reach the masses, first on radio, his program airing on WBT in Charlotte.
Graham’s message reached millions around the world through hundreds of crusades, including four in Charlotte.
The first in 1947 at First Baptist Church on North Tryon Street.
Then in 1958, he drew more than 400,000 people during a month-long crusade at what’s now Bojangles Coliseum.
His last Charlotte crusade in 1996 filled what was then Ericsson Stadium.
His name and legacy will endure in Charlotte, from Billy Graham Parkway, to his library in West Charlotte, where he will be laid to rest next to his wife Ruth.
