Historic Rosedale

3427 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28206

It outlasted the joke. Frew died in 1823 and the property passed to his brother-in-law William Davidson, a North Carolina state senator, and then to Dr David Caldwell, who had married Davidson's daughter Harriet. The Frew, Davidson and Caldwell families lived there for over a hundred and fifty years, until 1986, when the last family members sold it to the Mecklenburg Committee of the Colonial Dames of America. Restoration began that year and Rosedale opened to the public as a museum in 1993.

What the museum says about its own history

Rosedale was a plantation house, and the organisation does not leave that out. Its stated mission includes telling "the stories of all those who lived and worked at Rosedale", specifically naming "the African-Americans, enslaved and free". The site runs a programme connected with an African American memorial garden.

We have not reproduced the detail of those histories here because the museum tells them better, and in more depth, than a summary would.

Visiting

Rosedale offers guided tours, seasonal and evening tours, school and group tours, and self-guided access to the grounds. The house and grounds are also let for events.

Tour times, admission and current programmes are on the museum's own site.

Nearby

Rosedale is on North Tryon Street north of Uptown, on the LYNX Blue Line corridor, within reach of NoDa and the northern end of Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

Last checked: 13 September 2026.