Just a few miles from the center of uptown Charlotte, Camp North End sprawls across 76 acres. It’s a mix of historic brick, steel, natural wood, and wildflowers. Before it became home to bakeries, co-working spaces and indoor pickleball courts, this site played a critical role in America’s burgeoning car industry and World War II-era military supply chains.
Camp North End’s story begins in 1924, when the Ford Motor Company opened a massive Model T and Model A assembly plant on what was then remote farmland. Designed by Albert Kahn, Detroit’s groundbreaking architect of industrial modernism, the 240,000-square-foot factory introduced concepts like open floor plans, skylights and end-grain wood block floors that functioned to absorb sound and prevent sparks during subsequent munitions work.
Community Manager Varian Shrum said Ford manufactured over 300,000 cars here before the Great Depression crashed the demand for the production line. The facility would remain unused until World War II.
In 1941, the U.S. Army purchased the property, transforming it into a quartermaster depot. Over the next two years, the Army expanded its structures by another 1 million square feet. It became a central distribution hub for uniforms, rations and equipment sent to training camps across the Southeast.
“Anyone who served in World War II and went to basic training in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia, all of their supplies came through this site,” Shrum said. At the height of its activity, the depot employed 2,500 civilians, most of them women, and housed 80 Army officers on site, including General Woodward, who oversaw operations.
Fragments of that military era are still seen today. What was once the Army kitchen and bunkhouse now serves as a bakery, bookshop and project office. Nearby, in the Keswick District section of the site, a Cold War-era six-wheel military vehicle called the Gama Goat is on display.
The name “Camp North End” itself is a nod to this military past. During the Cold War years, the site was known as the Charlotte Army Missile Plant and informally referred to as “camp” by those stationed there. Today, the name preserves that legacy while appending the site’s location in Charlotte’s north end neighborhood.
ATCO Properties, a New York-based real estate firm, saw the site’s potential and acquired the property in 2016. Since then, they’ve worked to reimagine the venue to attract the community while preserving its historical character, Shrum said.
“Early in 2017, we did all kinds of music and events here,” Shrum said. “We were always being really intentional about including a diverse mix of people we worked with. Our hope was that you could walk through and see a true cross-section of the city of Charlotte.”
Beyond the buildings, wildflowers grow along inactive train tracks, which were once used to load military supplies. The tracks may see new purpose as part of The Red Line, a long-discussed commuter rail line connecting the Lake Norman suburbs to uptown. According to Shrum, Camp North End will continue to expand, creating more opportunities for local small businesses, adding residential spaces and growing as a destination spot for Charlotte residents.