Stop 26 — Lyles-Sims House

Address: 523 North Poplar Street Year built: 1867 Style: Modified Queen Anne Designation: CMHLC historic landmark

The Lyles-Sims House at 523 North Poplar is an 1867 Modified Queen Anne — one of the oldest buildings on the walking tour, second only to the 1820 Sloan-Davidson House (stop 27) and the 1850 McCausland-Taylor House (stop 32).

Per Friends of Fourth Ward, the house was erected between 1867 and 1869 and enlarged between 1870 and 1887. It is a rare survivor of 19th-century domestic architecture in Charlotte and exhibits the impact that growing prosperity had on the city in the decades after the Civil War. The Lyles-Sims is also among the few older homes in Fourth Ward that remain on their original sites. Notable feature: the wraparound front porch retains its original front door.

Note on the 1867 date and Fourth Ward history

The 1867 start date for this house is significant for the ongoing question about when Fourth Ward itself came into existence. Friends of Fourth Ward places the founding of the four-ward division of Charlotte "in the mid-1830s." Local historians have argued for a later date, closer to the Reconstruction era. The Lyles-Sims House was begun in 1867 — firmly in that Reconstruction-era context — and its construction during that period is consistent with a neighborhood still being settled as a distinct residential zone. See our opening history piece for the full question.

← Stop 25 · Back to walking tour hub · Next: stop 27, Sloan-Davidson House →

Source: Friends of Fourth Ward, Self-Walking Tour (2016). Retrieved April 24, 2026.