H. H. Baxter papers

Herbert Hill Baxter was born in Boston on May 31, 1894 to Lucy Hill and Frank Herbert Baxter. He was graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1918. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army, Infantry Division, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. His training was conducted partially at Camp Greene in Charlotte. After his discharge from the Army, Baxter entered the lumber business in Charleston, S.C. In 1922 he moved to Charlotte, where, in 1925, he organized Central Lumber Company, of which he was president until the company closed in 1958. Baxter entered local politics in 1935 when he was elected to the Charlotte City Council, on which he served until 1941 and again from 1951 to 1959. In 1943, Baxter defeated E. McArthur Currie to become mayor. He was reelected in 1945 and 1947. He was defeated in 1949 by Victor Shaw. He ran for city council in 1965 but was defeated. Baxter continued to work with city government after his service on the city council, primarily as vice chair of the Charlotte Redevelopment Commission. As mayor, Baxter established a planning board and pressed for careful but progressive city growth. After World War II, he launched the sale of bonds to finance a $12,000,000 "Program for Progress." During his administration, the city acquired Morris Field from US Air Force for airport expansion; developed and adopted health, housing, and zoning ordinances; expanded city boundaries; liberalized Sunday blue laws; created ABC legislation; authorized construction of a cross town highway; established a veteran's center and a city employee retirement system and created new city departments, including Traffic Engineering. Baxter promoted funding for an auditorium and coliseum, as well as consolidation of city county governments. [See box 4:11 for a complete list of accomplishments.] Baxter was also active in many community organizations. He was 32nd degree Mason and belonged to the Lion's Club. His memberships included Myers Park Country Club, where he served as president (1953-58). He helped found the Charlotte City Club (1947) and served as its president (1948-49). Baxter worked with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Boy Scouts and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Merchants' Association. He served as president of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and as commander of the Civil Air Patrol's North Carolina Wing (1950-53). Baxter was married to Virginia Littlejohn of Spartanburg, S.C. They had three daughters. He died in 1967.