The Library was build on 49 acres of land. The original house that Billy lived in up until he went to college, had been moved board by board and brick by brick to this new site and has been restored. This first family homeplace was built in 1927 on a dairy farm near what is now Park Road Shopping Center. The Grahams were big dairy farmers and supplied most of the milk to the town of Charlotte. The rooms were furnished with many of the Grahams furniture and family pictures were in each room.
The barn has a large glass cross as the entry. Rev Graham wanted each person who walked into the barn to come from the foot of the Cross. Inside the barn were 14 room or Galleries. His Journey of Faith, The world discovers Billy Graham, Billy Graham and the Media, The Presidents room, Ruth Graham's room.
The Library construction was started in 2006 and finished on June 4, 2007. Ruth Graham never saw the finished buildings as she died June 19,2007. She is buried in the Memorial Prayer Garden. The garden lies at the edge of the woods. If you click on the picture you will see today would have been her birthday. The flowers in the front were from Billy with a card "Happy Birthday and I miss you" Billy. There is a spot next to her for the Rev Billy Graham to rest.
While driving one day she saw a sign Under construction, thank you for your patience. She told Rev Graham she wanted that on her stone when she died. That is on her stone.
It was such a great place and a must for those who get to Charlotte even if you are not a church person.
The House I Spent many years in as a little girl.
My grandparents lived across the street from each other 60 years ago so we went on a hunt to see if we could find their homes,but both homes were replaced with a nice college. What did I expect...
The one home I spent every summer for 10 years as a small child, was with my favorite Aunt and Uncle. They had a lot to do with my spiritual growth at my early age. I 'm sure each one of us has a favorite family member they remember more than others. This was the one who meant the most to me. She taught me how to sew, cook, pick vegetable's out of the big garden that they kept on an acre of land next door. We traveled all over when I visited them. She made all my clothes even up to the age of 11 yrs old ,but by then I wanted a different style than she did. I had her address so off we went. The road had been widened so I had a feeling her house was gone. The house was there just as I remember it. It was taken over by a Family Service Center. John was going to go in and see if I could take a tour of the inside. A note on the door told us they had moved the office 2 offices over. A wonderful lady John talked to found a key and let us in and we wondered though the empty house. The house was smaller than I remember but then I was smaller back then. These stairs I slid down more times than I could remember. This tree was in the back yard and they put a tire swing on then later a wooden swing for me. The house was built in 1930 when my Uncle had it built. It was in great shape for being 81 yrs old. I was very happy.
Well, we leave Charlotte tomorrow and head onto Roanoke Va. They have had severe thunderstorms all around us with golf ball hail today but did not hit our place. Thank you Lord!!
That barn with the cross is pretty cool, and being able to go back to your aunt's house must have been very special for you Carol. Talk about going back in time!!
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