MPTLL History Project: Aerial Photos of Randolph Park

Below are some interesting aerial photos showing how the land in and around Randolph Park has evolved over the years. It also shows how much our volunteers have accomplished since we first arrived at Randolph Road.

The photo on the left is from 1950, two years before the Myers Park Civitan league was created and began play at Myers Park Elementary School. It was all farm land back then. The road running north to south in this picture was Sardis Road, and later became Randolph Road. Sardis intersects Billingsley Road on the left side of the picture.

The middle photo is from 1961. Our one Little League field, E.C. Griffith, is seen on the northwest side of Randolph Road. To the south, the old Pony/Babe Ruth Field, Culp Field, is barely visible. Across the street, what we now call Grier Heights #1 has been built. At the bottom of the picture Billingsley Road has been rerouted further to the south in the current location. The old Billingsley Road still exists in the photo and runs through the farm on the land where our current fields sit.

The photo on the right is from 2012 and shows our current park, with two Grier Heights fields, three tee ball fields among the trees separating the upper and lower fields, and five Little League fields and other structures between the tree line and the current Billingsley Road. Interestingly, the path from behind the backstop of Randolph East Field to the concession stand follows the same route as the old Billingsley Road.

A lot has changed in 65 years. It will be interesting to see how the park continues to evolve as we grow and make more improvements over the next several decades.

Randolph Park land in 1950, 1961 and 2012. Click for a larger picture.