The George Pierce Wadsworth House is located at 400 South Summit Avenue in the Wesley Heights neighborhood.  It was designed in 1910 by Charlotte’s prominent architect, Louis H. Asbury and built by developer E.C, Griffith in 1911.  The original owner, George Pierce Wadsworth, was a local businessman who assumed presidency of the family business, Wadsworth Sons Company, in 1902.  He diversified the family’s livery and livestock  business to include Smith-Wadsworth Hardware Company, Carolina Baking Company, Wadsworth Land Company and Wadsworth Seborn Company, a sales operation for Reo cars throughout the Carolinas.  He also served as a director for Charlotte National Bank.

Shortly after George Pierce Wadsworth’s untimely death in 1930 at the age of 51, the house was sold to James Ramsey, an officer of the Textron-Southern Company, and his wife, Pearl Ramsey.  In the late 1940’s the Ramseys converted a portion of the west side of the second floor to an apartment and adapted a small sleeping porch as a kitchen.  The Ramsey's moved in 1967 and the house stood vacant for two years.

In 1969, Mrs. Ramsey sold the property to Worthy D. Hairston and his wife, Marie S. Hairston. Mr. Hairston lived less than a year after the move. Mrs. Hairston’s nephew, Charles McClure,  bought the Wadsworth House property in 1977and continued ownership until his death in the 1990’s.  Upon his death, family members owned the property until it was sold to Judge Shirley L. Fulton in 2001.

Judge Fulton bought a home and moved into the Wesley Heights community in 1990 when it was on the decline.  Impressed with the architectural character of the housing stock and the tree lined streets, Fulton moved in with the thought of helping the community to revitalize itself to become a more desirable place to live.  After organizing a nonprofit community development corporation, she led the community through a renaissance to reclaim and restore the housing stock, reduce the criminal activities, and develop a greenway that eventually became a part of the Mecklenburg County greenway master plan.  During her many community activities, Fulton took note of the Wadsworth House and wrote the heirs of Charles McClure to express her interest in buying the property if they decided to sell.  When the McClure estate decided to sell in 2000, Fulton was an eager buyer.

Judge Fulton had a vision for the property as a conferemce  and event center, something that was missing on the west side of Charlotte.  She pursued that vision through a restoration of the main house, maintaining most of its original features.  The Wadsworth House Conference and Events Center opened August 21, 2001 as the crowning jewel in the Wesley Heights community and the fulfillment of Fulton’s dream.