Editing Charlotte, North Carolina (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

===Early history===
[[File:Queen-charlotte-1744-1818.jpg|thumb|upright|The city's namesake, [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, {{circa|1779}}|left]]
The [[Catawba people|Catawba Indians]] were the first known historic tribe to settle Mecklenburg County in the Charlotte area and were first recorded around 1567, according to  Spanish records.

===18th century===
By 1759, half the Catawba tribe had died from [[smallpox]], an endemic disease among European colonists, which the Catawba had no natural [[immunity (medical)|immunity]] against. At the time of their largest population, the Catawba population was 10,000. But by 1826, the Catawba population dropped to 110.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clclt.com/theclog/archives/2012/12/21/question-the-queen-city-who-were-the-native-americans-that-lived-here-before-charlotte-was-colonized|title=Question the Queen City: Who were the Native Americans that lived here before Charlotte was colonized?|website=Creative Loafing Charlotte|access-date=April 11, 2016}}</ref>

The city of Charlotte was developed first by a wave of migration of [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]], or [[Ulster-Scot]] settlers from [[Ulster]], who dominated the culture of the Southern Piedmont Region and made up the principal founding population in the backcountry. [[German Americans|German immigrants]] also settled in the area before the [[American Revolutionary War]], but in smaller numbers. They still contributed greatly to the early foundations of the region.

Mecklenburg County was initially part of [[Bath County, North Carolina|Bath County]] (1696 to 1729) of the New Hanover Precinct, which became [[New Hanover County]] in 1729. The western portion of New Hanover split into [[Bladen County, North Carolina|Bladen County]] in 1734, and its western portion split into [[Anson County]] in 1750. Mecklenburg County was formed from Anson County in 1762. Further apportionment was made in 1792, after the American Revolutionary War, with [[Cabarrus County]] formed from Mecklenburg.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/mecklenburg-county-1762/|title=Mecklenburg County (1762)|publisher=North Carolina History Project|access-date=June 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626074059/https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/mecklenburg-county-1762/|archive-date=June 26, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===19th century===
In 1842, [[Union County, North Carolina|Union County]] formed from Mecklenburg's southeastern portion and a western portion of Anson County. These areas were all part of one of the original six judicial/military districts of North Carolina known as the [[Salisbury District, North Carolina|Salisbury District]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/patriot_militia_nc_salisbury_district.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070713204516/http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/patriot_militia_nc_salisbury_district.html | archive-date = July 13, 2007 | title = The American Revolution in North Carolina | access-date = June 25, 2011}}</ref>

The area that is now Charlotte was first settled by European colonists around 1755 when Thomas Spratt and his family settled near what is now the Elizabeth neighborhood. [[Thomas Polk]] (great-uncle of [[President of the United States|President]] [[James K. Polk]]), who later married Thomas Spratt's daughter, built his house by the intersection of two [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] trading paths between the [[Yadkin River|Yadkin]] and [[Catawba River|Catawba]] rivers.<ref name="Story1">{{cite web| url = http://www.cmstory.org/content/1755-founding-new-city| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518112246/http://www.cmstory.org/content/1755-founding-new-city| archive-date = May 18, 2015| title = The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Founding a New City| work = cmstory.org Web Site | publisher = Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County| access-date = September 25, 2015}}</ref> One path ran north–south and was part of the [[Great Wagon Road]]; the second path ran east–west along what is now Trade Street.

Nicknamed the "Queen City",<ref name=caucus>{{cite web|last1=Bernstein|first1=Viv|title=Welcome to Charlotte, a City of Quirks|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/welcome-to-charlotte-a-city-of-quirks/?_php=true&_type=blogs|work=The New York Times Caucus Blog|date=September 3, 2012 |access-date=July 29, 2014}}</ref> like its county a few years earlier, Charlotte was named in honor of [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], who had become the [[queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland]] in 1761, seven years before the town's incorporation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/queen-charlotte|title=Queen Charlotte (19 May 1744 - 17 November 1818)|website=royal.uk|access-date=May 17, 2016}}</ref> A second nickname derives from the [[American Revolutionary War]], when British commander General [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis]] occupied the city but was driven out by hostile residents. He wrote that Charlotte was "a [[hornet]]'s nest of rebellion", leading to the nickname "The Hornet's Nest".<ref>[https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/hornets-nest-book-one/welcome-cornwallis Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: A Welcome for Cornwallis] (Retrieved on 07–25–19)</ref>

Within decades of Polk's settling, the area grew to become the Town of Charlotte, [[municipal incorporation|incorporated]] in 1768.<ref name="charter">{{cite web |url=https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/history-timeline-rural-beginnings-1730-1772/1768-charlotte-chartered |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622062601/https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/history-timeline-rural-beginnings-1730-1772/1768-charlotte-chartered |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 22, 2020 |title=1768- Charlotte Chartered |website=cmstory.org |access-date=May 31, 2020 }}</ref> Though chartered as Charlotte, the name appears as a form of "Charlottesburgh" on many maps until around 1800.<ref name="burgh">{{cite web | url=https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ncmaps/id/467 | title=A Compleat map of North-Carolina from an actual survey | date=1770 | access-date=May 31, 2020 | website=library.unc.edu}}</ref> A form of "Charlottetown" also appears on maps of British origin depicting General Cornwallis' route of invasion.<ref name="town">{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/item/74692779/ | title=The marches of Lord Cornwallis in the Southern Provinces, now States of North America; comprehending the two Carolinas, with Virginia and Maryland, and the Delaware counties | date=1787 | access-date=August 18, 2020 | website=loc.gov}}</ref> The crossroads in Piedmont became the heart of [[Uptown Charlotte]]. In 1770, surveyors marked the streets in a [[grid pattern]] for future development. The east–west trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of [[William Tryon]], a royal governor of colonial North Carolina.<ref name="Story2">{{cite web
| url = http://www.cmstory.org/content/1770-designing-city
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518120812/http://www.cmstory.org/content/1770-designing-city
| archive-date = May 18, 2015
| title=The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: Designing a New City
| work = cmstory.org Web Site
| publisher=Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
| access-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref>
The [[Trade and Tryon|intersection of Trade and Tryon]] is commonly known today as "Trade and Tryon", or simply "The Square",<ref name="Story1"/> and formally as "Independence Square".<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://101independencecenter.com/
 |title        = 101 Independence Center
 |access-date  = September 25, 2015
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080605040203/http://101independencecenter.com/
 |archive-date = June 5, 2008
 |url-status   = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref>

While surveying the boundary between the Carolinas in 1772, [[William Moultrie]] stopped in Charlotte, whose five or six houses were "very ordinary built of logs".<ref>{{Cite news
 |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/02/12/3005507/sc-nc-border-moving.html#storylink=misearch
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212225747/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/02/12/3005507/sc-nc-border-moving.html#storylink=misearch
 |archive-date=February 12, 2012
 |title=N.C.-S.C. border may move
 |last=Beam
 |first=Adam
 |work=[[The State (newspaper)|The State]]
 |access-date=February 29, 2012
 |date=February 12, 2012 }}</ref>

Local leaders came together in 1775 and signed the [[Mecklenburg Resolves]], more popularly known as the [[Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence]]. While not a true declaration of independence from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] rule, it is among the first such declarations that eventually led to the [[American Revolution]]. May 20, the traditional date of the signing of the declaration, is celebrated annually in Charlotte as "MecDec", with musket and cannon fire by reenactors in Independence Square. North Carolina's [[Flag of North Carolina|state flag]] and [[Seal of North Carolina|state seal]] also bear the date.

Charlotte is traditionally considered the home of Southern [[Presbyterianism]], but in the 19th&nbsp;century, numerous churches, including Presbyterian, [[Baptist]], [[Methodist]], [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], and [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] formed, eventually giving Charlotte the nickname, "[[City of Churches|The City of Churches]]".<ref name="Story40">{{cite web
|url= http://www.cmstory.org/content/1800-city-churches
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150518165339/http://www.cmstory.org/content/1800-city-churches
|archive-date= May 18, 2015
|title= The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: The City of Churches
|work = cmstory.org Web Site
|publisher=Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
|access-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref>

In 1799, in nearby Cabarrus County, 12-year-old [[Conrad Reed]] found a 17- pound rock, which his family used as a doorstop. Three years later, a jeweler determined it was nearly solid gold, paying the family a paltry $3.50.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050103061621/http://www.blanchardonline.com/AmericanRarities/archive-08/dah.html Blanchard Online: American Rarities] (Retrieved on 05–22–07)</ref> The first documented gold find in the United States of any consequence set off the nation's first [[gold rush]]. Many veins of gold were found in the area throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to the 1837 founding of the [[Charlotte Mint]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlottegold.net/history.html|title=History of the Charlotte Mint|website=Charlottegold.net|access-date=December 12, 2021|archive-date=November 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128045746/http://www.charlottegold.net/history.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> North Carolina was the chief producer of gold in the United States, until the Sierra Nevada found in 1848,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blanchardonline.com/AmericanRarities/archive-08/char.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040419135250/http://blanchardonline.com/AmericanRarities/archive-08/char.html|archive-date=April 19, 2004 |title=The Charlotte Branch Mint |website=Blanchardonline.com |access-date=July 2, 2010}}</ref> although the volume mined in the Charlotte area was dwarfed by subsequent rushes.

===20th century===
[[File:North Carolina - Charlotte - NARA - 68146416 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Charlotte in 1932]]
Some groups still [[Placer mining|pan for gold]] occasionally in local streams and creeks. The [[Reed Gold Mine]] operated until 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/reed-gold-mine|title=Reed Gold Mine – NC Historic Sites|access-date=December 12, 2021}}</ref> The Charlotte Mint was active until 1861 when [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces seized it at the outbreak of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. The mint was not reopened at the war's end, but the building, albeit in a different location, now houses the [[Mint Museum of Art]].

The city's first boom came after the Civil War, as Charlotte became a cotton processing center and railroad hub. By the 1880s, Charlotte sat astride the Southern Railway mainline from [[Atlanta]] to [[Washington, D.C.]] Farmers from miles around would bring cotton to the railroad platform in Uptown. Local promotors began building textile factories, starting with the 1881 Charlotte Cotton Mill that still stands at Graham and 5th streets.<ref>[https://www.charlottesgotalot.com/articles/history/the-history-of-charlotte The History of Charlotte, NC]. Retrieved May 2, 2022.</ref>

Charlotte's city population at the [[1890 United States census|1890 census]] grew to 11,557.<ref name="Story">{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.cmstory.org/content/population-statistics
 |title        = The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story
 |work         = cmstory.org Web Site
 |publisher    = Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
 |access-date  = September 25, 2015
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150925111706/http://www.cmstory.org/content/population-statistics
 |archive-date = September 25, 2015
 |url-status   = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref>

In 1910, Charlotte surpassed [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]] to become North Carolina's largest city with 34,014 residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmhpf.org/S&Rs%20Alphabetical%20Order/Surveys&rmeckcourthouse.htm |title=Survey and Research Report on the Mecklenburg County Courthouse|publisher=Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission|access-date=February 1, 2018}}</ref>

The population grew again during [[World War I]], when the U.S. government established [[Camp Greene]], north of present-day Wilkinson Boulevard. The camp supported 40,000 soldiers, with many troops and suppliers staying after the war, launching urbanization that eventually overtook older cities along the [[Piedmont Crescent]]. In the [[1920 United States census|1920 census]], Charlotte fell to being the state's second largest city, [[Winston-Salem]] with 48,395 people, had two thousand more people than Charlotte. Charlotte would pass Winston-Salem in population by the [[1930 United States census|1930 census]], and has remained North Carolina's largest city since.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/northwest-almanac-when-winston-salem-was-the-state-s-largest/article_f91d8e8f-4071-5894-94aa-a675e9a5f4d6.html|title=Northwest Almanac: When Winston-Salem was the state's largest city|work=[[Winston-Salem Journal]]|date=January 8, 2018|access-date=February 1, 2018}}</ref>

Until 1958, the [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad]] operated a daily passenger train from its [[Charlotte station (Seaboard Air Line Railroad)|own station]] (which had opened in 1896) to [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]].<ref name="aboard">{{cite news |last=Gubbins |first=Pat Borden |date=August 7, 1988 |title=ALL ABOARD! TENANT SOUGHT TO RENOVATE SEABOARD DEPOT|work=Charlotte Observer}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Seaboard Air Line, Table 38 |journal=Official Guide of the Railways |publisher=National Railway Publication Company |volume=91 |issue=3 |date=August 1958}}</ref>

The city's modern-day banking industry achieved prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, largely under the leadership of [[financier]] [[Hugh McColl]]. McColl transformed [[North Carolina National Bank]] (NCNB) into a formidable national bank that through aggressive acquisitions eventually merged with BankAmerica to become [[Bank of America]]. [[First Union]], later [[Wachovia]] in 2001, experienced similar growth before it was acquired by [[San Francisco]]–based [[Wells Fargo]] in 2008. Measured by control of assets, Charlotte became the second largest banking headquarters in the United States after [[New York City]].<ref name="Story13">{{cite web | url=http://www.cmstory.org/content/1991-nationsbank-soars | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518112416/http://www.cmstory.org/content/1991-nationsbank-soars | archive-date= May 18, 2015 | title= The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story: History Timeline: NationsBank Soars | work = cmstory.org Web Site | publisher=Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County | access-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref>

On September 22, 1989, the city was hit by [[Hurricane Hugo]]. With sustained winds of {{convert|69|mph|abbr=on}} and gusts of {{convert|87|mph|abbr=on}},<ref>[http://www.hurricanedisasterslive.com/HURRICANE-HUGO-1989.html Hurricanedisasterslive.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824203024/http://www.hurricanedisasterslive.com/HURRICANE-HUGO-1989.html |date=August 24, 2009 }}, Retrieved on July 30, 2009</ref> Hugo caused massive property damage, destroyed 80,000 trees, and knocked out electrical power to most of the population. Residents were without power for weeks, schools were closed for a week or more, and the cleanup took months. The city was caught unprepared; Charlotte is {{convert|200|mi|km}} inland, and residents from coastal areas in both Carolinas often wait out hurricanes in Charlotte.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article235229007.html|title=Hurricane Hugo left Charlotte in the dark; the electric grid is smarter now|last=Henderson|first=Bruce|date=September 20, 2019|website=[[Charlotte Observer]]|access-date=September 20, 2019}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
In December 2002, Charlotte and much of central North Carolina were hit by an [[North Carolina ice storm of 2002|ice storm]] that resulted in more than 1.3&nbsp;million people losing power.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ice Storm Knocks Out Power Across North Carolina |url=http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1089860/ |publisher=[[WRAL-TV]] |location=Raleigh, NC |date=December 5, 2002 |access-date=May 18, 2015}}</ref> During an abnormally cold December, many were without power for weeks. Many of the city's [[Bradford pear]] trees split apart under the weight of the ice.

In August 2015 and September 2016, the city experienced several days of protests related to the [[List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States|police shootings]] of [[Shooting of Jonathan Ferrell|Jonathan Ferrell]] and [[Shooting of Keith Lamont Scott|Keith Scott]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=August 22, 2015 |title=Two arrested during Kerrick trial protests in Charlotte |url=http://abc11.com/news/protests-in-charlotte-after-kerrick-mistrial/951156/ |publisher=[[WTVD]] |location=Durham, NC |access-date=September 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Rick |last1=Rothacker |first2=Mark |last2=Washburn |first3=Adam |last3=Bell |title=Staggered by protests, city regains its footing |date=September 23, 2016 |newspaper=The Charlotte Observer |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article103629427.html |access-date=September 25, 2016}}</ref>