Charlotte has long been a crossroads for Trade, Transportation, Technology, and more recently Finance. All of these elements coupled with a progressive mindset of its community leaders have made Charlotte the vibrant city of the New South, which you see today.

• Charlotte's history as a crossroads for commerce dates from the Catawba Indians who traded at the site now known as “The Square” at the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets.
  
• In the 1700's, families traveled from Pennsylvania, New York, and the Washington, D.C. area and from the Charleston region to form a settlement, which they called “Charlotte”.
  
• The community was named “Charlotte” in honor of England's King George's wife Charlotte of Prussia. The county was named Mecklenburg in honor of Queen Charlotte's birthplace, Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Thus the city became known as “The Queen City”.
  
• 1766 saw a log courthouse built in the center of this pioneer community, and one-year later 360 acres were purchased as the Charlotte town site.
  
• 1775 the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed on May 20, 1775, and later delivered to Philadelphia that summer.
  
• 1780 Lord Cornwallis occupies the town after a battle, only to leave a month later declaring that the local residence was “a Hornet's Nest”.
  
• 1799 Conrad Reed discovered a 17 pound gold nugget which led to the creation of mines in the area.
  
• 1837 the first branch of the U.S. Mint was opened in Charlotte.
  
• 1837 Davidson College was founded.
  
• 1852 the first passenger train arrived in Charlotte. Ultimately this would lead to Charlotte becoming a major transportation center.
  
• 1857 saw Queens College founded.
  
• 1861 North Carolina secedes from the Union to join the Confederacy. Charlotte served as the Confederate Naval Yard during this period before the Yard was moved to Norfolk. The last meeting of the Confederate Cabinet was held at a site one block south of the square.
  
• 1867 Biddle University, now Johnson C. Smith University, opened.
  
• 1869 the first issue of The Charlotte Observer was published.
  
• 1873 Charlotte organized the first grade school in the state.
  
• 1891-1930's electric lights and streetcars led to the development of the suburbs; the first of these was Dilworth located at the end of the trolley line. Thomas Edison came to Charlotte at the request of Dilworth Latta to refine streetcars in 1891. Without this technology the region would not have been able to industrialize at the pace it did.
• 1875 marked the beginning of St. Peter's Hospital, which became a major medical facility by the late 1890's. The establishment of this hospital and the existence of the North Carolina Medical College caused Charlotte to become a dominant medical center in the region.
  
• Circa 1900, James B. Duke brought hydro-electricity along the Catawba River to the region.

Area School Info

Charlotte Mecklenburg School (CMS) serves 112,458 from Pre-K through 12th grade.  The 23rd largest district in the country, CMS has 145 schools and more than 14,000 employees.  CMS is big, but its national reputation comes from the outstanding education provided to each individual student in the district.  CMS realizes that what works for one student may not work for another.

Char-Meck Public Schools Info Line 704-343-6260

AREA PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Charlotte-Mecklenburg offers a variety of high quality public education.  The following provides information as of June 1999 on the 60 independent (non-public) schools within Mecklenburg County.  All schools are coeducational.  None offer boarding facilities except one special school, which provides a residential treatment program.