Jump to content

History of Charlotte


city123

Recommended Posts

NC has had run-ins with volcanoes

If you want to see volcanic rocks in North Carolina, go to Morrow Mountain State Park or Dave’s Mountain in Asheboro. Purgatory Mountain at the south end of the North Carolina Zoo parking lot is an ash flow from a long-extinct volcano. Just about everything around Chapel Hill formed around (or under) one of these volcanoes. The land around Charlotte is the deep underground plumbing of these volcanoes, while around Raleigh are the upper parts.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/science-technology/article9103466.html

Edited by RiverwoodCLT
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites


1 hour ago, Exile said:

There are boulders all over southern Cabarrus County, particularly loose boulders, including in my yard, with no apparent source. When you're headed south on I-85 towards Bruton Smith, there are huge boulders on top of the hill to the left just before you get to that exit. Even if the other side of the hill isn't as steep or as high, still, they're way too big to have been moved by anything artificial, and I don't see how they could have formed the way they have by erosion. That's why I've always subscribed to the impact theory, which, to my mind, the plethora of boulders seems to lend some credence to. The way it was told to me, the impact site was basically Harrisburg. But, like Nakers2, I haven't found any info about it.

Whatever the case--and I'm no scientist, much less a geologist--there are a lot of fascinating geological features around Charlotte.

a big-ass explosion.  

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1PPCG_cabarrus-county-syenite-ring-dike?guid=83d6f04f-3dae-419e-9d37-0ae2eae10190   

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Exile said:

There are boulders all over southern Cabarrus County, particularly loose boulders, including in my yard, with no apparent source. When you're headed south on I-85 towards Bruton Smith, there are huge boulders on top of the hill to the left just before you get to that exit. Even if the other side of the hill isn't as steep or as high, still, they're way too big to have been moved by anything artificial, and I don't see how they could have formed the way they have by erosion. That's why I've always subscribed to the impact theory, which, to my mind, the plethora of boulders seems to lend some credence to. The way it was told to me, the impact site was basically Harrisburg. But, like Nakers2, I haven't found any info about it.

Whatever the case--and I'm no scientist, much less a geologist--there are a lot of fascinating geological features around Charlotte.

My source is a well-known geologist who teaches at Appalachian.  Most of the granite intrusions HAVE eroded.  If you scratch the surface around the boulders that remain you'll often find, for lack of a better word, "rotten granite". That is granite that has disolved into soil.  I want to clarify one comment I made:  as the pressue was relieved when the mountains eroded, the intrusions themselves expanded ever so slightly with less surrounding pressure.  This is why they 'flake off' and create the smooth rounded surfaces.

16 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

No " big-ass explosion" in Cabarrus. Just intrusions as your link describes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same situation with the granite up in Rowan county. Boulders are everywhere and huge at that. Mining was big up there with a few towns formed because of it (Granite Quarry, Faith, Rockwell, Gold Hill, etc). My bus to middle school actually passed by around 7-8 flooded or active quarries. Some properties are unlivable or can't have a house because they're too far for city sewer and the dirt is too shallow for a septic tank (a friend's property was almost entirely on a huge boulder 6-12" under the surface). I find this geological history of the piedmont to be fascinating because of growing up seeing the effects of it on the side of the road.  

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Burt owned what is now Duckworths and maybe that is the corner. Jonathan's Jazz Cellar, a great place in the 90's in the basement of that building was run by the Gellman son Jonathan. 

 I heard Maria Howell sing there. Holy Spicoli what a voice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Howell

Edited by tarhoosier
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Charlotte could use some sort of observation tower or public access to a floor dedicated to observation in one of the taller buildings (the bigger, the better). That would have been really cool. Certainly would have been the signature identifying structure of Charlotte.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, KJHburg said:

I found the Burt Gellman proposal for the 1000 foot tall tower that was proposed on N Tryon I think were 400 North Tryon is now (Rock Bottom etc)   This appears from the Charlotte Observer and is what I remember about it.    Somebody asked me about this a long time ago and as it was proposed before the Internet took off, it was hard to find online. 

This of course would have been awesome. 

https://www.emporis.com/buildings/228347/inspire-charlotte-nc-usa

InSpireBurtGellmantower.jpg

Estimated to cost between $75 million and $82 million to complete, this was to have been the tallest structure in the Carolinas:tw_astonished:

Edited by nicholas
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The archives room in the main library has really amazing paintings of S Tryon St looking north,  and the main Trade/Tryon square. I believe they were retrospective paintings done many years later.

Any Charlotte oldies wanna point out which building is which? It's pretty cool seeing them in this way!

20180525_164914.png

20180525_164930.png

20180525_164946.png

20180525_165001.png

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will take a crack at this one. The middle image has Tryon crossing lower left to upper right. West Trade is upper left. The Mellon store sold mens' clothing, dry goods, boots, shoes and so on. Before it was Mellon it was Wittkowsky for many years with the similar stock in same location and building. AB Reese was in the one story structure at the corner.Those are early streetcars in that image. The lower image and the upper image appear to have the same perspective and the upper one is 20+ years later and shows more building. That is all I have without further research.

https://library.digitalnc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/ncimages/id/18693/rec/2

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

I will take a crack at this one. The middle image has Tryon crossing lower left to upper right. West Trade is upper left. The Mellon store sold mens' clothing, dry goods, boots, shoes and so on. Before it was Mellon it was Wittkowsky for many years with the similar stock in same location and building. AB Reese was in the one story structure at the corner.Those are early streetcars in that image. The lower image and the upper image appear to have the same perspective and the upper one is 20+ years later and shows more building. That is all I have without further research.

https://library.digitalnc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/ncimages/id/18693/rec/2

 Regarding your next-to-last sentence -- "The lower image and the upper image appear to have the same perspective and the upper one is 20+ years later and shows more building" -- I'm thinking it's a slightly different perspective.  Comparing those last two pictures, note in the bottom one the wood-frame building on the right with the dormer windows.  In middle picture just above it, that appears to be the same building.  So the perspective is slightly different.   So going by your description of the perspective in the middle image, I'm thinking in the bottom picture, the perspective is from just north of The Square, facing south on Tryon.  That wood-frame building would be the current location of the Charlotte Marriott Center City.

For comparison, here's an image of the perspective in that bottom picture as it looks today:  

Edited by JacksonH
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

 

FullSizeR (1).jpg

 

Crazy to look at all the construction along college even back then, the Omni looks like it’s just breaking through the red clay, and the BB&T Tower seems to have no windows, the spiral ramp is incomplete too. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That Belk  store actually had frontage on College, Fifth, Trade (when they purchased Efrid's Dept. Store) and Tryon....all four sides of the block! The bldg called ACC (American Credit Corp) was once "The CutterBuilding". Notice that the BBT (aka Southern National Bank) only has one floor of windows in the cap. The white bldg on Trade (Idon'tknow what it's called now) in the Carrillon/ Grand Bohemian block was originally the Charlotte hq of Wachovia before the 1stUnion merger and before the move from Winston Salem.  Aaaaaaah History.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The new, proud CMS Education Center is on the left of this photo. While it was constructed the CMS headquarters staff worked from the J. H. Gunn school, formerly the Clear Creek Negro School. (Also known as Clear Creek Colored Union School.)

http://schools.cms.k12.nc.us/jhgunnES/Pages/AboutOurSchool.aspx

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, rancenc said:

From 1973, the grand opening of Marshall Park

 

34051838_2114829271863870_6502148704491798528_n.jpg

This is the first time I have noticed the pedestrian bridge and elevated plaza?!?!? above the western portion of the pond.  Does anyone know the history of this?  I just burned a half hour googling to no avail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.