History of Charlotte

[KJHburg]

50th anniversary of CMPD helicopter division aka Snoopy

CMPD recognizes Aviation Unit’s 50th anniversary (wsoctv.com)

Check this city out do you recognize it from 1971???   My mom would mostly but  might not recognize that tall white building. 

Edited February 26, 2021 by KJHburg

[turbocraig]

I was poking around on the PBS app I found on my Roku and I discovered this gem.  It’s from a couple years ago, but definitely worth a watch.  I don’t think this has been mentioned here.  A great synopsis of how Charlotte got to here from there.  From the people who made it happen.  Interviews with Hugh McColl, Harvey Gantt, Jerry Orr, Smoky Bissell, Johnny Harris, and George Shinn to name just a few.  It’s not long enough to go into great detail on any one subject, but gives a great cliff-notes lesson on key topics like development of the airport, Fourth Ward and getting people to live downtown, IBM relo, Carolinas Medical, the Hornets, the Arts.... everything that we have here today - how all these key players happened to be in positions at the precise place and times to make what they wanted to happen, happen.  
 

I know there are bigger cities, and cities with better downtowns and more this or better that, but when you see the pathways to growth this place has taken to become what it has become, basically within my lifetime plus a few years - it’s really eye-opening.  
 

https://www.pbs.org/video/making-modern-charlotte-ef1hph/

There’s a follow up discussion panel episode also that I haven’t yet watched but will. 

[slipperypete]

2 hours ago, turbocraig said:

A great synopsis of how Charlotte got to here from there.  

In that vein, here's a 1968 promotional film with narration by our local son Charles Kuralt, and music by Loonis McGlohon.  There are some nice scenes of the city throughout, but it's definitely a sales pitch and not a documentary. 

[KJHburg]

a little personal Charlotte area history.  I took a ride out to Rowan County to see where my 5th great grandfather lived and was buried.  He emigrated from Germany from 1739 and got a land grant in Rowan County.  He married a native American woman and had 7 kids.  He served in the Revolutionary War as a captain in the Continental army  and in the militia even though he was middle aged as his son served with him.  He attended the Old Hickory Church the first Lutheran church in NC (see photo of monument) and founded another nearby church Organ Lutheran Church.  He was a constable and tax assessor for his district.  He also helped build a road from Rowan county to Cabarrus county (no wonder I love highways and byways)  He died in 1804. 

Source: our family history book as my family has been in America since 1635 and in NC since the early 1700s.  (possibly even earlier 1621 with my 11th great grandfather who arrived in Tidewater VA) 

Note to all: research your family history and start with your elders and with ancestry.com and census records you can explore your heritage.  

I am going to do a metro Charlotte history map of our family soon with points of interest like Nebel Mill,  Villa Heights,  Plaza Midwood, family farms in south Mecklenburg county, Pineville, Carolina Theater, Hotel  Concord, US Rubber Company (now Arrowood Industrial park), Manor Theater, Barium Springs, northern Union County etc)   Significant points of interest in Mecklenburg, Iredell, Cabarrus, Rowan, Union counties and that is just in the metro area!  On my moms side we were Americans first on Long Island then wised up and moved south 250 years ago.

My dads side was Chatham, Alamance, Guilford, Wake counties.  Mom and dad intersected here in the Queen City. 

 

[Windsurfer]

"...my family has been in America since 1635 and in NC since the early 1700s.  ..."    Sounds like much longer if you're descended from a Native American. ;-)

Similar situation here. My mom's side (Furr) came from "The Canton of Zurich" in the 1740s.  There's a monument near Dutch Buffalo Creek in Cabarrus County dedicated to the Furrs. (Originally Furrer). The monument mistakenly says, "Germany" but there was no Germany then. In fact, it was Zurich, Switzerland.  Perhaps yours are from that vicinity?  There was a migration in the 1730s-40s from the Zurich area.  I actually found a letter in the archives in Zurich written buy "Heinrich Furrer" in which he promoted the wonderful planting in what is now Cabarrus Count. I guess it was part of Anson at the time.

We also have some Native American too. Actually a Tuscarora Chief.

Great photos!  You have some serious roots in this area.

[cltheel.sdl]

2 hours ago, Windsurfer said:

"...my family has been in America since 1635 and in NC since the early 1700s.  ..."    Sounds like much longer if you're descended from a Native American. ;-)

Similar situation here. My mom's side (Furr) came from "The Canton of Zurich" in the 1740s.  There's a monument near Dutch Buffalo Creek in Cabarrus County dedicated to the Furrs. (Originally Furrer). The monument mistakenly says, "Germany" but there was no Germany then. In fact, it was Zurich, Switzerland.  Perhaps yours are from that vicinity?  There was a migration in the 1730s-40s from the Zurich area.  I actually found a letter in the archives in Zurich written buy "Heinrich Furrer" in which he promoted the wonderful planting in what is now Cabarrus Count. I guess it was part of Anson at the time.

We also have some Native American too. Actually a Tuscarora Chief.

Great photos!  You have some serious roots in this area.

Some of my ancestors also immigrated from Switzerland in the early 1700's to the Lexington, SC area.  Some of them ended up joining some crazy religious cult, the Weber Heresy.  Luckily, my ancestors were just the henchmen and were banished to Georgia, but the Webers weren't so lucky.

https://patch.com/south-carolina/lexington-sc/lexington-religious-cult-murders-prominent-pardoned-by-governor

[Windsurfer]

5 hours ago, cltheel.sdl said:

Some of my ancestors also immigrated from Switzerland in the early 1700's to the Lexington, SC area.  Some of them ended up joining some crazy religious cult, the Weber Heresy.  Luckily, my ancestors were just the henchmen and were banished to Georgia, but the Webers weren't so lucky.

https://patch.com/south-carolina/lexington-sc/lexington-religious-cult-murders-prominent-pardoned-by-governor

Yes!  There was a small migration from Switzerland through Charleston too. There was a town, not sure if this was it, where they soon discovered the water wasn't very good, and the insects (mosquitoes) were overwhelming. I've been kind of curious through the years as to the location.

[KJHburg]

The interesting thing we found with our family my moms side came via NY to Charlotte region.  My dad's family arriving mainly in VA migrated down to the green pastures of Chatham County.  Many of my  family came in at the Boston port but moved south to NY or Philly soon thereafter.  Interesting none of people migrated through Charleston.  

7 hours ago, cltheel.sdl said:

Some of my ancestors also immigrated from Switzerland in the early 1700's to the Lexington, SC area.  Some of them ended up joining some crazy religious cult, the Weber Heresy.  Luckily, my ancestors were just the henchmen and were banished to Georgia, but the Webers weren't so lucky.

https://patch.com/south-carolina/lexington-sc/lexington-religious-cult-murders-prominent-pardoned-by-governor

Don't worry we discovered some interesting stories to say the least but I have to say you have to buy the book to read it LOL.   Georgia has its roots as a penal colony with Savannah first as the English decided to put the bad people in Georgia as a buffer between the Spanish of La Florida and the English settlements in the Carolinas. 

[videtur quam contuor]

I read about the first colonists in North America, English and French, and one consistent fact connected all those groups, late 1500's to early 1600's. The first place they settled was about the worst location possible. Diseased, insect ridden, bad water, poorly defensible, just about everything working against them. IF they survived a year or two they moved to the obviously better location within sight of the first. I decided the settlers were so sick of bobbing on the vast ocean like a cork, a ship no bigger than your house with 98 passengers and crew, hanging their butt over the side to relieve themselves, reduced to eating the rigging ,that when they saw land they were ON IT. Sounds like humans to me.

[Windsurfer]

4 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

I read about the first colonists in North America, English and French, and one consistent fact connected all those groups, late 1500's to early 1600's. The first place they settled was about the worst location possible. Diseased, insect ridden, bad water, poorly defensible, just about everything working against them. IF they survived a year or two they moved to the obviously better location within sight of the first. I decided the settlers were so sick of bobbing on the vast ocean like a cork, a ship no bigger than your house with 98 passengers and crew, hanging their butt over the side to relieve themselves, reduced to eating the rigging ,that when they saw land they were ON IT. Sounds like humans to me.

As alluded briefly by KJHburg and the situation in Ga., some of the motivation for The English to settle along the Carolina's coast was in order to prevent the Spanish from expanding and settling here.  Ironic thing about The Spanish was that they weren't really settlers.  Being more the 'conquistadors' meant if there wasn't gold to be had they'd move on anyway.  The Spanish did come through the Carolinas but the Native Americans gave them bad intelligence (on purpose).  They kept insisting gold was farther West, despite knowing there was gold in The Uwharries. (See "Roanoke" by Lee Miller)

[videtur quam contuor]

In 1976 the city erected a replica of the first courthouse from 1766 for Mecklenburg County as a bicentennial project. It sat on land on Third Street where the Harry Wolf Courthouse is now. The ramp you see to the left was built to cross Third mid-block and to reach the newly built Education Center and Marshall Park, though the park had no name at that time. Almost no one used it. The courthouse is described here on page 2: 

 https://www.nccourts.gov/assets/inline-files/building_guide_final.pdf?96afrqWSkY2PatpLgdZIeN_KEnxLTVzH

I remember this reconstruction and assumed it would be a more permanent addition to our city. I was surprised to go downtown and discover that it disappeared sometime in late 1976 or 1977. I am glad the overpass is gone and wish the courthouse remained. This could happen again in five years. This must happen again.

[ertley]

On 4/27/2021 at 8:57 PM, tarhoosier said:

In 1976 the city erected a replica of the first courthouse from 1766 for Mecklenburg County as a bicentennial project. It sat on land on Third Street where the Harry Wolf Courthouse is now. The ramp you see to the left was built to cross Third mid-block and to reach the newly built Education Center and Marshall Park, though the park had no name at that time. Almost no one used it. The courthouse is described here on page 2: 

 https://www.nccourts.gov/assets/inline-files/building_guide_final.pdf?96afrqWSkY2PatpLgdZIeN_KEnxLTVzH

I remember this reconstruction and assumed it would be a more permanent addition to our city. I was surprised to go downtown and discover that it disappeared sometime in late 1976 or 1977. I am glad the overpass is gone and wish the courthouse remained. This could happen again in five years. This must happen again.

My many, many, many greats uncle built the original Mecklenburg Court House... The story relayed to me is that he ("just happened to?") own the land where the Native American paths or trading routes intersected--i.e. today's Trade and Tryon Square--but because it was his farm land, the actual population center, however minuscule, of the county was more east--I think I was told more in The Plaza area, but the old Sugar(w) Creek Presbyterian Church would seem more likely. Anyway, he wanted to--as we would say today--monetize that &*#!, and so he built the court house building on spec when the new Mecklenburg County was starting to be formed (from Bladen??).

Of course, the majority of the new Mecklenburg residents wanted the court house built in the most convenient location, nearest to where they already gathered.  

My uncle, I believe, was then the local representative to the colonial assembly in Wilmington (this was obviously before the Revolution), and so at the next assembly, after building the building at will, when the new Mecklenburg County's court house was being discussed, he was like, "I mean, I built this court house building for y'all to use, free, but, I mean, if you don't want it..." And of course the Crown representatives were like, "Free? We'll take it"--will of the people? ha!

So--if the lore is true--Charlotte started out as a purely capitalist venture, no other reason but! 

[videtur quam contuor]

Thomas Polk lived where Presbyterian/Novant is now and close to the Sugar Creek for stock watering and perhaps for human water use, idk. Access to water is powerful draw to settlement, note Hezekiah Alexander House, Latta  House and others extant. Trade and Tryon is good for transportation and trade but settlement, less so. That first courthouse had, as the description says, space under the building for a market. Also shelter for animals and people from sun and rain and weather of all types. 

Bladen is known as the "Mother County" as all or parts of 55 of the 100 counties were at one time Bladen. Elizabethtown is seat of Bladen on Cape Fear.

Edited May 1, 2021 by tarhoosier

[videtur quam contuor]

City Cemetery in Elizabethtown  overlooks the Cape Fear River, for now. Due to soil saturation and unstable sub strata land slip is disturbing graves and leading to loss of cemetery land and collapse of cemetery into river bank.

https://bladenonline.com/over-5-million-dollars-in-approved-funding-to-save-elizabethtown-cemetery/

This is now a Bladen County feed of micro Urban issues.

[KJHburg]

saw this on another social media site from August 25, 1957 the new Cowans Ford Lake aka Lake Norman when it was first announced!  

[JRNYP2C]

On 5/5/2021 at 9:11 PM, KJHburg said:

saw this on another social media site from August 25, 1957 the new Cowans Ford Lake aka Lake Norman when it was first announced!  

I've always wondered if there are pictures of the river in all the northern counties before it was dammed to make way for Lake Norman.

[Windsurfer]

There was another article printed around 1960 that has Duke Power saying, "There'll be hundreds of access points".   There might be 6-8 now, after much pressure.  The rest they sold off through Crescent.

[KJHburg]

from a book my mom had "Charlotte City at a Crossroads" published in 1989.  Notice some things missing in the skyline shot (don't fixate on the truck) and who remembers this festive place uptown??  Photos from the book.  

[rancenc]

Great picture of the old CityFair location.  Looks like the picture was taking around the 1st Christmas of it's opening.  I know a lot of folks here on the site do not think fondly of the complex, but this was the closest that the city ever came to having a full fledged "mall" in the center city.  Even Epicentre at it's height did not have the retail mix that I would classify has a potential shopping destination.    CityFair's ultimate demise was timing.  When the complex opened in around the fall of 1988, NationsBank (at the time) had announced about year prior that the company's corporate office along with the Blumenthal Center would be going up on the site of Belk's downtown store.  Belk was attached to CityFair via a walkway on the 2nd floor if I remember correctly.  After Belk's closure and subsequent razing, that left a crippling blow to the center that it just could not recover for the 2-3 years that it took for bank's office tower to finish.  I do remember for the first year or so, CityFair was very active on the weekends for sure.  There was a good mix of of both soft line and hardline stores.  I especially remember the music store Coconut Records and the clothing store Benneton having a location in the center.

[JRNYP2C]

There was a Camelot Music and Waldenbooks in there if memory serves correctly.  There was a bar/restaurant on the corner of College and 5th - Fat Tuesday??  I can remember winning a t-shirt from one of the local radio stations one night from the mascot who was dressed up in a gorilla costume.  Needless to say, that t-shirt has long been donated!  I thought it was a pretty good concept at the time, and agree with @rancencthat its demise was timing.  However, if it was still there, would we have Hearst/Truist tower now?  If i had to choose, I'd stick with what we have now.

[KJHburg]

Yes a Camelot, waldenbooks, Fat Tuesday, Benneton, Z Gallerie etc.  It was quite the place but then Belks disappeared for the construction of the Bank of America Corp Center and it was bad timing.  The city invested a good bit in this but I think when Bank of America bought the block or most of it for then Hearst Tower they recouped most of the money.  The food court was really busy.  Later I attending my MBA classes on the 3rd floor of Cityflop I mean Cityfair. 

[KJHburg]

Happy Meck Dec Day!

Here is the history behind it

https://www.meckdec.org/declaration

[videtur quam contuor]

20 May was a county holiday for many years. More than once I called a Mecklenburg County agency or office and the phone rang and rang and I wondered what was wrong with those people and later realized what was wrong with me.

[JRNYP2C]

6 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Happy Meck Dec Day!

Here is the history behind it

https://www.meckdec.org/declaration

So on Instagram, Queen City Nerve posted this.  Now I'm second guessing if we are celebrating it for all the wrong reasons!  Anyone have a second opinion on this opinion from QCNerve?

https://qcnerve.com/opinion-mecklenburg-declaration-independence/

[tozmervo]

6 hours ago, JRNYP2C said:

So on Instagram, Queen City Nerve posted this.  Now I'm second guessing if we are celebrating it for all the wrong reasons!  Anyone have a second opinion on this opinion from QCNerve?

https://qcnerve.com/opinion-mecklenburg-declaration-independence/

You could rewrite that article and swap out mec dec day with July the 4th.