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Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina - United States Of AmericaJUNE 2, 2011
City official name :Charlotte
Founded date : Location :North Carolina State
Elavation :? ft (? m)
Area :Approximately ? square miles (? km²).
Facts :Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424 , making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009 population of 1,745,524. The Charlotte metropolitan area is part of a wider thirteen-county labor market region or combined statistical area with a 2009 estimated population of 2,389,763. Residents of Charlotte are referred to as "Charlotteans".
Charlotte has become a major U.S. financial center, and is now the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The nation's largest financial institution by assets, Bank of America, calls the city home. The city was also the former corporate home of Wachovia until its purchase by Wells Fargo in 2008; Charlotte will soon become the headquarters for East Coast Operations of Wells Fargo. Charlotte is also home of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football
Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina - United States Of America League, the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and the U.S. National Whitewater Center.
Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte and its resident county are named in honor of the German Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg, who had become queen consort of British King George III the year before the city's founding. A second nickname derives from the American Revolutionary War, when British commander General Cornwallis occupied the city but was driven out by hostile residents, prompting him to write that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion," leading to the nickname The Hornet's Nest.
Charlotte has a humid subtropical climate and is situated halfway between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. Charlotte is located several miles east of the Catawba River and southeast of Lake Norman, the largest man-made lake in North Carolina. Lake Wylie and Mountain Island Lake are two smaller man-made lakes located near the city.
Before the American Revolution
Mecklenburg County was initially part of Bath County (1696–1729) of New Hanover Precinct, which became New Hanover County in 1729. The western portion of New Hanover split into Bladen County in 1734, its western portion splitting
Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina - United States Of America into Anson County in 1750. Mecklenburg County formed from Anson County in 1762, with further apportionment in 1792, with Cabarrus County formed from Mecklenburg, and in 1842, with Union County formed from Mecklenburg's southeastern portion.
The area that is now Charlotte was settled by people of European descent around 1755 when Thomas Spratt and his family settled near what is now the Elizabeth neighborhood. Thomas Polk (granduncle of United States President James K. Polk), who later married Thomas Spratt's daughter, built his house by the intersection of two Native American trading paths between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers. 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. Within decades of Polk's settling, the area grew to become "Charlotte Town," incorporating in 1768. The crossroads, perched atop the Piedmont landscape, 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. The intersection of Trade and Tryon commonly known today as "Trade
Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina - United States Of America & Tryon" or, simply, "The Square", is more properly called Independence Square.
After the American Revolution
Charlotte is traditionally considered the home of Southern Presbyterianism, but in the 19th century numerous churches, including Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Catholic, formed, eventually giving Charlotte its nickname "The City of Churches."
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. The first verified gold find in the United States set off the nation's first gold rush. Many veins of gold were found in the area throughout the 19th and early 20th century, leading to the 1837 founding of the Charlotte Mint. North Carolina "led the nation in gold production until the California Gold Rush of 1848," although the volume mined in the Charlotte area was dwarfed by subsequent rushes.
Charlotte's city population at the 1880 Census grew to 7,084. Some groups still pan for gold occasionally in local streams and creeks. The Reed Gold Mine operated until 1912. The Charlotte Mint was active until 1861, when Confederate forces seized it at
Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina - United States Of America the outbreak of the 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 a cotton processing center and a railroad hub. Population grew again during World War I, when the U.S. government established Camp Greene north of present-day Wilkinson Boulevard. Many soldiers and suppliers stayed after the war, launching an urban ascent that eventually overtook older city rivals along the arc of the Carolina Piedmont.
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 player that through aggressive acquisitions became known as NationsBank, eventually mergin with BankAmerica to become Bank of America. Wachovia experienced similar growth, and was acquired by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo. Measured by control of assets, Charlotte is the second largest banking headquarters in the United States after New York City.
On September 22, 1989, the city took a direct hit from Hurricane Hugo. With sustained winds of 69 mph (111 km/h) and gusts of 87 mph (140
Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina - United States Of America km/h) in some locations, 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 and cleanup took months. The city was caught unprepared; Charlotte is 200 miles inland, and residents from coastal areas in both Carolinas often wait out hurricanes in Charlotte.
In December 2002, Charlotte and much of central North Carolina were hit by an ice storm (which some dubbed "Hugo on Ice") that knocked out power to over 1.3 million people. During an abnormally cold December, many were without power for weeks. Much of the damage was caused by Bradford pear trees, splitting apart under the weight of the ice.
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