Charlotte, NC

Charlotte, NC enjoys a high quality of life with temperate weather, a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities, arts and cultural events and professional sports. Charlotte became a major economic player with large banks such as Bank of America and Wachovia headquartered uptown and the US Air hub located at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. What people don't usually know is Charlotte has a rich history dating back to the mid 1700s.

During the American Revolutionary War, British commander General Cornwallis briefly occupied the city but was driven out afterwards by hostile residents, prompting him to write that Charlotte was "a hornets nest of rebellion". As Browncoats we can certainly identify with rebellion. And may we remind you of the infamous Rebel Yell heard during the Civil War? Former Union Soldiers, tried to describe the Rebel Yell as "a peculiar corkscrew sensation that went up your spine when you heard it" along with a claim that "if you claim you heard it and weren't scared that means you never heard it".

North Carolina was largely settled by Scottish, Irish and German settlers. We also have a rich Native American history in the Appalachian and Smokey Mountains, birth place of Clogging and Bluegrass music.

Some local historians claim that Mecklenburgers signed their own Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (the "Meck Dec") on May 10, 1775, declaring their independence from British rule a year before the national Declaration of Independence. The document reportedly vanished in 1800 when fire destroyed the plantation home of its keeper. Whether the document actually existed has generated much debate over the years.

During the Revolutionary War, a British force led by General Cornwallis held Charlotte for two and a half weeks, deciding to leave after enduring annoying attacks by locals. Cornwallis called Charlotte a "veritable nest of hornets", and the description stuck. The county seal, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police insignia and various other things around town incorporate a hornets' nest.

Andrew Jackson, 9th president of the United States, was born southeast of Charlotte on the N.C./S.C. border, on March 15, 1767. Both states wage a friendly feud over Jackson's exact birthplace.

James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States, was born on Nov. 2, 1795, just 12 miles south of Charlotte's center city. You can still visit his log cabin near Pineville.

In 1799 the first gold mine was discovered north of Charlotte at the Reed Gold Mine and in 1835 the Charlotte Mint was founded to process the gold from the Carolina Gold Rush. In 1861 Confederate Forces seized the mint at the outbreak of the Civil War.