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Charlotte has no military base. No fort. No battleship. No military installation.
Yet we have an interesting war history.
That's the basis of a presentation Charlotte history buff David Erdman will deliver at 3 p.m. next Sunday at the Duke Mansion. The mansion and Levine Museum of the New South are hosting the free program, “Charlotte at War,” in honor of Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Erdman's talk lasts about an hour. He covers a lot of ground too – Charlotte military-related history from the 16th century to present.
Why the personal interest in local history?
Erdman, a lawyer and former chairman of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, explains that he grew up in New Bern, the second-oldest town in North Carolina and the state capital during colonial government.
“I grew up surrounded by historic buildings and history, which in New Bern was easy to take for granted,” he said. “But when I moved to Charlotte (in 1977), I noticed many of the historic buildings had been destroyed.”
In other words, you have to look a little harder to find history in Charlotte, but it's there.
Among the lessons Erdman includes:
How Mecklenburg was dubbed a “hornets nest” in 1780 by British military commander Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolution.
How Davidson College was named for Gen. Lee Davidson, who fought the British and was killed at Cowan's Ford on the Catawba River.
How military training took place at D.H. Hill's Carolina Military Institute, which was torn down in 1950 and is now the site of the Dowd YMCA.
How the last meeting of the Confederate Cabinet took place in Charlotte and how Confederate President Jefferson Davis was in Charlotte when he heard that President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated.
How during World War I there was a massive soldier training center, Camp Greene, in west Charlotte.
How during World War II Charlotte had its own Rosie the Riveters, assembling planes at Morris Field (the military name for Charlotte/Douglas International Airport). And how there was a shell plant near Carowinds that employed 10,000 workers, mostly women, to make 240-milimeter rounds used by the Navy.
How a Myers Park homeowner found a 1960s-era fallout shelter in his backyard.
Got a question or comment about Living Here? Let me hear it. abaldwin@charlotteobserver.com, 704-358-5179.
