Around Town

10 historical fun facts every true Charlottean should know

By Colby Alvino

Updated October 13, 2019 3:45 PM

Captain Jack, 4/20/05, 5:05 PM, 16C, 5888x8000 (80+0), 100%, chrome 6 stops, 1/20 s, R103.0, G47.4, B60.0 Painting by Chas Fagan may 20th society

This story was first published July 17, 2017. It was updated by CharlotteFive April 19, 2018.

Here’s a fun fact: Charlotte was named after the wife of England’s King George III, which is how it got the nickname the Queen City.

When the city was founded back in 1768, a large group of colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown (a.k.a. Loyalists) decided to settle in Charlotte because it was the intersection of two Native American trading paths, which is now the intersection of Trade and Tryon in Uptown.

Besides the historical markers, monuments and tablets scattered throughout Charlotte and Mecklenburg today, here are some of the most interesting bits of Charlotte history:

(1) The context of our hornet’s nest logos dates back to 1780.

In 1780, General Cornwallis led the British army into Charlotte, but did not stay long due to the feisty local patriots. So, Cornwallis (supposedly) called Charlotte a “Hornet’s Nest of Rebellion.”

The nest can be seen today on the sides of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police cars.

The city furthered its Hornet’s nest reputation in 1892 by naming the local baseball team the Charlotte Hornets. And in 1974, the Charlotte Hornets became the city’s first professional football team. Then the Charlotte Hornets became the city’s first NBA team in 1988. Quite the history.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer talks to the suspects in the back of the police SUV.Charlotte Mecklenburg law officials secure the scene where a police chase ended at the intersection of Lasalle street and Taylor Avenue. The Wells Fargo bank was robbed this morning on Park road. The suspects where apprehended after their vehicle crash into another car before the chase ended. T. Ortega Gaines ogaines@charlotteobserver.com

(2) Charlotte Motor Speedway is on the former site of a working plantation.

The plantation was in operation during the Civil War. And before that time, President George Washington even had lunch and rested in a house that previously was used as the speedway’s offices. It wasn’t until 1959 that the speedway was designed and built by O. Bruton Smith, with the late stock car racing star Curtis Turner as his primary business partner.

(3) Our area was part of the nation’s first gold rush.

In 1799, 12-year-old Conrad Reed found a 17-pound yellow rock (or at least what he thought was a rock) on his family’s property. A jeweler later identified his”rock” as gold, allowing the John Reed property to be the site of the first documented gold find in the United States.

Today the Reed Gold Mine is a museum with restored mine tunnels and hiking trails. Pro tip: if you visit April through October, you have the chance to pan for gold yourself.

(4) Charlotte’s oldest continuous mascot is Homer the Dragon.

The Charlotte Knights’ website lists his official birthday as April 15, 1989, and his official birthplace as the original Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, SC. But he’s been known as a Charlotte mascot all along, and outdates Hugo the Hornet, who emerged on the scene with the Charlotte Hornets basketball team in 1988. Hugo lost his position as longest-standing mascot when he was temporarily ousted by Rufus the Bobcat of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004.

Courtesy of Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer files Jeff Siner jsiner@charlotteobserver.com

(5) We were once home to the original branch of the United States Mint

The Charlotte Mint opened in 1837 on the 400 block of West Trade Street, creating more than $5 million in gold currency. It was later used as a hospital and military office for the Confederate government during the Civil War.

In 1931, the building was set to be demolished, but a group of citizens came together to have it moved to its current location in Eastover. Five years later, Mint Museum Randolph opened its doors as the state’s first art museum.

(6) The Ballantyne neighborhood was almost named “Edinborough.”

The development was first reported on in 1991 by Observer development writer Doug Smith, who shared the plans to transform a vast amount of farmland and vacant acreage along the city’s planned outerbelt. Charlotte developer Johnny Harris’ plan was to “transform 1,756 acres of mostly undeveloped land in south Mecklenburg County into offices, shops and residences in a community of 10,000 to 12,000 people,” Smith wrote.

The name “Ballantyne,” also of Scots-Irish origin, was the middle name of Harris’ niece, Barbara Ballantyne Bissell.

CharlotteFive files

(7) We have an actual reason for calling our downtown “Uptown.”

The Loyalists’ decision to settle at the intersection of Native American trading paths (now Trade and Tryon) contributes to why locals call downtown Charlotte Uptown.

This intersection was the highest elevation point in the city, so people had to go up to reach this point. Get it?

Then on Sept. 23, 1974, City Council declared that the shopping and business district in the center city be officially named “Uptown Charlotte.”

Didn’t know that? Don’t worry — you’re not the only one.

WednesdayStandAlonePhoto _02 — David T. Foster III dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com

(8) Cotton mills, village homes and machinery rest below Lake Norman’s surface.

The lake, with 520 miles of shoreline, was created in 1963 when Duke Energy flooded hundreds of acres with water from the Catawba River. Much of that land had previously held homes, businesses, and even cemeteries. Beneath the surface of the water now, you could find a portion of Elm Wood Estate, a Georgian-style plantation house built by a Revolutionary War general in the 1820s. You could even find two cotton mills owned by Duke Power, as well as mill village homes and some large machinery.

(9) According to legend, we were first to declare independence from Great Britain.

Some of Charlotte’s leaders back in 1775 (supposedly) signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20. This document signified their separation from Great Britain. However, Thomas Jefferson (and other historians) believe the “Meck Dec” never existed.

But that hasn’t stopped us from celebrating Meck Dec Day every May 20. Even Presidents William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gerald Ford have come to town over the years to celebrate.

If you happen upon the corner of Fourth Street and Kings Drive, you will see the statue of Captain James Jack on his way to deliver the Meck Dec to Philadelphia.

Captain James Jack took the MecDec to the Continental Congress from Charlotte in 1775. Captain Jack by local sculptor, Chas Fagan. Courtesy of Chas Fagan

(10) An historic Native American trail once ran through the U.S. National Whitewater Center property.

The Tuckaseegee Trail, once a highly traveled Native American path in the Carolinas, brought European settlers and travelers into Charlotte and is likely a big reason the city initially developed at all. The trail led to the Tuckaseegee Ford, the oldest crossing point along the Catawba. The trail had several historic crossings including General Rutherford and his troops during the Revolutionary War.

Photos: Painting by Chas Fagan, T. Ortega Gaines/Charlotte Observer, Vanessa Infanzon, Tina Alvino, Bank of America Corporate Center, David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer, Chas Fagan

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