Eddie Knox, mayor who led Charlotte through a different era of growth, dies at 89
Eddie Knox dreamt of being a farmer.
Born outside Davidson, he showed a natural aptitude for taking care of animals and liked the idea of following in his father’s footsteps. But twists of fate instead sent him on a path full of political highs and lows that included the upper echelons of law and business.
Knox, a former state legislator and two-term mayor of Charlotte, died Monday at the age of 89, his law firm announced.
As a public official, he helped usher in an era of rapid growth and development. And while his political career ended in defeat and a high-profile party switch, he found continued success in his legal career and business endeavors.
North Carolina born-and-bred
Haden Edward “Eddie” Knox was born near Davidson on Jan. 22, 1937 to Ralph Brevard Knox and Annie Barkley Knox.
He grew up on a 100-acre farm in the area alongside eight brothers and sisters.
Although Knox didn’t originally plan to go into politics, his family displayed a knack for the field. His brother Joe was the longtime mayor of Mooresville, and his brother Russell was mayor of Davidson.
Knox delayed his enrollment at N.C. State University, where he originally planned to study veterinary medicine, for a year after his father died unexpectedly the day before he was to leave for school in 1955.
“It’s amazing that I ever went to college. I never really wanted to go, I wanted to be a farmer like my dad, and my dad insisted that I go …” he said in an interview with the university later in life. “I think that delay probably helped me more than you could imagine because it awakened me to a lot of responsibility. It was pretty scary for me.”
Once in Raleigh, he ran for freshman class vice president after a fellow student asked him to be his running mate.
“I was scared to death and decided I’d do that. I won and he lost. There’s a moral in that story I guess: Be humble and take whatever’s given to you,” he said.
While serving in student government, Knox took it upon himself to raise the money to buy a wolf, who he named Lobo, to be the school’s live mascot.
“We took him to the games, we had one picture made of him eating a ram that had its throat cut,” Knox recalled in 2012. “And somebody let Lobo out and I’ve never seen him since.”
Knox graduated from NC State in 1960 and Wake Forest University School of Law in 1963 before returning to the Charlotte area to launch his law career.
A winding political career
Knox secured his first political office in 1970, when he was elected as a Democrat to represent the 22nd state Senate District, which at the time included parts of Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties. He held the seat through 1974.
Despite never holding municipal office, Knox was elected mayor of Charlotte in 1979. He served two terms and left office in 1983.
Growth was a major issue during his time leading Charlotte, according to the papers and letters he donated to UNC Charlotte’s special collections.
A report by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission in early 1980 suggested Charlotte annex multiple swaths of land, including in the Monroe Road, Carmel-Rea Road and Coulwood areas. Knox penned letters to the mayor of Matthews and others to dissuade concerns Charlotte wanted to gobble up “country land.”
“I agree and will do everything in my power to not become ‘another Atlanta.’ My concern is not the quantity of growth but the quality of life that this growth brings,” he wrote to one resident.
Knox also fielded letters expressing concerns about Charlotte building a new coliseum, including a full-on campaign by members of the First Baptist Church. The church was concerned a site in uptown would interfere with their operations and create traffic headaches. In his papers, Knox expressed hope a new coliseum would draw more big events to Charlotte, including big basketball games.
He was on-hand in 1986, the Observer reported at the time, when crews broke ground on a new Charlotte Coliseum off Billy Graham Parkway that would become home to the original Charlotte Hornets before getting torn down in 2007.
Knox tried to make the jump to statewide office in 1984, running in an open Democratic primary for governor to succeed the term-limited Jim Hunt. But after losing the race to Rufus L. Edmisten, Knox left the party and became a Republican. It was one of multiple notable party switches of the era, the Observer noted at the time, as the state Democratic Party struggled with ideological shifts and fractures within longtime intra-party alliances.
Knox considered running for lieutenant governor as a Republican in 1988. But Knox did not launch a formal campaign, and he never held public office again.
Success in business, law
Knox had plenty of success in the legal field despite the ups and downs in his political career.
He helped establish Knox, Brotherton, Knox & Godfrey in 1964 and stayed on as a managing partner at the firm, now known as the Knox Law Center, into the 2020s. His expertise was in personal injury and workers compensation cases.
He was inducted into the General Practice Hall of Fame by the North Carolina Bar Association in 2008. In 2024, the business now located in his firm’s original offices dedicated a plaque to Knox.
“The Knox Law Center has been a pillar of legal excellence, proudly serving the city of Charlotte and its surrounding areas for decades … Eddie Knox and his team dedicated themselves to upholding justice and serving their community with unparalleled commitment,” Jetton & Meredith said in an announcement of the project.
An avid golfer, Knox also developed and owned the Verdict Ridge Golf and Country Club in Denver, North Carolina, in 1998.
“This has been the most fun I’ve ever had,” Knox told the Observer when the course opened.
He was also a member of Bethel Presbyterian Church in Cornelius, sang in “Witness,” a gospel quartet, and served on the Wake Forest University Law Board of Visitors, he noted on his law firm’s website.
Knox is survived by his wife, Frances S. Knox, their two children and eight grandchildren.
Details about a memorial service were not immediately available.
