CM Story
Calendar of Historic Dates Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Since the material in this history is treated topically, the following chronological list of events and movements which have taken place locally may be helpful to the reader.

1750Trade routes from Charlotte to Charleston established over Indian Trails.
1762December 11. Mecklenburg created by Act of the Legislature, from Anson County (effective February 1, 1763).
1766First log courthouse built in Charlotte.
1766Dr. John Kennedy, first physician in Mecklenburg, was practicing medicine. The second was Dr. Ephraim Brevard.
1767January 15, 360 acres purchased for site of Charlotte by Abraham Alexander, Thomas Polk, and John Frohock from George Augustus Selwyn for ninety pounds.
1768November 7. Charlotte incorporated.
1768Tryon County formed from Mecklenburg.
1770Jeremiah McCafferty opens first store in Charlotte.
1771Queens College, later Queens Museum, opened in Charlotte.
1771Presbyterian ministers given permission by the King to perform marriages, a privilege which had been restricted to ministers to the Church of England.
1773Governor Martin gives notice that the King has disallowed the charter of Queens College.
1774Charlotte designated as County Seat of Mecklenburg County.
1775May 20. Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence signed at Charlotte.
1775May 31. Signers of Mecklenburg Declaration reassembled and draw up Mecklenburg Resolves.
1775June 3. Captain James Jack arrived in Philadelphia with Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
1777Liberty Hall incorporated (successor to Queens Museum).
1780October 3. Skirmish at McIntyre's farm (Battle of the Bees).
1780October 12. Cornwallis withdraws from Charlotte referring to the place as a "Hornets' Nest."
1780Epidemic of smallpox strikes Charlotte.
1780Colonel Thomas Polk appointed Commissary General by General Nathaniel Greene.
1781February 1. Battle of Cowan's Ford in which General William Davidson was killed.
1781Gold first discovered in sections of Mecklenburg which in 1782 became a part of Cabarrus County.
1791Saturday, May 28. President George Washington visited Charlotte.
1792Cabarrus County created from eastern section of Mecklenburg.
1792Andrew Jackson licensed to practice law in Mecklenburg.
1792United States Post Office established in Charlotte.
1795November 21. James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States, born in Mecklenburg, 12 miles south of Charlotte.
1805Nathaniel Alexander elected governor - the first citizen of Mecklenburg to be so honored.
1812-1814Five companies of Mecklenburg troops serve throughout the War of 1812.
1815Property bounded by Trade, Church, Sixth, and Poplar Streets set aside for church and cemetery purposes by all denominations.
1816First law enforcement officer appointed in Charlotte, called "Town Watch.”
1823August. Earliest church building in Charlotte dedicated by Rev. Dr. McRee (or McCree).
1824October 4. First issue of the first newspaper published in Charlotte, The Catawba Journal.
1830Miner’s and Farmer’s Journal states "talk about dissolution of the Union has become so common as not to excite horror, as it once did.”
1833Sons of Temperance organized.
1834Branch of the North Carolina Bank opened at Charlotte.
1837October 19. Branch of the United States Mint begins operation with John H. Wheeler as Superintendent.
1838Charlotte Male Academy opens.
1842Union County formed form Anson and Mecklenburg Counties.
1847April. Company of Dragoons under Green W. Caldwell leaves for Vera Cruz to serve in Mexican War.
1852October 21. First passenger train arrives in Charlotte.
1852First telegraph office opened in Charlotte - succeeded by Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856.
1856Railroad from Charlotte to Goldsboro completed.
1857January 19. Charlotte Female Institute organized, forerunner of Presbyterian College for Women (1896) and later Queens College.
1858First street gas lights turned on in Charlotte.
1859North Carolina Military Institute opens with Daniel Harvey Hill as Headmaster.
1861United States Mint - Charlotte Branch appropriated for military organizations by Confederate authorities.
1861May 20. North Carolina seceded from the Union.
1861April. Faculty and cadets of North Carolina Military Institute go to Raleigh to drill troops for service in War for Southern Independence.
1862May. Center of Naval Ordnance of Confederate States of America moved to Charlotte from Norfolk, Virginia.
1864January 7. Confederate munitions and supplies located in Charlotte destroyed in $10,000,000 fire.
1865April 18. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, arrives in Charlotte with his Cabinet, gets first news of Lincoln’s assassination.
1865April 20. Last full meeting of Confederate Cabinet held in Charlotte.
1865May 7. Capt. M. C. Runyan and 9th New Jersey Volunteers occupy Charlotte.
1867December. United States Mint reopened as assay office only, with Isaac W. Jones, assayer.
1869January 25. First daily issue of the Charlotte Observer; name and ownership subsequently changed several times.
1872Last of Federal troops depart following occupancy which began at the close of the war.
1873October 21. First graded school opened in North Carolina at Charlotte by Dr. J. B. Boone.
1874Last stage line discontinued - the route was between Wadesboro and Charlotte.
1875February 18. Commercial National Bank chartered (North Carolina National Bank).
1875May 20. Centennial celebration of signing of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, attended by 30,000 people.
1881First cotton mill in Mecklenburg begins operation.
1882September 11. First tax supported public school opened in Charlotte.
1887Thompson Orphanage organized.
1887First electric street lights installed.
1887Horse-drawn cars first appear in Charlotte.
1888Charlotte News established.
1890Dilworth real estate development began.
1891February 12. Public library service began in Charlotte with incorporation of Charlotte Literacy and Library Association.
1891September 23. Good Samaritan Hospital dedicated.
1892September 17. Adlai Stevenson, Vice-President of the United States, visits Charlotte.
1893Electric street cars replace horse-drawn cars.
1895Presbyterian College opened - later Queens College.
1897Charlotte National Bank chartered (Wachovia Bank and Trust Company).
1898Presbyterian Hospital began as private institution - later presented to group of Presbyterian churches and opened by them February 24, 1903.
1898December 11. Two companies from Charlotte in the North Carolina regiment land in Havana in Spanish-American War.
1901July 15. American Trust Company began business as Southern States Trust Company (North Carolina National Bank).
1902February. Deepest snow recorded in Charlotte, 17.4 inches.
1903July 2. Carnegie Library opened.
1904Automobiles first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory.
1904Southern Railway Passenger Station, originally built in the 1880’s, greatly enlarged and redesigned to resemble "Moorish" architectural style.
1905January 1. Prohibition becomes effective in Charlotte as a result of election held July 5, 1904.
1905October 19. President Theodore Roosevelt visits Charlotte.
1906Mercy Hospital founded at 8 East First Street.
1907Motion pictures first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory. Theatre names: Odeon and Wonderland.
1909May 20. President William Howard Taft visits Charlotte in torrential rain.
1909First Charlotte skyscraper (Independence Building) built on northwest corner Trade and Tryon Streets.
1913July 1. United States Mint - Charlotte Branch closed finally.
1913Myers Park residential development began with opening of Queens Road. First home that of Mr. and Mrs. Word H. Wood.
1914September 23. Queens College opened campus on Selwyn Avenue.
1916May 20. President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson visit Charlotte.
1916July 14-16. North Carolina flood.
1917March 9. Mecklenburg Chapter American Red Cross formed.
1917Camp Greene, temporary U. S. cantonment, constructed at Charlotte.
1918January 21. First of 10 holidays in eastern half of United States ordered by Fuel Administration to conserve fuel for war purposes; commonly called "Heatless Mondays."
1918January 24. "Celebro Spinal Meningitis" quarantined ordered in Charlotte for two weeks, closing all amusement places, churches, schools, libraries, Y.M.C.A., Y.W. C.A., and forbidding all public gatherings.
1918October 24. Charlotte quarantined because of epidemic of "Spanish Influenza," 400 cases in Charlotte and many in Camp Greene.
1919April 26. Mecklenburg Federation of Home Demonstrating Clubs formally organized.
1919August 25. Street car strike riot, killing five, wounding 25.
1920July 14. First S & W Cafeteria opened at Charlotte.
1921First inter-city bus line operated out of Charlotte by Love-Lowder Bus Lines.
1921Radio Station WBT installed.
1921Cameron Morrison of Charlotte elected Governor of North Carolina.
1922May 20. General John J. Pershing visits Charlotte.
1922"Radio apparatus" first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory.
1922December 16-17. Trust Building, housing Academy of Music and many offices, burned and, along with it, Brockmann’s, dealer in books and office equipment.
1924October 23. Chrlotte City Hall at 600 East Trade Street, cornerstone laid. Building formally opened October 25, 1925.
1925January. Charlotte Music Club organized.
1927December 1. Federal Reserve Bank Branch opened.
1928Spring. Mecklenburg County Court House at 700 East Trade Street opened.
1929June 2. Armory-Auditorium completed. Burned June 8, 1954. Rebuilt and renamed Park Center.
1930April 2. First air mail service to Charlotte, Pilot Gene Brown.
1930Radio Station WSOC began operation.
1932Charlotte Symphony Orchestra organized.
1936American Legion Memorial Stadium completed.
1936Municipal Airport opened.
1936September 10. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visits Charlotte as guest of honor at a "Green Pastures Rally."
1936October 22. Mint Museum of Art formally opened.
1937Repeal referndum won by "Drys."
1938Buses replace street cars for local transportation in Charlotte.
1939June. Wachovia Trust Company merged with Charlotte National Bank.
1939June 30. Charlotte Public Library closed when voters failed to approve appropriations for library purposes.
1940March 15. Guthery Apartments fire in which eight persons were killed.
1940July 1. Charlotte Public Library reopened when voters approved, by a vote of 10,172 to 1,966, on May 25, a maximum county-wide tax levy of four cents on every $100 valuation for library purposes.
1940October 2. Memorial Hospital opened for patients.
1940William R. Barringer Hotel opened, incorporated October 14, 1939.
1941April 21. Morris Field dedicated with Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New York City and Governor Broughton of North Carolina as principal speakers.
1942Charlotte Navy Shell Loading Plant of the United States Rubber Company construction began June, production began December.
1944March 19. First Methodist Church sanctuary dedicated. First Methodist Church formed in 1927 from Tryon Street Methodist (1840) and Trinity Methodist (1896).
1946September. Charlotte Center of University of North Carolina founded - later (1949) Charlotte College.
1947January 10. Charlotte City Club incorporated - formally opened June 1, 1948.
1947June 14. Alcoholic Board of Control election won by "Wets." Seven stores opened September 27, 1947.
1947September. Second Ward Extension School founded - later (1949) Carver College.
1947November 12. Charlotte Christmas Festival Parade held - later (1950) Carolinas Carrousel.
1947Television first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory.
1948June. Methodist Home for the Aged opened in Charlotte.
1953December 20. Covenant Presbyterian Church holds first services in new sanctuary at 1000 East Morehead Street.
1954May 18. President Dwight David Eisenhower visits Charlotte.
1954July 10. Douglas Municipal Airport dedicated.
1955September 11. Ovens Auditorium and Charlotte Coliseum dedicated.
1956November 19. Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Main Building at 310 North Tryon Street, and several branches officially opened.
1957November 29. Commercial National Bank and American Trust Company merged to become American Commercial Bank. (North Carolina Bank 1960.)
1958February 16. Wachovia Bank Building, corner of Trade and Church Streets, dedicated.
1959March 4. North Carolina Legislature met in Charlotte for second time. First was February 22, 1939.
1959December 31. Charlotte city limits greatly expanded.
1960Charlotte’s population passes 200,000.