Hornets' Nest: Charlotte's Leopardite Stone

The stone representing North Carolina, and so inscribed, in the Washington Monument was quarried in the Belmont section of Charlotte. The first stone was rejected by the Washington Monument Committee and a second stone was cut and accepted. This stone was selected because, insofar as is known, it is found nowhere else in the United States.

The rejected stone was secured by Adam Brevard Davidson and brought back to Charlotte where it was set in the ground of his home as a carriage stone. Colonel E. L. Baxter Davidson, son of the owner, inherited the stone which was later placed on the sidewalk at the northeast corner of Tryon and Trade Streets in front of the building owned by the Davidson estate. There it remained until street improvements in the 1940's required its removal. The stone then found a permanent home on the grounds of the Mint Museum of Art in the Eastover section of Charlotte.