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Now that the Civil War has ended, refugees find their way back home. Mary Anna Morrison Jackson takes up residence in a spacious house shaded by oak trees on Charlotte's West Trade Street. Mrs. Jackson is a war widow. Her husband, Confederate General Thomas A.
Fifteen hundred Mecklenburg men and boys go to work at Charlotte's Confederate Navy Yard, where shells, gunpowder and ammunition, called ordnance, are made. The navy yard has been moved from Norfolk, Virginia to Mecklenburg County to be near the iron works, and farther from enemy troops.
March 28, 1870 - As Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his daughter, Agnes, pass through Charlotte, they are greeted by a welcoming crowd. They have just visited the Warrenton grave of Lee's daughter, Annie.
May 18, 1954 - More than 60,000 people crowd into Charlotte's Freedom Park to hear President Dwight Eisenhower speak. His visit is part of the annual Meck Dec Day commemoration.
May 20, 1975 - President Gerald Ford draws a crowd estimated near 100,000 when he speaks at Charlotte's Freedom Park. He has come to help celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Long a topic of controversy, some believe the Meck Dec never existed.
February 7, 1977 - Elvis Presley shakes, rattles and rolls his hips as he performs at Charlotte's coliseum. Presley's 1950s recordings that combined blues, gospel and country music made him one of the pioneers of rock and roll.
Pictured here is an article advertising free railroad fare to Charlotte for the Mecklenburg Declaration festivities in exhange for purchasing property in the city.
Charlotte Daily Observer 5/20/1906, p.15
September 26, 1780 British commander Lord Charles Cornwallis and his Legion march into Charlotte expecting to be greeted by loyal followers of the Crown. Instead, he is met by Major William Davie and a band of 150 soldiers who are hiding around the courthouse on East Trade Street.
December 3, 1768 - Charlotte is chartered, which means the new town will have a courthouse and a prison. The law establishing a town for holding court in Mecklenburg County was first passed at a session of the colonial Assembly.
Samuel McComb finds gold at Irwin Creek, near what will be the intersection of West Morehead and Graham streets one day. He is the first to follow a deposit called a vein of gold.
April 10, 1922 - With 100 watts of power, WBT signs on the air. It is one of the nation's first radio stations. By the 1930s, WBT will be broadcasting the popular adventure series, The Lone Ranger. Country music artists who hope to find success play and sing as devoted listeners tune in.
A branch of the U.S. Postal Service is established in Charlotte. It is the first year that local officials take an oath to the U.S. government.
September 11, 1955. The new Ovens Auditorium and Charlotte Coliseum (later called Independence Arena) open.
September 1989 - Hurricane Hugo hits Charlotte.
Tillman Baldwin helps clean up Johnson C. Smith University campus after the hurricane.
Allegra Westbrooks comes to head the Negro Library Services for the Public Library. She becomes well-known as a career woman within the broader Charlotte professional community.
A Berlin newspaper covered President Woodrow Wilson’s speech in Charlotte.
The Charlotte Observer 5/26/1916, p. 6
March 1996 - Theater Charlotte presents “The Second City”.
April 20, 1971 - The U.S. Supreme Court votes unanimously to uphold Judge McMillan's decision in the Swann case. Busing can be used to achieve racial balance in schools. But victory is not yet won.
July 5-11, 1996 - The National NAACP conference is held in Charlotte. Photo shows President Clinton and NAACP Chairwoman Myrlie Evers-Williams singing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Rev. J. R. Williams directs the singing convention-goers.