Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

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Antebellum Days 1820-1852

1830 - Freedom Train

People who speak out against slavery are called abolitionists. For 50 years, they have been working to eliminate slavery. They form a secret network of farms and families who hide and help runaways escape from the South to freedom. This is called the Underground Railroad, even though there are no actual trains or tracks. As hundreds of slaves vanish, their owners become outraged. The federal government enacts laws, called compromises that try to find solutions. But only after a bloody war is fought will the issue of slavery be resolved.

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1840 - Deeper and Deeper

Costs to mine gold are increasing. Some of the rock that contains the precious metal, called ore, lies deep below water or other rocks, and it becomes more and more difficult to pump and dig for it. Mine owners bring in immigrants from as far away as Poland, Italy, German and Wales to join their work-force.

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1835 - Nuggets to Coins

March 3, 1835Charlotte is becoming the gold mining capital of the U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the law authorizing Charlotte as a site for a branch of the U.S. Mint, so coins can be made here without transporting the gold to a Mint far away. Congress will allow $50,000 to be spent for the site, building and machinery. Architect William Strickland will design the Classically-styled building on West Trade Street. Gold is now valued at $20 per ounce. It will be worth nearly $1600 per ounce, 80 times more, by the 2010s. 

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1838 - Disaster Preparation

July 1838 - Worried about the chance of fire at Charlotte's Mint, one of its officials, John Heysham Gibbon, issues a warning. He reminds Superintendent John Wheeler Hill that the city operates only one fire truck, located far from the Mint. Gibbon suggests installing buckets and tanks to collect rainwater in and around the building. Hill partly complies, but one day disaster will strike.

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1845 - Third Mecklenburg County Courthouse

The third courthouse . . . was built on the northeast corner of Trade and Church Streets. It was an imposing brick structure with four large columns across the front and and elegant, flowing double staircase in the portico rising to the second floor.. . . A distinctive feature of the courthouse property was the large water tower, or standpipe, which stood immediately behind it. This water tower was a vertical pipe, approximately 17 feet in diameter, which stood twice as high as the third courthouse.

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1845 - Deadly Practice

Dr. Caldwell has practiced medicine in Charlotte for more than 20 years. But doctors still don't know how diseases are transmitted. Without realizing it, Dr. Caldwell treats a patient and brings a deadly infection home to his own family. His wife, Harriet, and three children will die.

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1830 - Gold is Big Business

Gold mined in Mecklenburg County must travel hundreds of miles to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to be minted into coins. Roads are bad and each dangerous trip takes four months. Charlotteans ask Congress for a North Carolina branch of the U.S. Mint. But legislators resist the plan. They think Charlotte is too small. The idea will be discussed for five years before the Charlotte Mint comes into being.

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1825 - First Church

The Brick Church opens on the plot of land set aside in 1815 at the corner of Church and Trade streets. The house of worship, with the adjoining Settlers' Cemetery, is designed to practice not just one specific faith. Rather, it will be non-denominational. When financial problems befall the Brick Church in 1830, Presbyterians will pay the debt and acquire the building. It will be home to Charlotte's First Presbyterian Church.Settlers' Cemetery

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1828 - Fall of a Nation

The independent Cherokee government is outlawed by Georgia. North Carolina's neighbor has insisted the Indians be removed from land that contains valuable resources. Both federal and state governments will try to buy Indian land and will move the tribes away, often illegally.

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1838 - Trail of Tears

October 1838 - Indian leaders have tried to negotiate with the U.S. government. Despite their efforts, President Andrew Jackson approves the removal of the Cherokee Indian tribes from their homeland west and southwest of Mecklenburg County. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act to make this forced move, called resettlement, legal. Now, federal troops force nearly 20,000 Cherokees to march hundreds of miles to Oklahoma. Thousands of the Native Americans die from disease and winter's bitter cold. Their tragic journey will be remembered as The Trail of Tears.

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