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1930 - No Jobs

Factories have shut down. People who had jobs just a short time ago have no money. Families try to share what little they have. A charity called the Salvation Army open soup kitchens and bread lines, trying to feed the hungry. In Charlotte, First National Bank, Mechanics & Farmers Bank, and Independence National Bank must close. They have no money to lend or to pay their depositors. Can America survive the Great Depression?

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1917 - Rosenwald's Gift

Northern businessman Julius Rosenwald donates millions of dollars to help build schools for black children in the South. In 15 states, there are 5,000 Rosenwald schools. Of the 813 in North Carolina, 26 are in Mecklenburg County. Many will be torn down as the school system modernizes, but a few will remain standing 80 years later.

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1927 - Banking Grows

December 1, 1927 - A branch of the U.S. government's banking system, called the Federal Reserve, opens in Charlotte. Not only will the Reserve Bank bring prestige to the city, the money it supplies helps local banks grow stronger.

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1930 - Local Business Support

Everyone feels the hardships of the Great Depression. But some businesses survive, including Thad Tate's barbershop on East Fourth Street. Although owner and staffed by black Charlotteans, the shop serves only the white customers who live in this part of town. Black families patronize businesses in their own neighborhoods.

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1917 - Emergence of Suburbs

Electric-powered streetcars have made it possible for families to move to suburbs beyond Charlotte's downtown area. Now, the city has nine streetcar lines, with cars displaying billboards that encourage families to buy homes in new neighborhoods. Buy a home in Dilworth for rent money! one proclaims.Charlottte Streetcar

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1929 - Greek Community

Since around 1900, the Karnazes brothers have sold fruit at Charlotte's downtown crossroads, called the Square. Families from foreign countries continue to come to America, or immigrate. Now the city's Greek community is large enough to buy its own church building on South Boulevard. By 1954 the building will be too small, and the Greek Orthodox church will move to East Boulevard.

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1930 - Air Mail

April 1, 1930 - Mail arrives in Charlotte by airplane for the first time. Eastern Air Travel, which will become Eastern Airlines, makes the delivery as 30,000 people turn out to greet the plane. 

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1917 - Training Soldiers

Mayor Frank McNinch and other officials convince the federal government to build a military training facility west of downtown Charlotte. Camp Greene is named for General Nathanael Greene, who defended Mecklenburg from British attack during the Revolutionary War. Living and working in 1,000 tents and barracks, some 60,000 soldiers will pass through Charlotte. Some will train as pilots, others will learn to repair airplanes.Camp Greene

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1928 - The Fifth Mecklenburg County Courthouse

The Fifth Courthouse was located at 700 East Trade Street next to the new City Hall. . . . It was designed by noted architect Louis H. Asbury, a Charlotte native who also built the Myers Park United Methodist Church. . . . The Courthouse is an imposing, three-story, rectangular limestone building, topped with a recessed structure that served as the county's jail until the 1960's. from Courthouses of Mecklenburg County, 1766-2007 (Mecklenburg County, 2007)

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1932 - Music Easing Sorrow

Even though the country is in the midst of a terrible economic downturn, the performing arts survive. The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is founded. It will be followed in 1948 by the city's opera company. These and other cultural organizations will entertain and enrich the lives of Charlotteans for years to come.

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