Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

You are here

Home

History Timeline

1885 - Buford Hotel

The Buford Hotel opens. At Fourth and Tryon streets, it will host inventor Thomas Edison and his wife when they visit Charlotte. Other prominent Charlotteans will make their homes at the Buford home, including industrialist D.A. Tompkins. The Buford Hotel will operate until 1915, when its lower floors will be converted to storerooms for the Union National Bank.

Date of Event:

1905 - Brevard Street Library

Sometime in the month of June, 1905, the Brevard Street Library opens to serve black residents. In these early days of the 20th century, segregation is the law. Black and white people attend separate schools and churches. They ride in separate sections of buses. When the Civil Rights movement gathers strength later this century, people of different races will work to achieve equality.

Date of Event:

1872 - Richmond to Atlanta

The Carolina Central Railroad connects Charlotte to Wilmington, nearly 200 miles away. Within two years the railroad will reach from Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia. The cotton trade booms as textiles made in the region travel to markets beyond.Steam Engine

Date of Event:

1897 - Banking Industry Grows

Without money to build and expand their facilities, businesses cannot grow. The Charlotte National Bank opens this year. It will lends funds, called capital, to help businesses become strong and healthy. The Charlotte National Bank will join with Winston-Salem's Wachovia Loan and Trust Company in 1939. It will then be known as Wachovia Bank and Trust.

Date of Event:

1900 Ivey's opens

February 18, 1900 - The Belk family department stores now have a competitor. J.B. Ivey opens a shop in Charlotte at North Tryon near Sixth Street. All retail employees work long hours. Some area stores are open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Men earn $12 to $15 per week, women slightly less. Children work, too, earning 25 to 50 cents per day.

Date of Event:

1843 - Business at the Mint

June 15, 1843 - Green Washington Caldwell is appointed superintendent of Charlotte's Mint. This doctor, former congressman and lawyer is well acquainted with the business of manufacturing coins. He is married to Jane McComb, whose father, Samuel, began one of Charlotte's first gold mines.

Date of Event:

1864 - End of the Navy Yard

January 7, 1864 - An explosion causes a terrible fire at the Confederate Navy Yard in Charlotte. No one can determine how it happened. The navy yard is destroyed.

Date of Event:

1862 - A Nation at War

February 22, 1862 - Determined to break away from the U.S., the Confederate States of America have organized their own government. Today they inaugurate their president, Jefferson Davis, a former U.S. senator from Mississippi. But the U.S. will not give in. They will fight the Confederates for control of the South.

Date of Event:

1826 - Private Education

The Charlotte Male Academy opens to instruct pupils in Classical subjects, such as Latin and Greek. Young women who attend the new Charlotte Female Academy, which opened one year ago, have new course offerings for this year. They can study astronomy, chemistry, ethics and history. Until now, most young women were schooled, if at all, in piano, painting and embroidery.

Date of Event:

1864 - Sherman's March

September 2, 1864 - General William T. Sherman and his troops enter and destroy Confederate military supplies at Atlanta, Georgia. Now, the Union army has a base in the heart of the Confederacy. Two months later, Sherman and his men will leave Atlanta and begin their famous March to the Sea, ending in Savannah.

Date of Event: