October 20, 1905 - Attorney Edward Randolph Preston hosts a meeting that begins the Greater Charlotte Club. With a motto that urges citizens to Watch Charlotte Grow, the club is a forerunner of the modern-day Chamber of Commerce.
On December 5, Charles Wadsworth, who with his brother James operated a livery stable on North College Street, became the first person to drive a gasoline-powered car in Charlotte. As it passed along Tryon Street . . . crowds followed it, noted the Charlotte Observer in a story the next day.
Even with streetcar transportation nearby, mill owners must provide a place to live for families who work at the mills. Near the Highland Park Mill #3, 200 houses become part of the growing North Charlotte community.
The old ways of the Catawba Indians are dying out. The young people of the tribe have learned English and no longer want to speak their native Catawba language. Missionaries have taught them to practice the white man's religion. Some even marry white settlers. It will be many years before the Catawba Indian culture again flourishes.
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.
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.