Table of Contents [1]
In 1888, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce produced a booklet of text and engraved illustrations: Sketches of Charlotte. Despite the artistic title, this was a work of promotion.
Charlotte is not only the busiest, the most progressive and the most enterprising city in North Carolina, but she is destined to assume the position, in the early future, of the most important commercial and manufacturing center between Atlanta and Baltimore. (Sketches of Charlotte, p.5)
The transcription of this work to a digital format could not reproduce the layout or decorative extras of the original edition [2]. Below, however, broken up under the original headings, is the complete text and illustrations of Sketches of Charlotte, The Queen City of the Old North State, and Mecklenburg, the Banner County (1888).
INTRODUCTION [3]
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE [4]
THE WATER WORKS [9]
THE STREET CARS [10]
NORTHERN RESIDENTS [11]
THE UNITED STATES MINT BUILDING [6]
THE GOLD MINES [12]
THE CLIMATE [13]
THE TRAFFIC IN KING COTTON [14]
EDUCATIONAL [15]
THE CHURCHES [16]
SECRET SOCIETIES [18]
CITY AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT [19]
RAILROAD FACILITIES [21]
REAL ESTATE [22]
THE INDUSTRIES OF CHARLOTTE [23]
THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION [24]
AGRICULTURE, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, ETC. [25]
TOPOGRAPHY AND CHARACTERISTICS [26]
COUNTY TOWNS [27]
THE MILLS [28]
WHAT TOURISTS ENJOY [30]
THE VERDICT OF NORTHERN RESIDENTS [11]
A WORD IN CONCLUSION
Regrettably, there is almost nothing about African American people and businesses in Sketches of Charlotte. Readers may consult Fannie Flono, Thriving in the Shadows: The Black Experience in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (Novello Festival Press, 2006), and the African American Album [31] on this website.
Sketches of Charlotte, the Queen City of the Old North State and Mecklenburg, the Banner County. Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, 1888.