Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

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Antebellum Days 1820-1852

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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1832 - St. Catherine Mine

Columbia professor James Renwick travels from New York to study Count Rivafinoli's operation of Charlotte's St. Catherine gold mine. Workers are using a method of extracting the pure gold from rocks that allows some of the precious metal to be washed away and lost. Renwick reports that St. Catherine will fail. A few years later he will be proved right. The mine will close during economic hard times, called a depression, in 1836-37.

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1835 - Prosperous Citizen

May 12, 1835 - Samuel McComb is appointed to select the site and supervise the building of Charlotte's Mint. He is well qualified. Ten years earlier, he discovered gold on his farm and now owns a gold mine. Since then, he has been a sheriff and served in North Carolina's lawmaking body, the General Assembly.

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1820 - Plank Road Journey

As commerce becomes more important, citizens are asked to devote their time to improving Mecklenburg County's roads. By laying split wood along the paths, workers hope to smooth the way for vehicles. Still, travel is unpleasant. Passengers and horses alike suffer injuries when the animals pulling stagecoaches lose their footing and stumble on the uneven roads.Muddy Traveling Along Carolina Highways Perils of Early Travel

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1852 - Train's a-comin'

October 28, 1852. The first passenger train arrives in Charlotte from Columbia, South Carolina! The entire town  and many visitors celebrate with fireworks, barbecue and a musical band. Within four years, Charlotte's telegraph office will open and the rail lines will run all the way to Goldsboro. Both will help the growing textile industry send its goods across the (North Carolina Whig, November 3, 1852, p.2, col.1)

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