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1831 - Cedar Grove Plantation

James G. Torrence builds Cedar Grove, a grand home near Huntersville, next to the Torrence family store north of Charlotte. Like so many Mecklenburgers, these pioneers are descendants of English and Scottish people who moved to Ireland before they came to America. They are called Scots-Irish. The Torrence family has owned several thousand acres of land since the 1770s. The Torrence store is believed to be the oldest that exists in Mecklenburg County.Cedar Grove Plantation

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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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1792 - First Charlotte Post Office

A branch of the U.S. Postal Service is established in Charlotte. It is the first year that local officials take an oath to the U.S. government.

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1837 - US Mint in Charlotte

 January 19, 1837 - President Andrew Jackson appoints John Wheeler Hill the first manager, or superintendent, of the Charlotte branch of the U.S. Mint. Men hired to make coins attend special training at the Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When the Charlotte Mint opens, the superintendent's salary will be $2,000 per year. The chief coiner will earn $1,500 per year. The men who melt, refine and analyze, or assay, the gold will earn $1,000 per year.Gold Coin

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1840 - Raw Deal

The Treaty of Nation's Ford devastates the Catawba Indians, many of whom live along the border between North and South Carolina. South Carolina agrees to give the tribe $5000 to buy 300 acres of mountain land in Haywood County, N.C., then $2000 per year for five years. North Carolina refuses to give the tribe any money until the Catawbas actually give up the disputed land and leave. Many of the tribe will be left poor and homeless.

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1847 - War with Mexico

<p>The U.S. is at war with Mexico, which&nbsp;refuses to give up possession of Texas. In 1836, Mexican soldiers stormed the Alamo, a Spanish fort near San Antonio. Everyone inside, including American soldiers, was killed, sparking the cry, Remember the Alamo! Now, Charlotte&#39;s Mint superintendent, Green Caldwell, leads a battalion of troops into Mexico. When the war is over, the U.S. will own most of the Southwest.</p>

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1810 - Iron Industry

Vesuvius Furnace, Tizrah Forge and Rehoboth Furnace are the iron works in Mecklenburg County that melt metal and form it into useful items. Not everyone uses money to pay for goods they buy. Some people bring wagons full of woven cloth and cured meat to trade for cook pots, rifles and cannonballs.Mecklenburg Iron Works

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1849 - California, Here I Come!

Gold, discovered one year ago in California, entices fortune seekers from all over the U.S. to flock to the western territory in a gold rush. These hopeful prospectors are called forty-niners. Even President James K. Polk, a Mecklenburg County native, tells Congress he believes the California gold rush will lead to great wealth. No longer is North Carolina the only place to look for gold.

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1820 - Cherokees and Catawbans

West and southwest of Mecklenburg County live the Cherokee Indians. During the Revolutionary War, many Cherokees helped fight for the British. Catawba Indians closer to Charlotte often fought for the Americans.Sequoyah (Cherokee)  

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1812 - War of 1812 Begins

Decades after the end of the Revolutionary War, Britain still tries to control U.S. trade. Indians are attacking settlers in the Northwest Territory, and some Americans believe the British are giving weapons to the Indians. While the Revolutionary War was fought to win freedom from British rule, the War of 1812 will earn the U.S. its economic place in the world.

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