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1838 - Disaster Preparation

July 1838 - Worried about the chance of fire at Charlotte's Mint, one of its officials, John Heysham Gibbon, issues a warning. He reminds Superintendent John Wheeler Hill that the city operates only one fire truck, located far from the Mint. Gibbon suggests installing buckets and tanks to collect rainwater in and around the building. Hill partly complies, but one day disaster will strike.

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1845 - Third Mecklenburg County Courthouse

The third courthouse . . . was built on the northeast corner of Trade and Church Streets. It was an imposing brick structure with four large columns across the front and and elegant, flowing double staircase in the portico rising to the second floor.. . . A distinctive feature of the courthouse property was the large water tower, or standpipe, which stood immediately behind it. This water tower was a vertical pipe, approximately 17 feet in diameter, which stood twice as high as the third courthouse.

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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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1815 - Battle of New Orleans

January 8, 1815 - Britain's Sir Edward Pakenham and 5,300 well-trained soldiers attack New Orleans, Louisiana. American General Andrew Jackson is ready with 4,500 frontier sharpshooters. Helping Jackson is French pirate Jean Lafitte, who turned down Britain's offer to join their side. The fighting ends quickly, but British losses are staggering. In the half-hour battle, more than 2,000 British die, including Pakenham. U.S. casualties are light: eight men are dead, 13 are wounded. The spectacular victory makes Andrew Jackson a hero, and brings pride to a young U.S.

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1776 - Declaration: Freedom

July 4, 1776 - The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. It proclaims freedom forever from British rule for all 13 colonies, including North Carolina. But the colonists' struggles are just beginning. Freedom will come at a terrible price as bloody battles will be fought throughout the new United States of America. North Carolina will pay, too, with the lives of its citizens. It will be more than five long years before the fighting ceases.

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1789 - Finally Ratification

November 21, 1789 - Nearly two years after the approval process for individual states began, North Carolina finally ratifies the U.S. Constitution. Proposed changes called amendments have eased North Carolina's doubts. Rhode Island is the only remaining state not to approve, but will do so the following May.

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1802 - The Value of Gold

John Reed asks a Fayetteville jeweler to examine the unusual rock that the Reed family has used as a doorstop for two years. The jeweler extracts enough gold from the stone to form a bar nearly eight inches long. Reed accepts $3.50 for the gold. He goes home, not realizing the gold is worth over $3,000.Miners

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1776 - Establishing Order

December 18, 1776 - Now that the 13 American colonies have as a nation declared their independence from Britain, each individual state must decide what kind of laws it will have. As the fight for freedom continues throughout the colonies, today North Carolina adopts its first set of state laws, called its Constitution.

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