Calendar of Historic Dates: Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Since the material in this history is treated topically, the following chronological list of events and movements which have taken place locally may be helpful to the reader.
 
1750       Trade routes from Charlotte to Charleston established over Indian Trails.
 
1762       December 11. Mecklenburg created by Act of the Legislature, from Anson County (effective February 1, 1763).
 
1766       First log courthouse built in Charlotte.
 
1766       Dr. John Kennedy, first physician in Mecklenburg, was practicing medicine. The second was Dr. Ephraim Brevard.
 
1767       January 15, 360 acres purchased for site of Charlotte by Abraham Alexander, Thomas Polk, and John Frohock from George Augustus Selwyn for ninety pounds.
 
1768       November 7. Charlotte incorporated.
 
1768       Tryon County formed from Mecklenburg.
 
1770       Jeremiah McCafferty opens first store in Charlotte.
 
1771       Queens College, later Queens Museum, opened in Charlotte.
 
1771       Presbyterian ministers given permission by the King to perform marriages, a privilege which had been restricted to ministers to the Church of England.
 
1773       Governor Martin gives notice that the King has disallowed the charter of Queens College.
 
1774       Charlotte designated as County Seat of Mecklenburg County.
 
1775       May 20. Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence signed at Charlotte.
 
1775       May 31. Signers of Mecklenburg Declaration reassembled and draw up Mecklenburg Resolves.
 
1775       June 3. Captain James Jack arrived in Philadelphia with Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
 
1777       Liberty Hall incorporated (successor to Queens Museum).
 
1780       October 3. Skirmish at McIntyre's farm (Battle of the Bees).
 
1780       October 12. Cornwallis withdraws from Charlotte referring to the place as a Hornets' Nest.
 
1780       Epidemic of smallpox strikes Charlotte.
 
1780       Colonel Thomas Polk appointed Commissary General by General Nathaniel Greene.
 
1781       February 1. Battle of Cowan's Ford in which General William Davidson was killed.
 
1781       Gold first discovered in sections of Mecklenburg which in 1782 became a part of Cabarrus County.
 
1791       Saturday, May 28. President George Washington visited Charlotte.
 
1792       Cabarrus County created from eastern section of Mecklenburg.
 
1792       Andrew Jackson licensed to practice law in Mecklenburg.
 
1792       United States Post Office established in Charlotte.
 
1795       November 21. James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States, born in Mecklenburg, 12 miles south of Charlotte.
 
1805       Nathaniel Alexander elected governor - the first citizen of Mecklenburg to be so honored.
 
1812-1814            Five companies of Mecklenburg troops serve throughout the War of 1812.
 
1815       Property bounded by Trade, Church, Sixth, and Poplar Streets set aside for church and cemetery purposes by all denominations.
 
1816       First law enforcement officer appointed in Charlotte, called Town Watch.”
 
1823       August. Earliest church building in Charlotte dedicated by Rev. Dr. McRee (or McCree).
 
1824       October 4. First issue of the first newspaper published in Charlotte, The Catawba Journal.
 
1830       Miner’s and Farmer’s Journal states talk about dissolution of the Union has become so common as not to excite horror, as it once did.”
 
1833       Sons of Temperance organized.
 
1834       Branch of the North Carolina Bank opened at Charlotte.
 
1837       October 19. Branch of the United States Mint begins operation with John H. Wheeler as Superintendent.
 
1838       Charlotte Male Academy opens.
 
1842       Union County formed form Anson and Mecklenburg Counties.
 
1847       April. Company of Dragoons under Green W. Caldwell leaves for Vera Cruz to serve in Mexican War.
 
1852       October 21. First passenger train arrives in Charlotte.
 
1852       First telegraph office opened in Charlotte - succeeded by Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856.
 
1856       Railroad from Charlotte to Goldsboro completed.
 
1857       January 19. Charlotte Female Institute organized, forerunner of Presbyterian College for Women (1896) and later Queens College.
 
1858       First street gas lights turned on in Charlotte.
 
1859       North Carolina Military Institute opens with Daniel Harvey Hill as Headmaster.
 
1861       United States Mint - Charlotte Branch appropriated for military organizations by Confederate authorities.
 
1861       May 20. North Carolina seceded from the Union.
 
1861       April. Faculty and cadets of North Carolina Military Institute go to Raleigh to drill troops for service in War for Southern Independence.
 
1862       May. Center of Naval Ordnance of Confederate States of America moved to Charlotte from Norfolk, Virginia.
 
1864       January 7. Confederate munitions and supplies located in Charlotte destroyed in $10,000,000 fire.
 
1865       April 18. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, arrives in Charlotte with his Cabinet, gets first news of Lincoln’s assassination.
 
1865       April 20. Last full meeting of Confederate Cabinet held in Charlotte.
 
1865       May 7. Capt. M. C. Runyan and 9th New Jersey Volunteers occupy Charlotte.
 
1867       December. United States Mint reopened as assay office only, with Isaac W. Jones, assayer.
 
1869       January 25. First daily issue of the Charlotte Observer; name and ownership subsequently changed several times.
 
1872       Last of Federal troops depart following occupancy which began at the close of the war.
 
1873       October 21. First graded school opened in North Carolina at Charlotte by Dr. J. B. Boone.
 
1874       Last stage line discontinued - the route was between Wadesboro and Charlotte.
 
1875       February 18. Commercial National Bank chartered (North Carolina National Bank).
 
1875       May 20. Centennial celebration of signing of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, attended by 30,000 people.
 
1881       First cotton mill in Mecklenburg begins operation.
 
1882       September 11. First tax supported public school opened in Charlotte.
 
1887       Thompson Orphanage organized.
 
1887       First electric street lights installed.
 
1887       Horse-drawn cars first appear in Charlotte.
 
1888       Charlotte News established.
 
1890       Dilworth real estate development began.
 
1891       February 12. Public library service began in Charlotte with incorporation of Charlotte Literacy and Library Association.
 
1891       September 23. Good Samaritan Hospital dedicated.
 
1892       September 17. Adlai Stevenson, Vice-President of the United States, visits Charlotte.
 
1893       Electric street cars replace horse-drawn cars.
 
1895       Presbyterian College opened - later Queens College.
 
1897       Charlotte National Bank chartered (Wachovia Bank and Trust Company).
 
1898       Presbyterian Hospital began as private institution - later presented to group of Presbyterian churches and opened by them February 24, 1903.
 
1898       December 11. Two companies from Charlotte in the North Carolina regiment land in Havana in Spanish-American War.
 
1901       July 15. American Trust Company began business as Southern States Trust Company (North Carolina National Bank).
 
1902       February. Deepest snow recorded in Charlotte, 17.4 inches.
 
1903       July 2. Carnegie Library opened.
 
1904       Automobiles first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory.
 
1904       Southern Railway Passenger Station, originally built in the 1880’s, greatly enlarged and redesigned to resemble Moorish architectural style.
 
1905       January 1. Prohibition becomes effective in Charlotte as a result of election held July 5, 1904.
 
1905       October 19. President Theodore Roosevelt visits Charlotte.
 
1906       Mercy Hospital founded at 8 East First Street.
 
1907       Motion pictures first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory. Theatre names: Odeon and Wonderland.
 
1909       May 20. President William Howard Taft visits Charlotte in torrential rain.
 
1909       First Charlotte skyscraper (Independence Building) built on northwest corner Trade and Tryon Streets.
 
1913       July 1. United States Mint - Charlotte Branch closed finally.
 
1913       Myers Park residential development began with opening of Queens Road. First home that of Mr. and Mrs. Word H. Wood.
 
1914       September 23. Queens College opened campus on Selwyn Avenue.
 
1916       May 20. President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson visit Charlotte.
 
1916       July 14-16. North Carolina flood.
 
1917       March 9. Mecklenburg Chapter American Red Cross formed.
 
1917       Camp Greene, temporary U. S. cantonment, constructed at Charlotte.
 
1918       January 21. First of 10 holidays in eastern half of United States ordered by Fuel Administration to conserve fuel for war purposes; commonly called Heatless Mondays.
 
1918       January 24. Cerebro Spinal Meningitis quarantine ordered in Charlotte for two weeks, closing all amusement places, churches, schools, libraries, Y.M.C.A., Y.W. C.A., and forbidding all public gatherings.
 
1918       October 24. Charlotte quarantined because of epidemic of Spanish Influenza, 400 cases in Charlotte and many in Camp Greene.
 
1919       April 26. Mecklenburg Federation of Home Demonstrating Clubs formally organized.
 
1919       August 25. Street car strike riot, killing five, wounding 25.
 
1920       July 14. First S & W Cafeteria opened at Charlotte.
 
1921       First inter-city bus line operated out of Charlotte by Love-Lowder Bus Lines.
 
1921       Radio Station WBT installed.
 
1921       Cameron Morrison of Charlotte elected Governor of North Carolina.
 
1922       May 20. General John J. Pershing visits Charlotte.
 
1922       Radio apparatus first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory.
 
1922       December 16-17. Trust Building, housing Academy of Music and many offices, burned and, along with it, Brockmann’s, dealer in books and office equipment.
 
1924       October 23. Chrlotte City Hall at 600 East Trade Street, cornerstone laid. Building formally opened October 25, 1925.
 
1925       January. Charlotte Music Club organized.
 
1927       December 1. Federal Reserve Bank Branch opened.
 
1928       Spring. Mecklenburg County Court House at 700 East Trade Street opened.
 
1929       June 2. Armory-Auditorium completed. Burned June 8, 1954. Rebuilt and renamed Park Center.
 
1930       April 2. First air mail service to Charlotte, Pilot Gene Brown.
 
1930       Radio Station WSOC began operation.
 
1932       Charlotte Symphony Orchestra organized.
 
1936       American Legion Memorial Stadium completed.
 
1936       Municipal Airport opened.
 
1936       September 10. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visits Charlotte as guest of honor at a Green Pastures Rally.
 
1936       October 22. Mint Museum of Art formally opened.
 
1937       Repeal referndum won by Drys.
 
1938       Buses replace street cars for local transportation in Charlotte.
 
1939       June. Wachovia Trust Company merged with Charlotte National Bank.
 
1939       June 30. Charlotte Public Library closed when voters failed to approve appropriations for library purposes.
 
1940       March 15. Guthery Apartments fire in which eight persons were killed.
 
1940       July 1. Charlotte Public Library reopened when voters approved, by a vote of 10,172 to 1,966, on May 25, a maximum county-wide tax levy of four cents on every $100 valuation for library purposes.
 
1940       October 2. Memorial Hospital opened for patients.
 
1940       William R. Barringer Hotel opened, incorporated October 14, 1939.
 
1941       April 21. Morris Field dedicated with Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New York City and Governor Broughton of North Carolina as principal speakers.
 
1942       Charlotte Navy Shell Loading Plant of the United States Rubber Company construction began June, production began December.
 
1944       March 19. First Methodist Church sanctuary dedicated. First Methodist Church formed in 1927 from Tryon Street Methodist (1840) and Trinity Methodist (1896).
 
1946       September. Charlotte Center of University of North Carolina founded - later (1949) Charlotte College.
 
1947       January 10. Charlotte City Club incorporated - formally opened June 1, 1948.
 
1947       June 14. Alcoholic Board of Control election won by Wets. Seven stores opened September 27, 1947.
 
1947       September. Second Ward Extension School founded - later (1949) Carver College.
 
1947       November 12. Charlotte Christmas Festival Parade held - later (1950) Carolinas Carrousel.
 
1947       Television first mentioned in business section of Charlotte City Directory.
 
1948       June. Methodist Home for the Aged opened in Charlotte.
 
1953       December 20. Covenant Presbyterian Church holds first services in new sanctuary at 1000 East Morehead Street.
 
1954       May 18. President Dwight David Eisenhower visits Charlotte.
 
1954       July 10. Douglas Municipal Airport dedicated.
 
1955       September 11. Ovens Auditorium and Charlotte Coliseum dedicated.
 
1956       November 19. Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Main Building at 310 North Tryon Street, and several branches officially opened.
 
1957       November 29. Commercial National Bank and American Trust Company merged to become American Commercial Bank. (North Carolina Bank 1960.)
 
1958       February 16. Wachovia Bank Building, corner of Trade and Church Streets, dedicated.
 
1959       March 4. North Carolina Legislature met in Charlotte for second time. First was February 22, 1939.
 
1959       December 31. Charlotte city limits greatly expanded.
 
1960       Charlotte’s population passes 200,000.