Charlotte

Charlotte, city in southern North Carolina and seat of Mecklenburg County. The city is located in the Piedmont Plateau region near the Catawba River. The largest city in the state, Charlotte lies at the heart of a growing metropolitan region that includes seven counties and extends into South Carolina. Charlotte is one of the principal banking centers of the nation and an important manufacturing, trade, transportation, and services center for the surrounding region. Major industries include banking and printing; the manufacture of chemicals, microelectronics, textiles, furniture, machinery, metal and paper products, and processed food is important to the city’s economy. Many national and international companies have their subsidiary headquarters in Charlotte, which is a port of entry. Air transportation is through Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

Queens College (1857), Johnson C. Smith University (1867), a campus (established in 1946) of the University of North Carolina, and several junior colleges are in Charlotte. Points of interest include the Mint Museum of Art, housed in a reconstructed former branch of the United States Mint (in operation 1837-1861, 1867-1913); the Charlotte Nature Museum; and Discovery Place, an interactive science and technology museum. Other cultural institutions are the Charlotte Museum of History and the Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, former home of the writer of the first constitution of North Carolina and the oldest surviving residence in Mecklenburg County; and Spirit Square, a cultural and performing arts center. The city is also home to the Charlotte Sting women's professional basketball team and the Carolina Panthers professional football team. Just to the north of the city is Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Annual Charlotte events include the Southern Spring Show and SpringFest.

The city was settled in about 1750 by German and Scots-Irish settlers and incorporated in 1768. Charlotte is named for Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, created to protest British rule, is said to have been signed here by the citizens of Mecklenburg County on May 20, 1775, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence was issued. While occupying the town in 1780 during the American Revolution, the British general Charles Cornwallis referred to Charlotte as a “hornet’s nest of rebellion” because of the activities of patriot troops.

The city grew quickly after gold was discovered in the area in 1799, and development continued as first the textile industry and then the railroads increased Charlotte’s prosperity. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865), convened his full cabinet for the last time here in April 1865. In the mid-1990s the city was experiencing both economic and population growth.

Charlotte covers a land area of 627 sq km (242 sq mi), with a mean elevation of 220 m (721 ft). According to the 2000 census, whites are 58.3 percent of the population, blacks 32.7 percent, Asians 3.4 percent, Native Americans 0.3 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent. The remainder are of mixed heritage or did not report race. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 7.4 percent of the people. Population 314,447 (1980); 395,934 (1990); 540,828 (2000); 610,949 (2005 estimate).