University of North Carolina at Charlotte Parent & Family Guide
Queen B History
Charlotte's Center City, with its glistening skyscrapers and busy streets, has always been the heartbeat of the city.
Although the tall buildings are relatively new, Charlotte’s bustling core began long ago as the crossroads of two important Native American trading paths — Trade and Tryon streets.
When European settlers arrived in the late 1700s, “Charlotte Town” was incorporated and named for England’s Queen Charlotte. In 1799, the discovery of a 17-pound gold nugget drew waves of immigrants to town in the nation’s first gold rush. The gold rush moved west, though, and many of these settlers headed to California in the mid-1800s.
Development sprouted up around the former Native American trading paths, and Charlotte became the South’s railroad hub. The textiles industry ruled the city for decades until the 1970s and ’80s, when banking replaced textiles as the city’s primary industry. Today, Charlotte is the nation’s second-largest financial center, home to Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
As the Queen City continues to evolve, there are many ways visitors can explore its rich history.
The Levine Museum of the New South documents the rich history of our region through the award-winning permanent exhibit “Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers.” Changing and traveling exhibits offer a real and poignant view of the American South from the end of the Civil War to today.
Exhibits at the Charlotte Museum of History, such as “Mecklenburg: Crossroads of Commerce,” illustrate the city’s past, present and future. View artifacts from its mining and manufacturing heritage. Tour the 1774 Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, the oldest surviving structure in Mecklenburg County.
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation recently unveiled Uptown’s 12.5-mile Little Sugar Creek Greenway. The greenway is planning for a Trail of History, a series of bronze statues depicting major players in Charlotte history. The first statue pays homage to Captain James Jack, famous for carrying the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence to the 1775 Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.
