Hill's Charlotte (Mecklenburg County, N.C.) City Directory [1957], Part 2

Author: Hill Directory Company.
Publication date: 1957
Publisher: Hill Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 1426

USA > North Carolina > Mecklenburg County > Charlotte > Hill's Charlotte (Mecklenburg County, N.C.) City Directory [1957] > Part 2

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CHARLOTTE

"QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH"

(Courtesy Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, Inc.)

LOCATION

Charlotte, chief city of the Carolinas, dominates a rich, undulating plateau between the Appalachian Moun- tains and the Atlantic coastal plain. The city is the geo- graphic center of a young, rapidly-expanding market. It is 624 miles southwest of New York; 266 miles northeast of Atlanta; 745 miles southeast of Chicago; 393 miles southwest of Washington; 160 miles from the Atlantic Ocean; and far south of knee-deep snow. Charlotte is ac- cessible from every direction by every known conveyance except an ocean-going ship. It is 779 feet above the sea, in latitude 35 degrees 14 minutes n., longitude 80 degrees 50 minutes w.

CLIMATE

Charlotte winters are seldom uncomfortable and never severe. Summers are warm, but rarely uncomfortable. The average annual temperature is 60.2 degrees, with a seasonal variation of 36.5 degrees from 42.3 degrees in January to 78.8 degrees in July. Pleasant, mild tem- peratures are enjoyed for more than six months of the year -59.7 degrees in spring, 61.3 degrees in fall. Aver- age winter temperature is 43 degrees; summer, 77 de- grees. The frost-free season spans midyear from March to November, averaging 237 days. Other date: Annual rainfall averages 46.05 inches. Morning humidity aver- ages 78 per cent; noon, 57 per cent, and evening, 64 per cent

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VESTERANIK

Esso

Tryon Street

INTRODUCTION

POPULATION

Charlotte, with a 1956 estimated population of 161,000 is by far the largest city in the two Carolinas, and Meck- lenburg County, with a 1956 estimated population of 234,- 000, is the most populous county. Other significant census figures for Charlotte are: 1850, 1,065; 1900, 18,091; 1920, 46,338; 1940, 100,899; 1950, 134,042. The females have a slight majority of 51.8 per cent. The white races accounts for 72 per cent. Less than 1 per cent is foreign-born. The population of the retail trading area (60-mile radius) ex- ceeds 1,500,000; the wholesale trading area (150-mile ra- dius) has a booming 4,500,000 consumers.

GOVERNMENT

Charlotte is governed by a popularly-elected mayor and seven councilmen. A city manager, appointed at the pleasure of the council, is the administrative head of the city government. The City Hall is a handsome three-story building of neo-classic design which was erected in the early 1920's on a site six blocks from the center of the city. Public services include excellent schools, an ex- pertly-manned police department, a modern fire depart- ment, extensive water and sewerage facilities, health and welfare departments, and many others,

Mecklenburg County, of which Charlotte is the seat, is governed by a board of county commissioners. The chairman of this board is the chief administrative officer of the county. Historic Mecklenburg, the wealthiest county in the state, has a fine school system and an efficient rural police force, and provides its citizens with superior public services. The Mecklenburg County Court House, situated adjacent to the City Hall, is an imposing building with stately columns of neo-classic design. Like the City Hall. it has become one of Charlotte's showplaces.

TAXES

The City and County in 1955 assessed ad valorem taxes on all real and tangible property at the following rates per $100 valuation: City, $1.73; County, 84c. In actual practice property valuations are well below true values. Only minor occupational licenses are required by the City. North Carolina income tax is assessed at a rate of 3 per cent for the first $2,000 net income; 4 per cent on the next $2,000; 5 per cent on the next $2,000; 6 per cent on the next $4,000; and 7 per cent on all over $10,000. Corporations are taxed 6 per cent of their tax- able net incomes. Liberal exemptions are allowed for both individuals and corporations.

COMMERCE

With almost 2,000,000 people living within easy mo- toring distance of Charlotte, the City has become one of the 25 greatest markets in the nation. The retail sales volume now exceeds $294,138,000 annually. Over 1,631 retail establishments offer consumers almost every con- ceivable product. Downtown streets are lined with modern well-appointed stores which through attractive merchan- dising, draw people from all sections of the Piedmont. The city's per-family buying power is tops for the Carolinas.

Charlotte, strategically located in the center of the Southeast, is rapidly becoming Dixie's leading distributor. Hundreds of trucks, operated by 98 different truck lines and four railroads moving an average of 290 carloads a day, shuttle goods in and out of this vast Dixie warehouse. According to the Blue Book Southern Progress in 1954, wholesale sales in Charlotte came to a whopping $1,366,- 000,000. This volume of wholesale distribution outstrips such larger cities as Birmingham, Richmond, Nashville and. Jacksonville.

Wholesale distribution from Charlotte has grown so tremendously in recent years because the city is well sit- uated to serve the growing Southern market and has su- perior transportation facilities. More than 500 national companies have established offices or warehouses in the city.

Charlotte is far and away the financial giant of the Carolinas. The city's eight large commercial banks cleared $7,779,168,453.82 in checks during 1955. One of Charlotte's many investment banking concerns is ranked as the ninth largest in the country, which is a reflection of the financial activity of the city. Charlotte also has a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.

INDUSTRY

Charlotte is the geographical center of the vast South- ern textile industry which has its heaviest concentration in the Piedmont Carolinas, where two-thirds of all the looms and spindles in the South are located. Although there are 60 textile mills in the immediate vicinity, Char- lotte, unlike many Southern cities, is not completely de- pendent upon textiles. Machinery, chemicals, food prod- ucts, furniture, clothing, printing, building materials, all are major products of Charlotte's balanced economy.

Charlotte's 500 manufacturers employ more than 22,- 000 persons, many of whom have developed great skill in the technological processes of modern industry. In addi- tion, there is a sizable reserve of manpower on the many farms of the surrounding area available to supplement the present labor force. Native-born Americans comprise 99 per cent of the entire labor force. Charlotte always has enjoyed excellent labor-management relations and has never had a major work stoppage.

Charlotte offers manufacturers many advantages which have contributed to the rapid expansion of industry in this area. Some of the advantages are: (1) Reserve of skilled and unskilled labor. (2) Superior rail and trucking ' facilities. (3) Excellent communication facilities. (4) Ex- tensive power and water supplies. (5) Excellent plant sites and buildings. (6) Pleasant, mild climate. (7) A friendly, progressive community. (8) Central location in the South- east.

UTILITIES

Charlotte is headquarters for the Duke Power Co., which supplies electrical power throughout the Piedmont Carolinas. The vast Duke Power system has 32 hydro- electric plants and 19 steam plants. Total rated installed capacity is 2,500,000 kilowatts. Duke Power's forward- looking policies, requiring an investment of more than $30,000,000 each year, have played a vital part in the in- dustrialization of the Piedmont.

Natural gas from Texas and Louisiana gas fields is distributed in Charlotte and the Carolinas by the Pied- mont Natural Gas Co., with headquarters in Charlotte.

The City of Charlotte has invested an estimated $20,- 000,000 in its water facilities. The present rated capacity of the system is 26,000,000 gallons per day; additional treatment and distribution system facilities are under de- sign. The city was the first in the Southeast to introduce fluorine into its water as a means of reducing tooth decay. The fluorination program, which was begun April 1, 1949, will be particularly beneficial to future generations of Charlotte citizens.

TRANSPORTATION

Charlotte is the transportation center of the Carolinas. Four railroads operate 18 passenger trains and freight car loading for 1955 was 92,215; five air lines operate 87 scheduled flights a day from Charlotte's modern, new, $1,329,000 terminal; seven bus companies schedule over 160 regular departures each day; and 98 truck lines haul thousands of tons of goods to points throughout the South and East. Railroads with lines into Charlotte are: Southern, Piedmont & Northern, Seaboard, and Norfolk-Southern. Air lines are: Eastern, Capital, Delta, Piedmont and South- ern. Bus companies are: Atlantic Greyhound Lines Inc .; Greyhound Lines; Carolina Coach Co .; Queen City Coach Co .; Carolina Scenic Stages; Queen City Trailways and Carolina Transit Lines.

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INTRODUCTION

Central Business District

COMMUNICATIONS

The Southern Bell Telephone Co. has 89,061 tele- phones in Charlotte. The company has calculated that the city will have a population of 237,000 by 1966, and is rap- idly expanding facilities on this assumption. Southern Bell's state headquarters are located in Charlotte.

EDUCATION

Charlotte's excellent public school system embraces 46 schools with an enrollment of 27,830. The Mecklen- burg County system has 36 schools with an enrollment of 16,570. Both systems are now undergoing large expansion programs. Colleges located in and near Charlotte are: Queens College, enrollment-558, Charlotte College, en- rollment-668, Johnson C. Smith University, Negro co- educational, enrollment-708, Carver College (Negro), enrollment-272, Davidson College (in Davidson, N. C., 20 miles north), enrollment-845, Belmont Abbey College, enrollment-410 (in Belmont, N. C., 12 miles west of Char- lotte), In addition to these Charlotte has many fine busi- ness schools. Among these are Burton Institute, Kings Business College, National School of Commerce, Carolina Business School, Comptometer School and Dora Ellis Busi- ness School, National School of Heavy Equipment, Metro- politan Business College and International Accountants Society, Inc.

MEDICAL FACILITIES

Charlotte has four excellent general hospitals with a combined total of 1,214 beds, and several special hospitals with 325 beds. The city has over 241 doctors, of which 137 are certified specialists. Because of these facilities and the availability of such a large number of specialists, Charlotte has become a medical center of considerable importance. The general hospitals are Charlotte Memo- rial, Presbyterian, Mercy (Catholic) and Good Samaritan (Negro).

NEWSPAPERS AND RADIO STATIONS

Charlotte has two widely-circulated, daily newspapers. These are The Charlotte Observer (published mornings,

circulation 150,000, Sunday 165,000) and The Charlotte News (published evenings except Sunday, circulation in excess of 70,000). There are seven radio stations broadcast- ing programs of all major networks. These stations are: WBT (AM & FM, CBS); WSOC (AM and FM, NBC); WAYS (AM & FM, ABC); WGIV (AM, independent); WIST (AM, Mutual and Dixie FM); WMIT (FM). WWOK (Independent).

TELEVISION

WBTV, the Carolina's first television station, began operations in July, 1949 and added facilites for color cast- ing in August, 1954. A second commercial TV channel has been allocated to Charlotte for future activation and an educational channel has also been reserved for the city.

RECREATION

Charlotte's broad community program includes nearly every conceivable sport and form of recreation. There are 31 parks and playgrounds, 18 motion picture theatres, 8 golf courses (5 public), private swimming pools, Munici- pal Pool, the Little Theatre, a modern sports arena, and four modern community centers. Professional baseball and ice hockey and college and high school football are enjoyed by Charlotte citizens. A $4,698,000 Auditorium-Coliseum is the scene of operas, concerts Broadway plays, sports events, and all types of shows.

TRAVELERS' ACCOMMODATIONS

Charlotte has six principal hotels with 1,250 rooms, and a number of smaller hotels. In addition, there are numerous first-class motor courts and tourist homes con- venient to the motoring public. The largest hotels are: Hotel Barringer. Hotel Charlotte, Selwyn Hotel, Mayfair Hotel, Mecklenburg Hotel and Clayton Hotel.

CHARLOTTE'S GROWTH Population

1950 U. S. Census 134,042

1956 estimate 161,000

INTRODUCTION

Bank Deposits

1955

Bank Clearings

1955

$7,779,168,453.82

Carloadings Inbound

1955

71,652

Outbound

1955

Real Estate Taxable Value'

$364,820,910.00 1955 (City and County)

Charlotte's Post Office Receipts

1955

Telephones

Dec. 31, 1955 83,142

Value Building Permits

1955

$26,300,417

Vital Statistics Births

1955

6,920

1955

1,756

STATISTICAL REVIEW

Form of Government-Council-manager.

Area-31 square miles.

Climate-Mean annual temperature, 60.2 degrees F .; average annual rainfall, 46.05 inches.

Altitude 779 feet above sea level.

Parks-31, including playgrounds.

Financial Data-8 banks of all types. Branch of Fed- eral Reserve Bank of Richmond located here. 4 building and loan associations.

Postal Receipts-$4,672,159.86 (1955).

Telephones in Use-83,142.

Churches-386, representing 26 denominations.

Building and Construction-Value of building per- mits, $26,300,417 (1955).

Industry-Chief industry of city and surrounding ter- ritory: Textiles, food processing, machinery and metal products, chemicals, furniture and wood products.

Trade Area-Retail area has radius of 60 miles, and population of 1,500,000; wholesale area, radius of 150 miles, and population of 4,500,000. 1,631 retail stores with annual sales of over $294,138,000.

Newspapers-2 daily, 1 Sunday and 2 weekly.

Radio Stations-7 (AM and FM); also 1 TV.

Hotels-6 principal, with total of 1,250 rooms.

Railroads-4: Southern, Seaboard Air Line, Norfolk- Southern and Piedmont & Northern.

Highways-U.S. 29, 21 and 74; State 16, 27 and 49. Airports-3 privately-owned; 1 municipal, 5 miles from center of city.

Amusements-Auditorium, seating capacity, 2,500; Coliseum seating capacity, 13,500. 8 golf courses in city and suburbs, including

several Memorial Stadium seating capacity, 16,000 and Griffith municipal courses. Park seating capacity, 5,000.

Hospitals-4 large hospitals and several small ones, with total of 1,214 beds.

Education-Queens College; Johnson C. Smith Univer- sity (Negro); Carver College, Charlotte College. 46 public schools, including 2 senior high and 9 junior high schools. 5 parochial schools. Number of pupils in public schools, 27,830.

Public Libraries-11 including branches, with total of 200,000 volumes. 400 educational films; also slides and film strips, and phonograph records.

CHARLOTTE HISTORY

When the first settlers-Scotch-Irish, English, Ger- mans, Huguenots-penetrated into the southern Piedmont section of North Carolina they found deer and bear, wolves and Catawba Indians in awesome numbers. But, undis- mayed, the settlers went about the job of making homes for themselves.

Tiny Charlotte, only 360 acres of Mecklenburg County soil, was incorporated in November, 1768. Six years later the settlement became the county seat and organized a regular town government. Although Charlottetown could boast only a handful of settlers, its spirited defiance of the British was known from St. Augustine to Plymouth Rock. On May 20, 1775, Charlotte patriots signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, a document which, though not generally acted upon until a year later, laid the foundations of the American Declaration of In- dependence on July 4, 1776.

Charlotte played a spunky and effective part in the conflict which followed. British General Cornwallis, who was in the town for awhile, called the place "a damned hornet's nest" of rebellion. That reputation has been per- petuated in the city seal.

During the days following the war, Charlotte began to show promise; even so, the town was still a mere upstart in the wilderness. Wilmington, New Bern, Raleigh, Eden- ton, were far larger. Even by 1850 Charlotte could count only 1,065 heads.

After surviving the rigors of the Civil War and recon- struction, Charlotte began anew its ascendancy as the chief city of the Carolinas. Each Federal Census in the years which followed foretold Charlotte's destiny. Today its top position in the Carolinas is undisputed.

CALENDAR OF HISTORICAL DATES

1748 First Permanent settlers in Mecklenburg County. 1749 Earliest land grants from the Crown.

1750 Trade routes with Charleston, S. C., established over Indian trails.

1754 Meeting of King Hagler, chief of Catawba tribe, and commissioners appointed by the governor to es- tablish amicable relations between Indians and settlers.

1762 Mecklenburg County created.

1766 Log court house built.

1767 March, 15. Birth of Andrew Jackson in the south- eastern section of Mecklenburg County, now Union County.

Thomas Polk's sawmill and grist-mill begins operation.

1768 Charlotte is incorporated. County divided: upper half becomes Tryon County.

1771 Presbyterian ministers perform marriages, a priv- ilege theretofore restricted to ministers of the Established Church and justices of the peace.

1774 Charlotte made county-seat. Population, 200.

Queen's Museum becomes successor of Queen's College.

1775 May 1. Because of dissatisfaction with the admin- istration of Governor Josiah Martin, Thomas Polk is authorized to call a meeting of delegates from each district.

May 20. Assembly held in the court house in Char- lotte.

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence approved and read. Captain James Jack deputized to take document to Continental Congress in Philadel- phia.

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Deaths

$818,315,355.56

20,563

$4,672,159.86

INTRODUCTION

Charlotte City Hall

Mecklenburg County Courthouse

INTRODUCTION

May 31. Assembly reconvenes and draws up another set of resolutions, called the Resolves.

June 23. Captain Jack arrives in Philadelphia with the Declaration of Independence. Congress is preparing address to the King, repudiating de- sire for independence, so Declaration is not pre- sented.

1776 John Phifer, Robert Irwin and John McKnitt Alex- ander, representatives of the county in Congress, instructed to declare for independence.

1777 Mecklenburg troops ordered north; engage in bat- tles of Germantown and Brandywine; spend win- ter with Washington at Valley Forge.

1780 Sept. 26. Battle of Charlotte; Cornwallis occupies town.

Oct. 3. McIntyre Farm skirmish (Battle of the Bees). Oct. 7. British Colonel Patrick Ferguson killed at Battle of Kings Mountain and his force defeated. Oct. 12. Cornwallis withdraws from Charlotte, re- ferring to the place as a "hornet's nest."

1781 Feb. 1. 300 Revolutionaries defeated at Cowan's Ford near Charlotte. by Cornwallis; General Wm. Davidson slain.

1790 Population, 325.

1791 George Washington visits Charlotte.

1792 Cabarrus County created from eastern section of Mecklenburg.

Andrew Jackson licensed to practice law in Char- lotte.

U. S. Post Office established.

Nov. 2. James Knox Polk, 11th President of the U. S., born in one-room log cabin 12 miles south of Charlotte.

1799 Gold discovered in county.

1812-14 Five companies of Mecklenburg troops serve throughout War of 1812.

1818 Census shows 70 families.

1825 First newspaper established, "Catawba Journal."

1830 Population, 730. First fire engine purchased; cost $100.

1837 Branch of the U. S. Mint begins operations.

1838 Charlotte Male Academy opens.

1840 Population, 849, including 301 Negroes.

1842 Union County formed from southeastern section of Mecklenburg.

1847 Company of dragoons, under Green W. Caldwell, leaves for Vera Cruz to serve in the Mexican war.

1849 Contract let for grading railroad from Charlotte to Columbia, S. C.

1850 Population, 1,065.

1852 First passenger train arrives; picnic attended by crowd estimated at 20.000.

1854 First steam power used in Leroy Springs' flour mill. 1856 Railroad from Charlotte to Goldsboro completed.

1857 Charlotte Female Institute organized.

1859 Charlotte Military Academy opens. D. H. Hill, head- master.

1860 Population, 2,265.

1861 April, U. S. Mint appropriated for Military organi- zation.

May. Drilling of volunteers for the Army of the Confederacy begins. Faculty and cadets of Char- lotte Military Academy taken to Raleigh to drill troops.

1862 Center of naval ordnance moved to Charlotte from Norfolk, Va.

1864 Jan. 7. Charlotte's depots and warehouses, con- taining vast amounts of Confederate munitions and supplies, destroyed by fire at a loss of $10,- 000,000.

1865 April, 15. Jefferson Davis, President of the Con- federacy, arrives with his cabinet and 1,000 cal- vary. News of Lincoln's assassination.

April, 20. Last full meeting of Confederate cabinet held at home of Colonel Wm. Phifer on North Tryon St.

June. Colonel Willard Warner and 180th Ohio Regi- ment occupy Charlotte.

1867 Biddle University for Negroes, now known as John- son C. Smith University, established.

1868 Mint reopened as an essay office, but coinage not resumed.

1869 Cotton sold at 35c a pound.

1870 Population, 4,473.

1872 Last of Federal troops depart.

1873 First graded school in state organized in Charlotte.

1874 Last stage line between Charlotte and Wadesboro. (discontinued).

1880 Population, 7,094.

1881 First cotton mill begins operation.

1887 Electric lights installed.

Horse cars first appear.

1890 Population, 11,557.

1891 Charlotte Public Library organized.

1893 Electric power substituted for horse power in street railways.

1898 Two companies from Charlotte in North Carolina regiment land in Havana in Spanish-American War.

1900

Population, 18,091.

1904 Southern Power Co. organized by James B. Duke and W. States Lee.

First Skyscraper. the Realty (Independence) Build- ing, constructed.

1909

1910 Population, 34,014.

1917 Camp Greene, temporary U. S. Army cantonment, established in Charlotte.

1920 Population, 46,338.

1927 Charlotte branch of Federal Reserve Bank of Rich- mond opens.

1930 Population, 82,675.

1936 American Legion Memorial Stadium completed. Municipal Airport opens. Mint Museum of Art opens.

1938 Buses replace street cars.

1940 Population, 100,899.

1950 Population, 134,042.

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1795

INTRODUCTION

Jefferson Standard Broadcasting Company

EASTER

Charlotte Municipal Airport

INTRODUCTION

工廠前有示:

Auditorium-Coliseum

创品一

电山市

Covenant Presbyterian Church

MAINTAINED TO ASSIST YOU A reference library of late out-of-town city directories

THE PUBLISHERS of this Directory maintain for the use of their subscribers and the general public a complete library of late out-of-town City Directories. We invite you to consult this library when in need of names and addresses of individ- uals and firms in other cities. It is especially designed for the reference use of business men who subscribe to the local City Directory, when seeking markets and sources of supply out- side this city. There is no charge except for extended continu- ous use. The library, with attendant in charge, is located at:

CHARLOTTE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

222 S. CHURCH TELEPHONE FR 5-5536

YELLOW PAGES

CHARLOTTE

(NORTH CAROLINA)

1957

KONTO

ASSOCIATION

PUBLICO

NORTH AMERICAN

1898

Hill's Charlotte (Mecklenburg County, N.C.) City Directory [1957], Part 2

Author: Hill Directory Company. Publication date: 1957 Publisher: Hill Directory Co. Number of Pages: 1426

Author: Hill Directory Company.
Publication date: 1957
Publisher: Hill Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 1426