Hill's Charlotte (Mecklenburg County, N.C.) City Directory [1959], Part 3

Author: Hill Directory Company.
Publication date: 1959
Publisher: Hill Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 1700

USA > North Carolina > Mecklenburg County > Charlotte > Hill's Charlotte (Mecklenburg County, N.C.) City Directory [1959] > Part 3

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Main Building of The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Charlotte has an excellent library system. Shown is the main branch, completed in 1956 at a cost of $1 1/4 mil- lion. It is one of the city's showplaces and one of the most modern and attractive library buildings in the nation. Over 200,000 volumes are available through the main branch, five city branches, five county branches and two mobile units.

Public Libraries-Charlotte's Main Library is housed in a modern, million-dollar building thought by many to be the most beautiful public library building to be found anywhere. The building contains an auditorium and four conference rooms for use by educational, cultural and civic groups. Some 240,000 volumes are available from the Main Library, branches and mobile libraries. The library provides an educational film lending service with a collection of 16 mm. sound films plus slides, filmstrips and phonograph records. Branch libraries (eight housed in new buildings) are located as follows;

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INTRODUCTION

Brevard St. Branch, 401 S Brevard St., Charlotte 6, N. C.

Cornelius Public Library, Cornelius, N. C.

Davidson Public Library, Davidson, N. C.

East Branch, 2001 Commonwealth Av., Charlotte 5, N. C.

Huntersville Public Library, Huntersville, N. C.

Matthews Public Library, Matthews, N. C. North Branch Library, 2324 LaSalle St., Charlotte 8, N. C. Piedmont Courts Branch, 831 Seigle Av., Charlotte 4, N. C. Pineville Public Library, Pineville, N. C. South Branch Library, 1361 Queens Road, Charlotte 7, N. C.

West Branch Library (To Be Constructed), Charlotte 8, N. C.

Mobile Libraries (2) Inquire at Main Library for schedule.

Books borrowed at one service center can be returned at any of the other service centers.

Charlotte History

When the first settlers-Scotch-Irish, English, Germans, Hugenots-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 Ply- mouth 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 up- start in the wilderness. Wilmington, New Bern, Raleigh, Edenton, were far larger. Even by 1850 Charlotte could count only 1,065 heads.

After surviving the rigors of the Civil War and reconstruction, 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 estab- lish amicable relations between Indians and settlers.

1762 Mecklenburg County created.

1766 Log court house built.

1767 March, 15. Birth of Andrew Jackson in the southeastern 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 privilege theretofore restricted to ministers of the Estab- lished 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 administration 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 Charlotte.

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence approved and read. Captain James Jack deputized to take docu- ment to Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

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 desire for independence, so Declaration is not presented.

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

1777

Mecklenburg troops ordered north; engage in battles of Germantown and Brandywine; spend winter with Washington at Valley Forge.

1780 Sept. 26. Battle of Charlotte; Cornwallis occupied 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, referring to the place as a "hornet's nest."

1781 Feb. 1. 300 Revolutionaries defeated at Cowan's Ford near Charlotte, by Cornwallis; General Wm. David- son 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 Charlotte.

U. S. Post Office established.

1795 Nov. 2. James Knox Polk, 11th President of the U. S., born in one-room log cabin 12 miles south of Char- lotte.

1799 Gold discovered in county.

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

1818 Census shows 70 families.

1825 First newspaper established: "Catawba Journal."

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INTRODUCTION

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

1849

Population, 1,065.

1856

1857 Railroad from Charlotte to Goldsboro completed.

1859 Charlotte Female Institute organized.

1860

Population, 2,265.

1861 April, U. S. Mint appropriated for Military organization.

1862 May. Drilling of volunteers for the Army of the Confederacy begins. Faculty and cadets of Charlotte Mili- tary Academy taken to Raleigh to drill troops.

Center of naval ordnance moved to Charlotte from Norfolk, Virginia.

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

1865 April, 15. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, arrives with his cabinet and 1,000 calvary. 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 Regiment occupy Charlotte.

1867 Biddle University for Negroes, now known as Johnson C. Smith University, established.

1868

Mint reopened as an assay office, but coinage not resumed.

1869

Cotton sold at 35¢ a pound.

1872 Population, 1,473.

1873 Last of Federal troops depart.

First graded school in state organized in Charlotte.

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

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.

1909 First Skyscraper, the Realty (Independence) Building, constructed.

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 Richmond 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.

1954 Douglas Municipal Airport Terminal completed.

1955 Auditorium-Coliseum completed.

Park Center completed.

1956 Public Library Main Building completed.

1958 Population (est.), 164,000.

1854

1850 1852 First passenger train arrives; picnic attended by crowd estimated at 20,000.

First steam power used in Leroy Springs' flour mill.

Charlotte Military Academy opens. D. H. Hill, headmaster.

1870

1880 Population, 7,094.

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INTRODUCTION

EASTERN

Charlotte Municipal Airport

Auditorium-Coliseum

INTRODUCTION

Covenant Presbyterian Church

YELLOW PAGES CHARLOTTE

(NORTH CAROLINA) 1959

ASSN OF NORTH

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AMERICAN

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Hill's Charlotte (Mecklenburg County, N.C.) City Directory [1959], Part 3

Author: Hill Directory Company. Publication date: 1959 Publisher: Hill Directory Co. Number of Pages: 1700

Author: Hill Directory Company.
Publication date: 1959
Publisher: Hill Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 1700