On the Moy 20, 1968 anniversary at the signing at the Mecklenburg Declaration at Independence, national "Charlotte Day," when Mrs. Lyndan B.
Johnson came ta Mecklenburg ta participate in Bicentennial festivities, she dedicated the Hezekioh Alexander Home (left) and the restored birth¬
place at the 11th President of the United States, James K. Palk (right*. The Alexander Home was built in 1774, one year before Hezekioh Alexander
signed the Mecklenburg Declaration. This rack house stands on the grounds at the Methodist Home in Charlotte, and is Mecklenburg's oldest dwelling.
The James K. Polk birthploce, located near Pineville, is being restored under supervision of the Dep't. at Archives and History. When completed, it
will afford additional buildings, a free picnic area, and a museum visitor center. — (All photos of Polk Restoration by Rusty Greet.)
Queen Charlotte’s Pig 200th
By NANCY GARRISON RHYNE
Charlotte is throwing a whopper of
a continuing party this year to mark
an elite birthday milestone.
Dozens of events, big and small, are
scheduled throughout 1968 in the
Queen City as part of the Bicentennial
Celebration. They range from fetes to
fairs, from parades to pageants, from
fish fries to festivals, plus outdoor
dramas, military affairs, celebrity
events and civic and society projects.
It took two hundred years of wait¬
ing to qualify for a bicentennial, and
two years of planning the big event.
Mayor Stan R. Brookshire got the ap¬
proval of the City Council on Mon¬
day, January 10, 1966. John M. Beik
was named Chairman of the celebra¬
tion committee.
Wedgevvood was commissioned to
issue five hundred ash trays in honor
of Charlotte’s 200th birthday. Visiting
dignitaries are presented ash trays
which have inscribed on the back
“Charlotte, N. C., Queen City of the
South, 1768-1968. Queen Charlotte by
Flaxman.”
In a November, 1967 pep-talk at the
City Club. Archie Davis, Chairman of
the board of Wachovia Bank who was
active in Winston-Salem’s two-year-
earlier bicentennial, suggested that a
little historical controversy would go a
long way to spice up this celebration;
The Mecklenburg Declaration of In¬
dependence, and the famous Polk
family were two subjects Davis sug¬
gested as good ones to get mileage
from. They have been well promoted
in the festivities.
President Johnson signed into law a
bill making May 20, the anniversary
of the signing of the Mecklenburg
County Declaration of independence,
“Charlotte Day’’ in the nation. The
bill was introduced in the Senate by
Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. and was
cosponsored by Senator B. Everett Jor¬
dan.
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson accepted
Mayor Brookshire’s invitation to come
to Charlotte on “Charlotte Day” to
dedicate the restored birthplace of the
11th president of the United States,
James K. Polk, and the dedication of
the Hezekiah Alexander Home, built
in 1774. (see cut above)
The Alexander Home, oldest dwell¬
ing house in Mecklenburg County, was
built the year before Hezekiah Alex¬
ander signed the Mecklenburg Declara¬
tion of independence. It was a long
trek from his home to the small frame
town meeting hall at the spot now
called Independence Square — a day’s
journey to and fro on horseback.
In 1767 a log courthouse was put
up at Independence Square, and on
November 7, 1768 the state assembly
officially created the town of Char¬
lotte in Mecklenburg County. The town
was named for Charlotte, wife of King
George III of England, and the county
was named for Charlotte’s royal house
in Germany.
The three commissioners named to
run Charlottetown were John Frohock,
Abraham Alexander and Thomas Polk,
Charlottetown was built on 369
acres of land deeded to the commis¬
sioners by Lord Proprietor George Au¬
gustus Selwyn.
The city was chartered on Decem¬
ber 7, 1768.
Today Charlotte is a city of more
than 250,000 citizens, and it covers
an area of almost 75 square miles.
This summer's outdoor, Bicenten¬
nial, historical drama was “The Hor¬
nets' Nest.” Legette Blythe, noted
Mecklenburg novelist who wrote the
drama envisioned General Charles
Cornwallis dashing down the road at
full gallop in old Charlottetown, Six¬
teen performances of the drama were
recently staged at the UNC-C Bowl.
Charlotte missed celebrating her
centennial celebration. On the eve of
the anniversary of the first hundred
years in 1867, the last of the main
contingent of Union troops was in
the process of leaving the Queen City,
and residents were occupied with the
fulltime task of trying to make up the
ground lost to a costly Civil War.
в
THE STATE, July 15, 196B
