INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT OF
MECKLENBURG COUNTY
Looking south on North Tryon Street. Part of the bustling retail busi¬
ness section of Charlotte.
В
i; l)l( k YOUNG
UXDKKCKAIM’ATKS at the
I'ni verity of North Carolina
n quarter of a century and
more ago, li-iciM-iI t<> the oft-expressed
theory of Prof, ('oilier Cobb that “we
are what we are Itecnuse of where we
are."
That theory, mi far as cities arc
concerned, has no clearer demonstra¬
tion than Charlotte, which to even a
beginner in geography is clearly in
the center of the two Carolina*. Be¬
cause of where it is Charlotte has at¬
tained its present position of pre¬
eminence of Carolina cities — the
largest in the two states — and, ac¬
cording to its citizens, the "Queen
City of the South."
Growth of most cities has sprung
from their locations on natural water¬
ways but Charlotte, leading in com¬
mercial and industrial activities, was
born of the more modern moans of
transportation; rail, highway, and
air. The foundation of Char¬
lotte's predominant position among
Carolina cities rests on these mod¬
ern transportation facilities and
because “it is where it is," its prestige
as a distribution center has pushed
the city to the top rung. Set down
in the center of two rapidly expanding
commonwealths and fortilied by every
mode of travel and transportation.
Charlotte is the “crossroads of the
Carolina*.” Things made and bought
are easily distributed from here and
thus a quaint and ancient town, as if
by a wand of magic, has been trans¬
formed into a hustling, hustling huh
of industry and commerce, and into
a first rate city of more than 100,000
population.
A town before the Revolution and
the focal point of Colonial life of an
extensive territory, Charlotte is rich
in history. The pages of its past are
weighted with recital of stirring
times, of valorous deeds, and daring
leadership. Carolinians know of the
indei>ondence and fortitude of the
early Mecklenburg settlers, who more
than a year before July -I, 1776, met
and solemnly dissolved all connection
with the Mother Country and in their
Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde¬
pendence. adopted May 20, 177f*. told
King George to exert his royal pre¬
rogative somewhere else and to leave
them alone. When the Revolution
came, they were capable of hacking
up their spoken independence with
physical resistance and when Lord
Cornwallis brought his Redcoats into
Charlotte Town, these I ’at riots made
it so hot for them with bullets whiz¬
zing from every tree and house corner
that he exclaimed in desperation,
“Let's get out of here; this place is a
damned hornet’s nest." And today the
hornet's nest is the cherished symbol
of the city, and that Englishman’s
epithet is perpetuated on the city’s
seal and is proudly claimed as tin-
name of many commercial firms. One
of the city’s posts of the American
