MAPPING AND GEOGRAPHICAL WORLD

The city of Charlotte, NC was founded in 1755 at the crossroads of an old Indian path. This site is now the "Square" in the center of modern downtown Charlotte, at the streets of "Trade" and "Tryon." In 1780 the British army occupied the Charlotte area. They called Mecklenburg County a "Hornet's Nest" of rebellion because of the opposition to British rule among the local Scots/Irish folks. After the Revolutionary War, settlers came to Charlotte in search of a new life. The discovery of gold in Mecklenburg County made Charlotte a boom town in the 1820's. The years before the Civil War saw growth for Charlotte. Although not a site for any major battles, the Civil War had an effect on Charlotte -- North Carolina sent and lost more troops than any other state in the Confederacy to this war. The U.S. government built a training camp for "Dough Boys" at the beginning of World War I near Charlotte, named it Camp Greene, for the Revolutionary War hero, Nathaniel Greene. During World War II, the Charlotte Quartermaster Depot started up and became a major recyclying and supply depot for 37 military facilities in the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia. At the peak of wartime activity, the Quartermaster Depot employed 2,500 civilians under a staff of 80 Army officers. A shell factory was also built to supply ammunition for the war effort. Charlotte weathered through the later desegregation years and civil rights strife.