Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center

In the record (16)

1. 1760

   Alexander Craighead urged his Mecklenburg congregations to resist rather than cooperate with the provincial (royal) government, mixing Cameronian theology with overt political dissent against British authority; historians credit his preaching with helping shape the county's later reputation for revolutionary sentiment leading up to the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775.

   George AlexanderAbraham AlexanderSamuel C. AlexanderAlexander Craighead

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

2. 1775 · 1775-05-31

   The Mecklenburg Resolves stopped short of declaring full independence from Great Britain: while they annulled royal and parliamentary authority locally and set up interim self-government under county committees, they explicitly left open the possibility of reconciliation if Parliament rescinded its 'arbitrary' claims, distinguishing them from the sweeping, unconditional independence the disputed Declaration purportedly proclaimed eleven days earlier.

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

3. 1780

   Despite the lack of any confirmed 18th-century documentary source for Cornwallis's exact words, the 'Hornet's Nest' identity was thoroughly embraced by Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, appearing later on the city's official seal and in the names of numerous local organizations, sports teams (e.g., Charlotte Hornets), and government agencies -- a case where enduring local legend, not verified primary-source history, became foundational civic mythology.

   Lord Cornwallis

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

4. 1830

   Outside investors — first Count Vincent de Rivafinoli, then Englishman John Penman — leased the Rudisill and St. Catherine mines in 1830 and consolidated them into the Mecklenburg Gold Mining Company; their capital and advocacy helped persuade the federal government to site a branch mint in Charlotte.

   St. Catherine Gold Mine (site)First United States Branch Mint (site)Rudisill Gold Mine (site)St. Catherine MineRudisill MineMecklenburg Gold Mining CompanyCount Vincent de RivafinoliJohn Penman

   Source · checked 2026-08-14

5. 1835

   Investor and advocacy activity around the Rudisill and St. Catherine mines directly influenced the federal government's 1835 decision to locate one of the new branch mints in Charlotte rather than elsewhere in the gold belt.

   St. Catherine Gold Mine (site)Rudisill Gold Mine (site)St. Catherine MineRudisill Mine

   Source · checked 2026-08-14

6. 1839

   Over the first nine years of operation, Christopher Bechtler's private mint coined approximately $2,241,840 in gold coin and melted (fluxed) an additional $1,384,000 worth of bullion, without any federal charter — a private-mint contrast to the government-run Charlotte Branch Mint operating in the same era.

   First United States Branch Mint (site)Charlotte Branch MintChristopher Bechtler

   Source · checked 2026-08-14

7. 1862

   The Charlotte Confederate States Navy Yard occupied a site at the southwest corner of East Trade and College Streets, near the North Carolina Railroad tracks, and operated from 1862 until the Confederate government's final collapse in 1865 — a distinction noted on its historical marker as the only Confederate navy yard ever built more than 100 miles from navigable water.

   Confederate Navy Yard / Mecklenburg Iron Works (site)Confederate Navy YardCharlotte and South Carolina RailroadNorth Carolina RailroadElizabeth College

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

8. 1865

   A North Carolina historical marker records that Jefferson Davis, moving south after Lee's surrender, spent April 19 to April 26, 1865 lodging in a house that stood on East Trade Street in Charlotte while using the nearby Bank of North Carolina branch office as his government's headquarters.

   Bank of North CarolinaThomas JeffersonJefferson Davis

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

9. 1865

   The Confederate government conducted its business out of the Bank of North Carolina's Charlotte branch office from April 19 to April 22, 1865, before its remaining cabinet meetings shifted to the William Phifer House on North Tryon Street, where they continued through April 26.

   Queen City Drug StoreBank of North CarolinaWilliam Tryon

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

10. 1865

    The remaining Confederate treasury was transported out of Charlotte by rail convoy under the command of Captain William H. Parker as Davis's government dissolved in late April 1865.

    William H. Parker

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

11. 1865 · 1865-04-19

    Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his fleeing government arrived in Charlotte on April 19, 1865, after a four-day journey by wagon from Greensboro, and set up headquarters at the Bank of North Carolina's Charlotte branch office on Tryon Street.

    Bank of North CarolinaThomas JeffersonJefferson DavisWilliam Tryon

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

12. 1865 · 1865-04-20

    The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Charlotte Mecklenburg Story history timeline states that Confederate President Jefferson Davis met with his complete cabinet for the last time on April 20, 1865, at William Phifer's home on North Tryon Street, even though the government's regular headquarters remained the Bank of North Carolina branch on Tryon Street; the meeting was moved to the Phifer House because of the illness of a cabinet member.

    Bank of North CarolinaThomas JeffersonJefferson DavisWilliam Tryon

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

13. 1865 · 1865-05-07

    Federal troops formally seized the abandoned Confederate Navy Yard site in Charlotte on May 7, 1865, following the collapse of the Confederate government.

    Confederate Navy Yard / Mecklenburg Iron Works (site)Confederate Navy Yard

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

14. 1958

    In June 1958 the federal government approved Charlotte's first urban renewal project application, opening the door to federal funding (under the Housing Act framework) for demolition in Brooklyn and other designated neighborhoods.

    Redevelopment Commission

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

15. 1970

    The land cleared from Brooklyn's demolition was used to build the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, Marshall Park, and, decades later, the NASCAR Hall of Fame — government and civic buildings replaced the residential and commercial Black neighborhood that had stood there.

    NASCAR Hall of FameMarshall ParkMecklenburg County CourthouseMarshall ParkNASCAR Hall of Fame

    Source · checked 2026-08-13

16. 1976

    The destruction of Brooklyn, Greenville, and the Black core of First Ward under urban renewal is understood by historians and the city's own 2020 mayoral apology as a case of a thriving Black community's homes, businesses, churches, and generational wealth being deliberately destroyed by government action — a moral assessment distinct from, and not undermined by, the genuine disagreement among sources over exact structure and family counts.

    Redevelopment CommissionW.W. WardDorothy Counts

    Source · checked 2026-08-13