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Charlotte North Carolina

    

Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte Skyline

Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the 20th largest in the United States, with a population of approximately 651,101 (2005 estimate). The Charlotte metropolitan area (MSA) had a 2006 estimated population of 1,594,799. As of 2005, Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord had a combined statistical area (CSA) population of 2,120,745. The city is at the center of one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in the United States, with an average influx of roughly 20,000 newcomers each year over the past decade.

 

History

Charlotte was founded in the mid-18th century at the intersection of two Native American trading paths, one of which ran north-south Great Wagon Road, followed closely today by U.S. Route 21, and a second that ran east-west along what is now modern-day Trade Street. In the early part of the 18th century, the Great Wagon Road led settlers of Scots-Irish (who were mostly Presbyterian and founded many churches) and German descent from Pennsylvania into the Carolina foothills.

In 1755, early settler Thomas Polk (uncle of United States President James K. Polk) built his house at the crossroads of a Native American trading path and the Great Wagon Road, which subsequently became the village of "Charlotte Town," incorporated in 1768. The crossroads, perched atop a long rise in the piedmont landscape, is the heart of modern Uptown Charlotte. The trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of William Tryon, a royal governor of colonial North Carolina. The intersection of Trade and Tryon is known as "The Square" or simply "Trade & Tryon."

Both the city and its county are named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the German-born wife of British King George III. Loyalty to King George and his consort was short-lived. On May 20, 1775, townsmen allegedly signed a proclamation later known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, a copy of which was allegedly sent, though never officially presented, to the Continental Congress a year later. There is no generally accepted historic proof of the document, and many doubt it ever existed, yet the supposed date of the Declaration appears on North Carolina's state flag), and 11 days later the same townsmen met to create and endorse the Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of laws to govern the newly independent town.

Charlotte was a site of encampment for both American and British armies during the Revolutionary War, and during a series of skirmishes between British troops and Charlotteans the village earned the lasting nickname "Hornet's Nest" from frustrated Lord General Charles Cornwallis. An ideological hotbed of revolutionary sentiment during the Revolutionary War and for some time afterwards, the legacy endures today in the nomenclature of such landmarks as Independence Boulevard, Independence High School, Independence Center, Freedom Park, Freedom Drive, and the former NBA team Charlotte Hornets.

The city's first boom came after the Civil War, as a cotton processing center and a railroad hub. Population leapt again during World War I, when the U.S. government established Camp Greene north of present-day Wilkinson Boulevard. Many soldiers and suppliers stayed after the war, launching an ascent that eventually overtook older and more established rivals along the arc of the Carolina piedmont.

The city's modern-day banking industry achieved prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, largely under the leadership of financier Hugh McColl. McColl transformed North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) into a formidable national player that, through a series of aggressive acquisitions, eventually became Bank of America. Another bank, First Union, experienced similar growth, and is now known as Wachovia. Today, measured by control of assets, Charlotte is the second largest banking headquarters in the United States after New York City.

Geography and climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 242.9 square miles (629 square kilometers). Out of that, 242.3 sq. mi. (627.5 km²) of it is land and 0.6 sq. mi. (1.6 km²) of it is water. The total area is 0.25% water.

Charlotte constitutes most of Mecklenburg County in the Carolina Piedmont. Uptown Charlotte, so named because it sits atop a long rise between two creeks, was built on the gunnies of the St. Catherine's and Rudisill gold mines.

Charlotte is located in North America's humid subtropical climate zone. The city has mild winters and hot, humid summers. In January, morning lows average around 0 °C (32 °F) and afternoon highs average 11 °C (51 °F). In July, lows average 22 °C (71 °F) and highs average 32 °C (90 °F). The highest recorded temperature was 40 °C (104 °F) on September 6, 1954 Hurricane Hugo. Passing through Charlotte with wind gusts nearing 160 km/h (100 mph), Hugo caused massive property damage and knocked out power to ninety eight percent of the population. Many residents were without power for several weeks and cleanup took months to complete.

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Avg high [°C](°F) 11 (51) 13 (56) 18 (64) 23 (73) 27 (80) 31 (87) 32 (90) 31 (88) 28 (82) 23 (73) 17 (63) 12 (54) 22 (72)
Avg low temperature [°C](°F) 0 (32) 1 (34) 6 (42) 9 (49) 14 (58) 19 (66) 22 (71) 21 (69) 17 (63) 11(51) 6 (42) 2 (35) 11 (51)
Rainfall (millimeters)(inches) 101.6 (4.00) 90.2 (3.55) 111.5 (4.39) 74.9 (2.95) 93.0 (2.66) 86.9 (3.42) 96.3 (3.79) 94.5 (3.72) 97.3 (3.83) 93.0 (3.66) 85.3 (3.36) 80.8 (3.18) 1105.3 (43.52)
 
 
Neighborhoods
  • Uptown The center of Charlotte is known as Uptown. In the 19th century, Uptown was divided into four political wards, and today the First and Fourth Wards are largely residential, with Fourth Ward housing the majority of Charlotte's remaining 19th century Queen Anne architecture. At the center of Uptown is the Square, the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets and the point at which all four wards converge. Uptown is home to the majority of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Bank of America Stadium (home of the Carolina Panthers) and the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Johnson & Wales University, the Museum of the New South, Discovery Place, and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design are also located Uptown, along with the government district for both Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte. Uptown Charlotte is currently in the midst of a construction and developmental boom, with numerous high-rise buildings under construction, as well as major retail and cultural projects.
A trolley line in Charlotte's South End.
A trolley line in Charlotte's South End.
  • University City comprises northeastern Charlotte. If autonomous, "University", as it is commonly known, would be one of North Carolina's largest cities, with nearly 200,000 residents. The primarily suburban University City is the home of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as well as University Research Park, a 3,200 acre (13 km²) research and industrial park. The outer edge of University City stretches into Cabarrus County and is also home to Lowe's Motor Speedway and the state's largest tourist attraction, Concord Mills.
  • South End takes its name from South Boulevard, its main thoroughfare, and its location just south of Uptown. An area of light industry and cotton mills for much of its history, today its former industrial buildings and mills are loft condominiums, restaurants, breweries, shops, and offices. Charlotte's historic trolley also originates in the neighborhood.
  • Dilworth, Charlotte's first streetcar suburb, was developed in the 1890s on 250 acres (1 km²) southwest of the original city limits and included the Joseph Forsyth Johnson designed Latta Park. Planned largely with a grid pattern similar to the city's original four wards, it was initially designated the Eighth Ward. Centered on East Boulevard, today Dilworth is popular with Charlotte's young professionals drawn to its historic turn of the century architecture and traditional neighborhood feel.
  • Elizabeth takes its name from Elizabeth College, a small Lutheran women’s college founded in 1897 on the present-day site of Presbyterian Hosptial. Elizabeth began to develop rapidly after 1902, when a trolley line was completed, and was annexed in 1907. Home of Independence Park, the first public park in the city, Elizabeth became one of the most fashionable residential areas in Charlotte in its early days.
  • Myers Park, which possesses some of the city's most desirable zip codes, is populated by some of the city's oldest and largest houses. Myers Park's streets are lined with towering oaks, the remaining originals of which were raised on James B. Duke's New Jersey estate before being transplanted to the new development. Designed by John Nolen of Boston in 1911, Myers Park was initially a "streetcar suburb" whose residents commuted to town via electric trolley. Nolen discarded the original grid street pattern of Uptown and Dilworth and instead planned curving avenues following the area’s topography. Myers Park is largely a product of the building boom of the 1920s.
  • Starmount is a residential neighborhood in the South Boulevard area of South Charlotte. Bounded by Archdale Drive to the north, Starbrook Drive to the south, Old Pineville Road to the west and Park Road to the east, Starmount was one of several Charlotte communities built by developer Charles Ervin in the late 1950s and 1960s.
  • Plaza-Midwood was conceived as a complement to nearby Myers Park but never quite matured in the same way, and by the 1970s and 80s, it was considered "at-risk". Beginning in the 1990s it enjoyed a revival that has made it a sought-after, more bohemian alternative to other higher-priced city neighborhoods.
  • SouthPark, located in south central Charlotte, is both an upscale residential and commercial neighborhood. The area's name derives from the fashionable SouthPark Mall, located at the intersection of Sharon and Fairview Roads. Luxury retailers such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Nordstrom, and Tiffany & Co. are housed found there.
  • Eastland, developed primarily during the 1960s and 70s, comprises a majority of the city's east side, including the namesake Eastland Mall.
  • Ballantyne is a planned mixed-use development that has grown exponentially in recent years and lies in the southernmost part of Charlotte, along the North and South Carolina border. Like SouthPark, Ballantyne has a high concentration of both impressive homes and commercial development.
  • The Arboretum is situated a few miles south of central Charlotte, along Pineville-Matthews Road, and was developed primarily around the Arboretum Shopping Center. The area is home to Providence Plantation and the country club community of Raintree.
  • NoDa is the city's "arts district" on and around North Davidson Street, located a mile northeast of Uptown. Formerly an area of textile manufacturing and mill workers' residences, the area has also served as a center for the arts.
  • Steele Creek encompasses a large area of the southwestern part of Mecklenburg County formerly rural and residential but now rapidly approaching total annexation, especially after the completion of the western leg of I-485 through the area. Generally the entire area south of Charlotte-Douglas Airport and west of Sugar Creek and I-77 is referred to as Steele Creek. Approximately 72% of its 25,282 residents now fall within the boundaries of the city of Charlotte.
  • Biddleville, west of Uptown, is home to Johnson C. Smith University, a historically black college once called the Biddle Institute. Biddleville arose as a supporting community of the Institute and was distinctly separate from Charlotte.
  • Derita is located north of I-85 and south of W.T. Harris Blvd and is generally centered on West Sugar Creek Road between North Graham Street and Nevin Road

 

Metropolitan area

Night skyline of Charlotte, North Carolina
Night skyline of Charlotte, North Carolina

The Combined Statistical Area of Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC, has a population, as of the 2005 census estimate, of 2,067,810.

The population of the City of Charlotte was 594,359 according to the US Census 2004 Estimate. Due to recent annexations, however, the city's population has risen to 651,101. The Charlotte metropolitan area, formerly known as the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord MSA (metropolitan statistical area), extends across 2 states (North Carolina and South Carolina), and includes the following counties:

North Carolina

South Carolina

Suburban towns located within 30 miles of uptown Charlotte include:

Economy

Bank of America Corporate Center, the tallest skyscraper between Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Bank of America Corporate Center, the tallest skyscraper between Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Charlotte has become a major U.S. financial center, and both the nation's second largest (Bank of America) and fourth largest (Wachovia) financial institutions call the city home. Their headquarters, along with other regional banking and financial services companies, are located primarily in the uptown financial district. Thanks in large part to the expansion of the city's banking industry, the Charlotte skyline has mushroomed in the past two decades and boasts the Bank of America Corporate Center, the tallest skyscraper between Philadelphia and Atlanta. The 60-story postmodern gothic tower, designed by renowned architect Cesar Pelli, stands 871 feet tall and was completed in 1992.

The following Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the Charlotte metropolitan area:

Other major companies headquartered in Charlotte include Time Warner Cable (a business unit of Fortune 500 company Time Warner), Belk, Meineke Car Care Centers, Carlisle Companies, Compass Group USA and Royal+SunAlliance.

Charlotte is also a major center in the American motorsports industry, with NASCAR having multiple offices in and around Charlotte. Approximately 75% of the industry's employees and drivers are based within two hours of downtown Charlotte. Charlotte is also the future home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, expected to be completed in 2009.

Colleges and universities

For-profit universities

Private schools

Public schools

Law

People and culture

Demographics

Historical populations [1]
Census
year		 Population
1900 18,091
1910
1920 46,338
1930 82,675
1940 100,899
1950 134,042
1960 201,564
1970 241,178
1980 315,473
1990 395,934
2000 540,828

As of 2004, census estimates show there are 594,359 people living within Charlotte's city limits, and 801,137 in Mecklenburg County. The county's population is projected to reach 1 million in 2010.

Figures from the more comprehensive 2000 census show Charlotte's population density to be 861.9/km² (2,232.4/mi²). There are 230,434 housing units at an average density of 367.2/km² (951.2/mi²).

The city's breakdown by race is as follows:

The median income for a household in the city is $46,975, and the median income for a family is $56,517. Males have a median income of $38,767 versus $29,218 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,823. 10.6% of the population and 7.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 13.8% of those under the age of 18 and 9.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Shopping

Carolina Place Mall opened in the early 1990s and is located about 12 miles south of uptown in suburban Pineville, North Carolina. Carolina Place offers over 1.1 million square feet of retail, and its proximity to the South Carolina border draws many shoppers from the Palmetto state.

Concord Mills is a sprawling retail and entertainment outlet mall about 10 miles northeast of uptown. Concord Mills has over 200 outlet stores and a 24 screen theater within its nearly one-mile interior circumference and is North Carolina's largest tourist attraction.

Eastland Mall was constructed in the mid-1970s as an alternative to then five-year-old SouthPark Mall, its claim to fame being an indoor skating rink in its central atrium. While SouthPark flourished and transformed itself into the region's source for high-end merchandise, Eastland experienced a general decline over the years with many stores vacating the mall. Efforts to reinvigorate the mall and surrounding area are currently being discussed.

Northlake Mall opened in 2005 and is located 8 miles north of Uptown. Northlake was built to serve the population of rapidly growing north Charlotte and University City, as well as the nearby suburbs of Davidson and Huntersville. Northlake features a variety of both upscale and conventional retailers.

SouthPark Mall, the region's most upscale shopping center, is located about 5 miles south of uptown. SouthPark has over 125 stores, many of which are unique in the Carolinas, including Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Neiman Marcus and Kate Spade.

Sites of interest

Sports

Charlotte is home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers, which debuted in the league in 1995. The Panthers play in Bank of America Stadium, located in Uptown. The team won the NFC Championship of the 2003-2004 NFL season when it beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 14-3, in Philadelphia. In Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1, 2004, the Panthers were defeated, 32-29, by the New England Patriots. They have been in two other NFC Championship games: in 1996 (their second year) and 2006.

Bank of America Stadium


 

Transportation

Mass Transit

CATS logo

The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) operates historical trolleys, express shuttles and bus service serving Charlotte and its immediate suburbs. The 2025 Corridor System Plan looks to upgrade Charlotte's public transportation by supplementing its established bus service with controversial light rail & commuter rail lines called 'Lynx'. Lynx is designed to carry passengers along five key corridors at a total cost of over $1.7 billion. CATS has begun work on the $426.8 million light rail line which will run from downtown to suburban Pineville with service scheduled to begin in 2007. Plans for the Lynx and commuter rail network will link uptown Charlotte with its immediate suburbs along four additional key corridors.

Air

Air Force One takes off from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, with the Charlotte skyline in the background.
Air Force One takes off from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, with the Charlotte skyline in the background.

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport