Mecklenburg County

by Carson McNulty
Fall 2001

Mecklenburg County has been a progressive county who has always sought to stand out since its inception. On the date of May 20, 1975, Mecklenburg became the first county in all of the colonies to declare its independence from Great Britain. North Carolina has always been steeped in tradition, and Mecklenburg has always taken the lead in progression for the state. Mecklenburg possesses the largest population in the state at 695, 454 people. This is a 36% percent growth increase since the last census of 1990. Mecklenburg also has an ample water supply with three lakes surrounding its borders, (Norman, Wylie, and Mountain Island Lakes). Mecklenburg is also a large county in its amount of land space at 542 square miles. Mecklenburg is made up of seven towns and cities, the largest being Charlotte by far. Charlotte was founded in Nov. 1768 and is also the home to the county seat, which was ratified on March 19, 1774.

Mecklenburg County received its name in a very prestigious way. In the year of 1761, King George III of England decided to take a wife, marrying a princess from Germany. The princess was well loved and when the people of the county named Anson decided to split the county, they took there new county's name from the queen to be. The princess was from a province in Germany named Mecklenburg-Sterliz, so the new county was named Mecklenburg to pay homage to her. Further more they named the new town in the center of the county and also the largest, Charlotte, after her. Today, a statue of her likeness graces Charlotte-Douglas International Airport to greet any visitors or welcome home all travelers to our beautiful city.

Not only did Mecklenburg take its name from a Queen, but we also can boast some other impressive facts. Two presidents have their birth places within our borders. The first being the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson. He was born on March 15, 1767 just a few miles south of Charlotte. The next president that Mecklenburg can say was his birthplace, was the eleventh president, James K. Polk. He was born on March 4, 1795 in the town that is now Pineville. I myself have visited his birthplace as it is a national monument and is open to all to this very day.

Besides having famous people,Mecklenburg, has some national and state-wide distinctions. Mecklenburg was the first county to have gold discovered in all of the United States. This was in 1799 and just three years a twenty-eight pound nugget was found by James Reed. He had no idea what the rock was and used it for a door step till he sold it for much cheaper then it was worth. He was still able to open Reed's gold mine and untill the gold rush in California swept the nation in 1842, the mine was one of the largest producers of gold ore in the continental U.S. Mecklenburg was also one of the first counties to have a mint outside of Philadalphia. On March 3, 1835, the national mint in Philly granted a mint to Charlotte, and coinage was made and distributed in Charlotte to all over the south. Mecklenburg was also the first county to have a skyscraper when Charlotte built one in 1907. We have a lot of traditions in Mecklenburg and Charlotte that shape are pride for the region and fuel our desire to lead not just North Carolina, but some day maybe the whole south.

The desire to be the best was instilled in Mecklenburg's people when we decided to break off from England with the first Declaration of Indepence, and make our way on our own. Charlotte has never grow with a boom that a lot of major cities have so even today we can keep it clean and pick our expansion carefully. By this I mean that Mecklenburg and Charlotte have been able to grow through selecting and attracting businesses because we are a big city with little crime and relatively little traffic, (when compared to Atlanta, New Orleans, NYC, LA, etc.). Charlotte has recently become a huge finicial center, housing the headquarters to two of the nation's top five banks. We have attracted an NFL and NBA proffessional sports team and a motor sports fan base comporable to anywhere in the world, (I have even heard it reffered to as the "hub" of auto racing, a sport becoming one of the premier money making businesses in sport's history.) Mecklenburg County also has a hospital that ranks second in the state, (behind only Duke Memorial) and is a leader in cancer research.

Mecklenburg County is my home and I will live there for a very long time. Other native Mecklenburgers also have this sense of pride in our city and county. We feel we have tradition and also the direction to lead this area into national and global spot lights.

Sources

Sharpe, T. "Mecklenburg County." A New Geography of North Carolina. Vol. 4. Raleigh, NC: Sharpe Publishing Company, 1965. 1975-2004.

Tompkins, D. A. History of Mecklenburg County. 2 vols. Charlotte, NC: Observer Printing House, 1903.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Story. 18 Nov. 2001. http://www.cmstory.org/default.asp.

Created November 11, 2001
Updated May 26, 2003