CHARLOTTE. A city and county-seat of Mecklenburg County. Y. C.. 125 miles west by south of Raleigh, on Sugar Creek. and on the Southern and the Seaboard Air-line railroads (Slap: North Carolina. 11 21. It is in the gold region of the State, and a branell mint was es tablished here in 1S3S. It was closed by the breaking out of the Civil War. reopened in 1809. and was made an assay office. The city has two female eolleges, a military institute. and other educational institutions, a Carnegie public li brary, a library for the colored population, )hos pitals for white and persons, a United States court-house, Young Slen's Christian Asso ciation Imilding, and Vance l'ark. I3iddle Uni versity (Presbyterian), for colored students, _opened in IS07, is just outside the city limits. Charlotte is the centre of important commercial interests, and has extensive manufactures of cot ton. supplies, caskets, show-cases, leather belling, clothing. etc. The government,
under a charter of 1S00 and subsequent amend ments, is vested in a mayor. biennially elected, and a city vonneil, with sehool commissioners elected by popular vote. There are municipal water-works. Population, in 1SS0, 7094; in 1890, 11,557; in 1900, 1S.091.
Settled about 1750, Charlotte was incorporated in I70S, and in 1774 was made the eounty-seat. The so-called Mecklenburg Declaration of hide pendenee (q.v.) was adopted here on Slay 31, 1775, the signers of which are commemorated by a monument. In Septemh•r, 17sO, Lord Corn wallis, after a short skirmish, entered l'harlotte and occupied it for several days. and later in the year General Cates made his headquarters here. until superseded by Ceneral Greene on De cember 2. Consult W. II. Foote. Sketches of North Carolina (New York, 1846),