Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Charlotte, city and seat of Mecklenburg County, southern North Carolina, in the Piedmont Plateau region, near the Catawba River. The largest city in the state, Charlotte is an important manufacturing, commercial, transportation, and financial center for the surrounding region. Principal industries include printing and the manufacture of chemicals, micro-electronics, textiles, machinery, metal and paper products, and processed food. Johnson C. Smith University (1867), Queens College (1857), the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1946), and several junior colleges are in Charlotte. Points of interest include the Mint Museum of Art housed in a former branch of the United States Mint (in operation 1837-1861, 1867-1913), which was reconstructed and opened in 1936 as an art and history museum; the Charlotte Coliseum; and the Charlotte Nature Museum and Planetarium. U.S. Presidents Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk were born nearby. The Charlotte Hornets professional basketball team is based here; the city's new professional football team, the Carolina Panthers, begins play in 1995.

Settled about 1750 and incorporated in 1768, Charlotte is named for Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III of Great Britain. The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is said to have been signed here by the citizens of Mecklenburg County on May 20, 1775, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence was issued. During the American Revolution (1776-1783), the British general Charles Cornwallis referred to Charlotte as a "hornet's nest of rebellion" because of the activities of patriot troops during his occupation of the town in 1780. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865), convened his full cabinet for the last time here in April 1865. According to the 1990 census, blacks represent 31.8 percent of the population, people of Asian background 1.8 percent, Native Americans 0.4 percent, and people of Hispanic background 1.4 percent. Population (1980) 314,447; (1990) 395,934.

Mecklenburg-Strelitz

(note : the following is an article written by D.G. Martin formerly of Mecklenburg County now working for the University of North Carolina.

Mecklenburg--Can It Be 1000 Years Old?

Don't read this column?

It is boring. Unless. . . .

Unless you are a fool about history. Or unless you have some crazy curiosity about names of places and where they come from, or why some of us who are not in to each other have the same unusual names, or other things that connect us to each other in strange ways.

Stop now. I have warned you.

But, for those of us who are interested in such things, here is the news. Mecklenburg is celebrating its 1000 year anniversary on September 10, 1995.

It is true. But I am not talking about our Mecklenburg County or the one in Virginia. These are, by the way and so far as I know, the only two spots in the world outside of Germany that have the Mecklenburg name. And that is one reason why the anniversary of this strange, unusual name Mecklenburg interests me so much.

Both American Mecklenburg counties got their names at the same time and in the same way. When the young King George III first came to the British throne in 1760, he was popular--a breath of fresh air after his grandfather, George II, who was not much loved by the people. All that had changed by 1776. But in 1761, when George III married the even younger Princess Charlotte from the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Germany, many British people on both sides of the Atlantic rejoiced. It must have been something like the excitement that the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana created among the same peoples 200 years later.

And there was a rush to name things and places after this young princess. Charlottesville and Charlotte County, Virginia. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Our own Charlotte, North Carolina. There the new colonial inhabitants of the area also decided to name their newly-formed county after the new queen's home country--Mecklenburg.

Today, Charlotte calls itself the Queen City. It makes the crown itsofficial logo. It builds statutes of the young queen at its airport and downtown area. Now rich and prosperous, it lauds its royal connection. And Mecklenburg County is rich, independent, and headstrong. So much so that people in the rest of North Carolina call it "the great state of Mecklenburg."

But all that got started less than 250 years ago. What's all this about 1000 years?

To get the story of the 1000 year anniversary we have to go to Germany--back to the original Mecklenburg home of Queen Charlotte. German Mecklenburg is a part of old East Germany. For most of us, it was a closed area for our entire lifetimes, until the "wall came down" in 1989.

Just as Mecklenburg was a part of the cold war battleground, it has been a place of contest between peoples of the east and the west for centuries. Back in 995, this area was inhabited mainly by Slavic people. But the German peoples to the west had their eye on the territory. Their rulers were beginning to send colonists eastward to try to take over the land.

One of the Slavic strongholds in the area was atop a small hill overlooking the surrounding plains and lakes. This place was called Wiligrad, which meant in the Slavic language, "strong city" or "mighty place." When the Germans scouting the area sent back word of their activities, they reported that they had come in contact with Wiligrad, which they translated into the German language of the day as "Michelenburg." The date of the report: September 10, 995.

Over the years Michelenburg became Mecklenburg. And, as the Germans took over the area from the Slavs, the name of that one place became identified with the entire area.

There is more to it. There always is with history. But we are out of space for today. If you would like to learn more, here is a suggestion. Why not go to German Mecklenburg this September 10 for the big celebration of the 1000 year birthday of the name? While you are at it you can see the beautiful home country of Princess Charlotte grew up. You can walk through the castle where she grew up and the bigger "fairy tale" castle where her cousins lived. You can see and experience a part of Europe where people still think Americans are special and don't take their freedom for granted.