In earlier eras, many Blacks lived in shotgun houses like these in Charlotte; (c) Soul Of America
Charlotte History
Though Native Americans were the first inhabitants, King Charles II of England claimed the Carolina Colony in 1663. He then granted land that became North Carolina and South Carolina to eight loyalists.
The city of Charlotte was founded in 1768. Local citizens named it in honor of Queen Charlotte. They also named the surrounding county Mecklenburg after her German homeland. That’s why Charlotte has the “Queen City” nickname today.
In 1799, the discovery of a 17-pound gold nugget attracted a large influx of prospectors. Enough gold was discovered to justify the establishment of a Charlotte branch of the U.S. Mint in 1837. The boom, however, was short-lived. Prospectors followed the louder call to California a few years later.
After the Gold Bust, the cotton industry brought prosperity to slaveholders in the region. African American slaves worked the fields. Their labor drove the economy and attracted railroads to transport goods.
Slaveholders were paranoid of outsiders provoking slave rebellions. Under constant supervision by overseers, slaves were forbidden to meet in groups or read. Slaveholders also used their clout to pass a North Carolina law prohibiting free Blacks from coming to North Carolina., ostensibly to prevent “bad influencers.”
Good Samaritan Hospital marker at Bank of America Stadium
In 1860, Charlotte’s citizen population of 1366 and its slave population were still relatively small. To defend its status as a slave-holding state, North Carolina joined the Confederacy.
When the South lost the Civil War to the North, Union Soldiers occupied Charlotte. Their presence provided a haven for freed and escaped slaves.
In 1867, Mrs. Henry Biddle of Philadelphia contributed money and Colonel W.R. Myers donated land west of Charlotte. The Presbyterian Church established Biddle Institute, a school to train black ministers. Biddle Institute later became a major part of Johnson C. Smith University.
In 1868, North Carolina was accepted back into the United States of America after the state ratified the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and gave African Americans the right to own property.
In 1877, when the Reconstruction Era ended, Northern troops withdrew and Jim Crow Apartheid rambled throughout the South. “Separate But Unequal” was quickly the order of the day. By 1886, Myers Street Elementary School was opened as the city’s first public school for Blacks.
The Coffee Cup, now closed, was beloved for decades; (c) Soul Of America
Later, other Colored Schools in the city were founded with the help of a northern philanthropist, Julius Rosenwald. His support led to the opening of Second Ward High School in 1923.
“Shotgun” houses, grocery stores, drugstores, restaurants, insurance companies, contractor companies, law firms, medical practices, theaters, and newspapers were built in the Black communities. Many of these businesses settled in Brooklyn, the primary Black neighborhood in downtown Charlotte from the late 1800s until the 1970s.
Spawned by Black businesses and churches, several benevolent societies, fraternal orders, sororities, and auxiliaries also opened to help African Americans cope with the Jim Crow Era from 1877 to 1968.
Typical of insensitive urban renewal occurring nationwide from 1955-1980, however, Brooklyn was purged of 12 churches, and hundreds of Black families were forced to move into formerly European American neighborhoods, such as Belmont and Wesley Heights.
On the brighter side, Charlotte elected its first Black mayor, Harvey B. Gantt. He served from 1981-1987. Gantt was nearly elected North Carolina U.S. Senator twice until incumbent Senator Jesse Helms played the race card to overwhelmingly win the rural vote.
With the retirement of Jesse Helms in 2002, forward-thinking candidates of all races and parties are accelerating progress in this great city for businesses, residents, and tourists.