Charlotte

Charlotte takes its name from Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who became Britain’s queen consort in 1761. The Catawba people’s trading paths on the Great Wagon Road turned into its first streets, and the town was incorporated in 1768. The nation’s first gold rush began in the area, and a U.S. Mint operated here until Confederate forces seized it in 1861. After the Civil War, railroads made Charlotte a regional trading hub, and by 1910 it had passed Wilmington as the state’s largest city. Today it ranks as the country’s second-largest banking center. Arts lovers can find Opera Carolina, the Charlotte Symphony, Charlotte Ballet, the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, the Mint Museum, the Harvey B. Gantt Center, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Levine Museum of the New South. NoDa, north of Uptown, is an emerging arts and entertainment area. Source: Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)