CHARLOTTE TRIVIA
Q:
Where does the trade in Trade Street come from?
A:
Native American trading paths. In 1755, Thomas
Polk built a home at the crossroads of one of the Native
American trading paths and the Great Wagon Road, which led
settlers to the Carolina foothills. These crossroads became
the heart of Center City Charlotte. The first trading path
became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon
Street, named after William Tryon, a royal governor of North
Carolina.
Q:
Who was the Queen City named for?
A:
Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The home and town
established by Thomas Polk, uncle of President James K.
Polk, was named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the
German wife of King George III.
Q:
Why is Charlotte often referred to as the “hornet’s nest”?
A:
Charlotte played a critical role during the Revolutionary
War, serving as a site of encampment for both the American
and British armies. British General Lord Cornwallis referred
to Charlotte as “a hornet’s nest” after he became frustrated
during a series of conflicts between British troops and
feisty Charlotteans.
Q:
What happened to the first piece of gold
discovered in Charlotte?
A:
It became a doorstop! In 1799, 12-year-old Conrad Reed went
fishing and brought home a rock weighing about 17 pounds,
which the family used as a doorstop for three years before
it was recognized by a jeweler as gold. It was the first
verified find of gold in the United States.
Q:
Where does Charlotte rank in banking among cities in the
U.S.?
A:
Second, only after New York City.
Q:
What percentage of motorsports employees work in or near
Charlotte?
A:
73% of all motorsports employees work within 2 hours of the
city.
Q:
What was Charlotte’s first college?
A:
Queen’s College opened in 1771 to train men to become
ministers. Problems arose when King George III refused to
grant the school a charter to approve its operation. The
school’s name was changed to Queens Museum and later,
Liberty Hall. The original Queens College is not that same
as the Queens University in Charlotte today, which was
founded in 1857 as the Charlotte Female Institute and, after
multiple name changes, became Queens College in 1912.
Q:
Which former American president was born in the south
Charlotte town of Waxhaw?
A:
Andrew Jackson. Jackson was born March 15, 1767. He was born
to a working-class family descendent from Scotch-Irish
immigrants. Jackson became the seventh American president in
1828.
Q:
Which neighborhood of Charlotte was the city’s first suburb?
A:
Dilworth. Developed as the city's
first suburb in the 1890s, the neighborhood of Dilworth was
connected to downtown by Charlotte's first electric
streetcar. Mill workers moved into bungalows and mill owners
built mansions along Dilworth’s streets, which were hustling
and bustling with activity by the turn of the century.
Development continued with the 1892 opening of the Atherton
Cotton Mill and the beginning of home ownership with the
1893 “building and loan plan.” Because of its early success,
developer, entrepreneur, and streetcar owner Edward Dilworth
Latta expanded the neighborhood, and it soon featured an
amusement park, racetrack, lake, ball park, pavilion, and an
industrial complex that housed mills and a foundry.
Q:
Who did the Carolina Panthers play in their first game and
which team won?
A:
The Carolina Panthers opened their first season September 6,
1996 against the Atlanta Falcons—and won 29-6!
