Not a review of the Mint Museum, which I did not have time to visit today (I've lived in Charlotte…read morefor 13 years, I need to make the time) but the state's historical marker that is posted at the entrance to the parking area. It reads, "Operated as Branch U.S. Mint, 1837-61. Relocated to present site as art museum, 1936. Building expanded, 1968 and 1985." There is more information online. Gold was discovered in Cabarrus County in 1799 that caused a gold rush in North Carolina by 1825. As it was difficult to ship the gold to the Philadelphia Mint, laws were passed to build branch mints in the South including here in Charlotte, Dahlonega GA and New Orleans LA. The Charlotte Mint operated until North Carolina seceded from the Union in 1861. During its operation, it count about five million dollars in half eagles ($5), quarter eagles ($2.50) and gold dollars. The Mint was moved from its original location on West Trade Street (wondered why there's a Mint Street in Uptown?), piece-by-piece to this location and reconstructed during 1934-1936. Do visit the actual Mint Museum nearby and the one in Uptown. [Review 12303 overall, 2087 of 2019.]

This marker is at the intersection of NC 27 and Westland Farm Road. I did drive the quarter mile to…read morethe west but did not see anything that looked like it might have been an 18th century home. The marker reads, "Joseph Dickson 1745-1825. Colonel in Revolution, later brigadier general, member of legislatures of North Carolina and Tennessee, and of United States Congress. His home stands 1/4 mile west." Online, there is more information. "Military and political leader Joseph Dickson was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in April 1745. At the age of ten he moved with his family to Rowan County. In 1775, on the eve of the Revolution, he was a member of the Rowan County Committee on Safety. That same year he was commissioned as a captain in the Continental Army." "While in the Senate he sat on a committee that established the University of North Carolina and became one of the original trustees of the University. After serving in the Senate he returned to Lincoln County where he was elected as a Federalist to the United States House of Representatives. He represented Wilkes, Burke, Rutherford, and Lincoln counties in the Sixth Congress from 1799 to 1801. He served two terms in the Tennessee legislature, from 1807 to 1811. During the second term he was Speaker of the House, his last position in public office." And here we learn that the house referenced in the marker text no longer stands and the sign will be updated when funds permit. [Review 14253 overall, 1576 of 2020, number 2688 in North Carolina.]

This marker is on a tall pole outside the guard's shack that is at the entrance to the university…read more There is no parking here but I was able to briefly stop to read the marker and the guard didn't mind though he probably thought I was crazy. Like most North Carolina markers, the text on the marker is brief. It reads, "Est. in 1867 as Biddle Memorial Institute for freedmen. Became a university, 1877. Present name adopted in 1923." Online, there is more information. "Established in 1867 by the Presbyterian Church, modern-day Johnson C. Smith University was known from that year until 1876 as Biddle Memorial Institute. Samuel C. Alexander, minister at Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, took a lead role in the establishment of a school "for the education of preachers and teachers among the ex-slaves, realizing that only in this way could they be fitted for Christian citizenship." Around 3,000 former slaves lived in Mecklenburg County in 1867. Stephen Mattoon was the first president, presiding over the school for fourteen years. "Mary D. Biddle of Philadelphia raised $1,400 for the new school and selected the name to honor her late husband, Major Henry Biddle. W. R. Myers, a wealthy Charlotte businessman, donated the first eight acres of land on Beatties Ford Road for the campus. In 1876 the state legislature formally chartered the school at which time the name was changed to Biddle University. Biddle Hall, the centerpiece of the campus, was completed in 1884. The first African American president was Daniel Sanders, who served in the position from 1891 until his death in 1907. "In 1921 and 1922, Jane Berry Smith of Pittsburgh donated funds for a theological dormitory, science building, teachers' cottage, and memorial gate. In addition she established an endowment in memory of her late husband, Johnson C. Smith. In recognition of her gifts, trustees voted to rename the institution. Consequently, the charter was amended to reflect the new name in 1923. James B. Duke, the tobacco magnate, included the school as a beneficiary of the Duke Endowment, created in 1924, putting in place an affiliation that has benefitted the university greatly over the years. "In 1932 women first enrolled at JCSU. Today the school retains its affiliation with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, reporting to its General Assembly through the Board of Christian Education. Since 1944 JCSU has been associated with the United Negro College Fund." This is marker number L-101 and it was erected in 2022 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. [Review 2551 of 2024 - 4003 in North Carolina - 23562 overall]

This marker stands at the street in front of the Fish School and provides some context. There is…read moreeasy parking here though I would not recommend visiting when school is letting out or in the morning when students are arriving. The front reads, "This was the site of Fort Mill's longest operating school dedicated to African Americans. Built on a 4-acre parcel acquired in 1925, the brick school opened in 1926 and cost $12,200, a portion of which was paid by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The school was named for George Fish (1868-1933), a white mill manager who supported its construction. African Americans were previously taught at the old Fort Mill Academy building 1 mi. SW." And the reverse, "The design of the George Fish school followed the Rosenwald Fund's six teacher floor plan and included six classrooms, an auditorium stage, and library. By the 1930s, the school enrolled grades 1-8 before adding a ninth grade and, by 1941, a high school. It remained a segregated school for African Americans until 1968, when it integrated and became Fort Mill Jr. High. The school was sold in 1986 and later demolished." This is marker number 46-68 and it was erected in 2019 by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, sponsored by Fort Mill School District. [Review 52 of 2025 - 1241 in South Carolina - 23621 overall]

This marker is in front of a mixed-use building that has some retail at the ground floor and…read moreapartments/condos on the upper floors. There are some street parking spaces and the Gold Line goes past. The marker reads, "D.A Tompkins. 1851-1914. Crusader for southern industrial development, manufacturer, engineer, author, and publisher. Grave is 1/2 mile north." There is more information online. "Daniel Augustus Tompkins, industrialist and newspaper editor, was born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, on October 12, 1851 to Dewitt and Virginia Tompkins. Interested in engineering since his boyhood, Daniel entered the University of South Carolina in 1867, but shortly thereafter transferred to the Renssalear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he graduated in 1873 with an engineering degree. "After graduation, Tompkins became a master machinist with Bethlehem Iron Works in Pennsylvania. The factory head, John Fritz, considered Tompkins one of the finest machinists in the industry, and sent him to Germany in 1877 to oversee the development of the Schwerte Iron Works. Following his return in 1879, Tompkins took a position with the Crystal Plate Glass Company of Crystal City, Missouri. Two years later, Tompkins moved to Charlotte as a machinist for the Westinghouse Machine Company. Soon thereafter, he began his own business, D. A. Tompkins Company, installing steam engines in the numerous cotton mills of western and central North Carolina. "By the late 1880s D. A. Tompkins Company had expanded operations to the construction of various mills and electric plants. By 1910, the organization had developed 250 cotton oil mills, 150 electric plants, and 100 cotton plants. Because of his success in the manufacturing industry, President William McKinley appointed him a member of the United States Industrial Commission. In addition, he served as a member of the board of trustees at what is now North Carolina State University and was instrumental in the development of the university's textile school. He also served as the director of Equitable Life Insurance. "Tompkins also understood the influence of mass media, and how he could use it to give voice to his industrial New South policies. Therefore, he obtained controlling interests in the Charlotte Daily Observer, the Charlotte Evening News, and Greenville (S.C.) News. Under the guise of several ghostwriters, Tompkins also produced a number of pamphlets and books such as Cotton Values in Textile Fabrics and History of Mecklenburg County from 1740 to 1903 (written by Charles Lee Coon). "Tompkins spoke out against compulsory public school, child labor legislation, and wage per hour regulation and sought to maximize profits and retain cheap labor in the southern mills. Tompkins retired from business in 1910, owing to poor health, and moved to his summer home in Montreat. He died of a paralytic condition on October 18, 1914, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte. After the death of his fiancée in 1884, Tompkins never married and left no children." [Review 2550 of 2024 - 4002 in North Carolina - 23561 overall]

I love the markers, Statues, the history I love the city of Charlotte, I want to go back.read more

Many not be aware of the city of Charlotte's history during the Revolutionary War. You know, the…read moreone with the British when we fought for independence? Well, right here in Uptown, a battle was fought with those British and caused the general to write in a letter back to London that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion activity." The marker reads: "Cornwallis's army captured Charlotte after a fight here with Davie's troops, Sept. 26, 1780." Much more information is in the link above.

Dead-center Charlotte, where Trade Street meets Tryon Street. Where North meets South and East…read moremeets West. Independence Square is the "Uptown" of Uptown Charlotte. It is the very center, the core of the Queen City. The Sculpture on each of the four corners are dedicated to Transportation, Future, Commerce and Industry. Try and see if you can recognize the face of the banker in Commerce - it's supposedly retired Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, but I don't see it. It's worth a stop if you're exploring Charlotte.

This is one of Charlotte's most idiosyncratic spots. Charlotteans claim that Mecklenburg county…read moredeclared independence from Britain in 1775, one year before them Yanks at the Continental Congress stole the idea. This original and 100% not-made-up declaration was lost in a house fire 25 years later. Honest. And we commemorate this with The Sculptures at Independence Square, a quartet of vaguely bigoted statues, one of which bares its magnificent bosom to the bustling city below. I cannot explain how her breasts are related to the rampant historical revisionism capitalizing on the success of the American Revolution, but it does make me smile to see such a statue thrust upon our conservative city.

This marker is located not far from one entrance to Charlotte Douglas International Airport and…read morearound the corner from the Air National Guard site and the Sullenberger Museum. It points out the history of this site. There isn't parking nearby but it's a quiet corner where you can briefly stop to read the marker. It reads the same on both sides, "Morris Field. A U.S. Army air base, 1941-1946. Named for Maj. William Morris, WWI pilot. The 5,000 acre facility became airport at this site." Online, there is more information. "Morris Field was a U.S. Army Air Corps base at Charlotte during World War II. It was one of nine military airfields in North Carolina during the conflict. The airport began as a municipal airfield in the 1930s. Originally, Charlotte was served by a small, privately-owned airstrip known as the Charlotte Airport (later known as Cannon Field), which utilized the old airstrip constructed during World War I as part of the army base, Camp Greene. The postwar private airport provided only limited service, however, and Charlotte mayor Ben E. Douglas pushed for the creation of a municipal airfield. The city received funding for the construction of an airport by the Works Progress Administration in 1935. By mid-1937, the project was completed, and the facility was opened as the Charlotte Municipal Airport, with Eastern Airlines offering scheduled passenger service. "In April 1941, the airport was taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps and was renamed the Charlotte Army Air Base. It was initially a small operation with only three runways. It served as a training facility for pilots and gunners and also as a center for maintenance and repair. Following the outbreak of World War II, the base was renamed in January 1942, this time as Morris Field, after Major William Colb Morris (1891-1939). A native of Harrisburg, N.C., Morris was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and had served as a flight instructor and as a pilot during World War I. "During the war, Morris Field expanded in size with many new buildings added. The Army invested over $5 million in improvements to the facility, and the base proved to be a major boost to the local economy. Various units rotated in and out of the base for periods of duty lasting several months each. The base published its own newspaper and broadcast a weekly radio show. Some commercial aviation continued to operate from the north side of the airfield. In 1946, the U.S. Army closed Morris Field and the airport reverted back to Charlotte, resuming its prewar name of the Charlotte Municipal Airport. Many of the wartime barracks and other military buildings were remodeled into apartments as the city faced a postwar housing shortage. In 1954, it was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport to honor the mayor who was responsible for the airport's original creation, and it became Charlotte Douglas International Airport in 1982. It is still in operation today." This is marker number L-118. It was erected by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History in 2021. [Review 2030 of 2024 - 3742 in North Carolina - 23051 overall]