Charlotte is located in south/central North Carolina. The city’s nickname ‘The Queen City’ is derived from Charlotte which was named for Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, wife of King George III who was the king of England. Charlotte was first settled in 1755 by Thomas Polk. During the Revolutionary War, Charlotte was a major location for both American and British armies. There were so many battles in the area that Lord General Charles Cornwallis gave Charlotte the nickname Hornet’s Nest. Today’s NBA team is named Charlotte Hornets to commemorate the city’s history.

Gold was discovered throughout the area in the 1800’s and into the early 1900’s, In 1837 the Charlotte Mint was founded in 1837.
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North Carolina became a U.S. state on November 21, 1789 as the 12th state. North Carolina was initially inhabited by a number of native tribes. The first known European exploration of North Carolina was in 1524 by an Italian navigator named Giovanni da Verrazano. He explored the coastal area of North Carolina between the Cape Fear River area and Kitty Hawk.

The territory was called Carolina in honor of Charles the First (“Carolus” is the Latin form of “Charles”). North Carolina depended much on slave labor to work cotton and tobacco plantations. Before the Civil War began in 1861, many Southern states seceded from the Union. North Carolina withdrew to join the Confederacy shortly after the Civil war began.
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