Charlotte
Spirit of the New South
Mary Norton Kratt

John F. Blair, Publisher
978-0-89587-095-7
$34.95 hardcover
8 ½ x 11
293 pages, black-and-white photos throughout
Published in 1992
History, North Carolina

Since the publication of Mary Norton Kratt's Charlotte: Spirit of the New South, Charlotte has gained a reputation as one of the fastest-growing, most vibrant cities in the country. It now stands as the third largest banking center in the United States. Overseas flights from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport have brought an explosion in foreign firms and trade. And the arrival of major-league sports has made the city increasingly visible in the public eye. As one writer put it, "Announcers in Duluth, Minnesota, or Seattle no longer have to add 'North Carolina' after 'Charlotte' on the evening news."

But Charlotteans have not lost a sense of their city's humble roots. In this revised, updated edition of her popular book, Kratt traces Charlotte's history beginning with the days when the town grew from a muddy crossroads on an Indian trading path to a modest settlement of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in the 1760s. Since then, Charlotte and the area around Mecklenburg County have hosted some memorable events, like the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and Resolves, which predated the national declaration by more than a year, and the first gold rush in the United States. Charlotte-area personalities have ranged from tobacco and hydroelectricity pioneer "Buck" Duke to evangelist Billy Graham, architect and political figure Harvey Gantt, and former Bank of America Chairman Hugh McColl.

George Washington characterized Charlotte as a "trifling place" during a visit in 1791, but local people have always known better. Even when times grew difficult during the Civil War, Reconstruction, textile strikes, the Depression, and the period of integration, Charlotte remained a forward-looking city with plenty of ambition. The reward has been growing recognition as a financial, commercial, medical, transportation, and cultural center. Through it all, and most important to its citizens, Charlotte has remained a good place to live.

Charlotte: Spirit of the New South tells the city's story with colorful anecdotes from lively original sources and over three hundred photographs, many of historic value and some previously unpublished. Readers will come to understand that Charlotte, a city with a seemingly unlimited future, has had just as fascinating a past.