Charlotte

Historical and cultural significance of Charlotte

Charlotte, which was first settled in 1755, was built at the intersection of two major Native American trading paths.

The City of Charlotte was founded in 1769 and nicknamed the “Queen City” in honor of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, wife of King George III of England.

The first verified gold discovery in the United States was made just north of Charlotte by a 12 yr old boy named Conrad Reed. Reed’s discovery became the genesis of the nation's first gold rush. Many veins of gold were found in the area throughout the 1800s and even into the early 1900s, thus the founding of the Charlotte Mint in 1837 for minting local gold. The state of North Carolina led the nation in gold production until the California Gold Rush of 1848.

Charlotte is presently the largest city in the state of North Carolina. Its metropolitan area houses over 1.7 million people.

Charlotte is in the heart of the Carolinas and a mere fifteen minute drive from the border between North Carolina and South Carolina. The two states share a common history as the Province of Carolina under King Charles II before becoming separate royal colonies in 1729.

Charlotte is also home to two major professional sports franchises, the Carolina Panthers (NFL football team) and the Charlotte Bobcats (NBA basketball team). Today, Charlotte is a major center in the US motorsports industry with approximately 75% of the NASCAR industry's
employees and drivers based within two hours of uptown Charlotte. Charlotte is also the home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Outdoor recreational facilities such as the U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) are available in the area. The USNWC features the world's largest and most complex recirculating artificial whitewater river. In 2007, the USNWC became an official Olympic Training Site for the U.S whitewater slalom team. Located along the Catawba River and near North Carolina’s largest lake, Lake Norman, Charlotte is in North America's humid subtropical climate zone. The city has cool to cold winters and warm, humid summers.

Charlotte is the nation's second most prominent financial city. The city's modern-day banking industry achieved prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, largely under the leadership of financier Hugh McColl. McColl transformed a small local bank into what is now known as Bank of America. The city was also the former corporate home of Wachovia until its purchase by Wells Fargo in 2008.

Historical and Cultural Significance of the Surrounding Area

The Carolinas also share three main geographic sections: the flat Coastal Plain region, which borders the Atlantic Ocean to the east; the Mountain region, which makes up the Western portion of the region; and the rolling countryside of the Piedmont region, which resides in the middle. Charlotte is located in the Piedmont region, and is north of Atlanta, Georgia and south of Washington, DC.

The Piedmont region is home to all of the largest cities in the Carolinas: Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, and Columbia. The nation's first public university, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), was established in this region in 1795. UNC, along with Duke
University and NC State University, form the anchors for a high tech area known as the Research Triangle.

Numerous historical sites from the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars are scattered throughout the Piedmont region. More recently, the region has emerged as a veritable wine country with well over fifty wineries. Many of the wineries are open to the public for wine tasting and vineyard tours.

The Coastal Plain region of North Carolina is bordered by a series of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. In addition to its popular beaches, the Outer Banks boast numerous cultural and historical attractions. The Wright Brothers' famous first flight occurred on the Outer Banks near Kitty Hawk in 1903. The nation's tallest lighthouse, Cape Hatteras, is located on one of these barrier islands. The first English settlement in the United States, later known as the "Lost Colony," was established on Roanoke Island in 1585.

The historic port city of Charleston, located in the Coastal Plain region of South Carolina, is a major tourist destination and one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the US. Charleston Oconee is home of the famous Rainbow Row houses which are painted in bright pastel colors reminiscent of the colonial Caribbean color scheme. South Carolina also boasts the popular Myrtle Beach, part of a 60-mile span of white sand beaches known as the Grand Strand.

The Mountain region has its share of unique attractions as well. The Appalachian Mountains are home to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park--the most visited national park in the U.S. The Mountain region also features the nation's largest privately owned home, the Biltmore Estate. Located in Asheville, this impressive French Renaissance-style mansion was built by George Vanderbilt in 1895 and features 250 rooms. More than a million visitors tour the unique Biltmore Estate each year.

Nuclear Profile of the Carolinas Region

The Carolinas are home to seven active nuclear power plant (NPP) sites (12 reactors): McGuire NPP (2 reactors), Catawba NPP (2 reactors), Oconee NPP (3 reactors), V.C. Summer NPP (1 reactor), Shearon Harris NPP (1 reactor), Brunswick NPP (2 reactors), and H.B. Robinson NPP (1 reactor); as well as being home to two fuel fabrication facilities (one for uranium and one for Mixed Oxide (MOX), a laser enrichment plant, a national laboratory that contains two nuclear divisions, multiple world renown private and university research facilities, and the emerging leader in carbon-neutral solar energy. Licenses have been filed with the NRC to build four more reactors in the Carolinas in the coming years. The Carolina Region is also home to many companies in the Nuclear Industry including nuclear manufactures, suppliers and EPC firms such as Fluor Corporation, Shaw, and URS Washington Group. Situated on the border of North and South Carolina, Charlotte is within a short driving distance of these facilities and many more. Many companies use the Carolinas as the headquarters for operations including AREVA, GE, Westinghouse and others. The Carolinas region is the center of the nuclear industry in the United States.