By ELLISON CLARY
Charlotte native Jack Claiborne is a hobbyist historian who
chronicled the Charlotte Chamber in "The Crown of the Queen
City." A former reporter, editor and editorial writer at The
Charlotte Observer, he retired earlier this year as associate vice
chancellor for university relations at UNC Charlotte.
Claiborne speaks to groups about the most important events in
Charlotte's 20th century business growth. He discussed with staff
writer Ellison Clary a talk he presented recently to the Mecklenburg
Historical Society.
I was surprised someone asked if the Chamber remains as
influential in Charlotte's growth today as it was in the past.
"Even more so," I told her. "With the size of our
city and our institutions, it takes a cooperative effort now more
than ever to get things done."
Formation of the Chamber's predecessor in 1905 is on my list of
important events in Charlotte's growth from 18,091 people in 1901 to
more than 540,000 in 2001.
Here are some others:
The 1904 start of Duke Power's predecessor. Gov. Cameron
Morrison's 1920's road plan that made the city a distribution
center.
The 1927 opening of the Charlotte branch of the Federal Reserve
Bank. The development of what has become Charlotte-Douglas
International Airport. The 1940 formation of Memorial Hospital,
today's Carolinas HealthCare System. Establishment of the Charlotte
Center of the University of North Carolina for returning veterans in
1946. It grew into UNC Charlotte.
Charlotte's annexation of the Park Road Shopping Center in 1957.
It prompted the legislature to allow perimeter annexation. Passage
of the 1978 referendum that brought liquor by the drink.
If someone asked me the next big move necessary for Charlotte's
growth, I'd say the consolidation of city and county government. The
city and county are inextricably entangled. We need to merge them to
know how to set priorities.
