When the first settlers arrived
in the valleys of the lower Piedmont, they found
lush meadows, streams and hills crowned with trees
suitable for cabin building. From overseas and
the northern states of Pennsylvania, Maryland
and Delaware came the Scotch-Irish in large numbers.
The native Catawba Indians were friendly to the
few white families who moved in among them. The
new families stayed busy cutting down trees and
setting up cabins, burning acreage for crop planting
and organizing the two most important social functions
of any settlement, the meeting house and the local
still.
The
360-acre community of Charlotte moved to incorporate
a regular town government and an eventual county
seat. On May 20, 1775, it is said, Charlotte patriots
defied the wrath of the English King and signed
a Declaration of Independence.
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