Charlotte and Environs

[giradman]

Around mid-January of each year, i.e. the time of Susan's BD, we usually do a 1-2 night overnight somewhere close (about 1-2 hour drive at most); of the half dozen places that we have used for years, Charlotte is an alternating option - now we travel to the Queen City for many other purposes and probably go there 3-4 times a year for various reasons and have done so for many years - SO, I'm rather surprised that there is no travelogue on Charlotte - time to start one - NOT sure how much I'll add but could easily go for MANY pages.

This time we are in Charlotte for her BD and staying at the Westin Hotel near a lot of museums and also some restaurants that we've not tried - on the way down (just a 90 minute drive) we stopped at the Reed Gold Mine (2 upcoming posts), tomorrow we will visit a number of nearby museums (of the many in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina), plan some fine dinners (another post), and on the way back home Thursday will visit the NC Music Hall of Fame (first visits to both the HOF & the Mine); also may stop at Childress Vineyards near Lexington for lunch and a wine tasting (possibly another post).

NOW, this is only a brief start and if I decide to continue will recall dozens of previous trips to Charlotte over the years - just for a quick orientation map - we can drive to Charlotte (located near the SC border) either via I-40/I-77 or I-85, both about the same time as shown on the map below; decided on I-85 this time because of the visits mentioned above. Dave
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[giradman]

Reed Gold Mine - NC State Historic Site - Gold Discovered in 1799 - Part I

On our drive down to Charlotte, we detoured to visit the Reed Gold Mine - the start of the FIRST Gold Rush in the United States, nearly a half century before its discovery at Sutter's Mill in 1848 in California. The Visitor's Center includes a 10-minute introductory film which is well done, an excellent museum on the history of gold, particularly related to North Carolina, a self-guided tour of an underground gold mine, and a small gift store (we bought t-shirts and a recent book on 'Gold Mining in NC' - see next post) - more info in the quotes below. Pics are many of my own from the inside and the mine tour, and carry over to the next post.

In the early 1800s, the mining for gold was a major industry in North Carolina, and a number of 'mints' were established in the Charlotte area including the famous one in the city itself, which is now the Mint Museum. BTW, that first nugget found by Reed's son which he took $3.50 at that time but later was valued at $3,600 - just did a calculation in an inflation index - in today's USA dollars that amount is $84,000 - WOW! Dave

The Reed Gold Mine is located in Midland, North Carolina, and is the site of the first documented commercial gold find in the United States. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark because of its importance and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1799, Conrad Reed, the son of farmer and former Hessian soldier John Reed (born June 6, 1757), found a 17-pound yellow "rock" in Little Meadow Creek on the family farm; for three years, the rock served as a doorstop. In 1802, a jeweler from Fayetteville identified the rock as a large gold nugget. He told John Reed to name his price. Reed, not understanding the true value of gold, asked for what he thought was the hefty price of $3.50, or a week's wages. The large nugget's true value was around $3,600.(Source)

About 1803, John Reed organized a small gold mining operation. Reed continued with placer mining for a number of years. In 1831 he began underground mining. John Reed died at age 88 in1845, rich from the gold found on his property. Some years later, the American Civil War decreased mining activity because of labor and resources being pulled into the war. The last large nugget uncovered by placer mining was discovered in 1896. The last underground mining took place at the Reed Mine in 1912. To handle the large amount of gold found in the region and state from the 19th into the early 20th century, the Charlotte Mint was built in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, the Reed Mine is a state historic site and open to the public. Visitors can tour a museum with extensive displays about North Carolina gold mining. In addition, they can explore several hundred feet of restored mine tunnels. (Source)

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[giradman]

Reed Gold Mine - NC State Historic Site - Gold Discovered in 1799 - Part II

Just some more pics from the previous posts, including a handful from inside the mine tour - looking forward to reading the book in the last image. Dave
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[giradman]

Charlotte - North Carolina's Largest City - Introduction

Charlotte Town was incorporated in November 1768 and named after Charlotte, the Queen of England and wife of George III; the city is located in Mecklenburg County, the queen's German homeland. During the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War, Cornwallis controlled the town for a brief time and plaques on the downtown streets note his presence - see quotes for more information.

Geographically, the city is located in the southern Piedmont area of the state near the SC border and covers just over 300 square in area (see link in quotes) - there are numerous neighborhoods, especially of ethnic and racial origin (we would love to find a tour that explores this diversity); one of the most important central areas is known as 'Uptown', basically within the 277 loop (see maps) - this is the locale that we spend nearly all of our time when visiting, often to see a performance at the Blumenthal Center - pics below show the beautiful city skyline along w/ two of the major sports venues - our favorite hotel is the Ritz-Carlton on Trade Street near Tryon Street, the historic crossroads of the town; however, the Westin Hotel is a modern beautiful 4-diamond property and is also conveniently located to museums and restaurants - Dave

Charlotte is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population was 859,035, making it the 17th-most populous city in the United States. The Charlotte metropolitan area's population ranks 22nd in the U.S. with a 2016 population of 2,474,314. Between 2004 and 2014, Charlotte was ranked as the country's fastest-growing metro area, with 888,000 new residents. It is the second-largest city in the southeastern United States, just behind Jacksonville, Florida. It is the third-fastest-growing major city in the United States.[8 Residents are referred to as "Charlotteans". (Source)

Charlotte is the corporate headquarters of Bank of America and the east coast operations of Wells Fargo, which along with other financial institutions has made it the second-largest banking center in the United States since 1995. Among Charlotte's many notable attractions, some of the most popular include the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, the Charlotte Independence of the USL, the Charlotte Hounds of Major League Lacrosse, two NASCAR Cup Series races and the NASCAR All-Star Race, the Wells Fargo Championship, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the Charlotte Ballet, Carowinds amusement park, and the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a major international hub, and was ranked the 7th-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2018. (Source

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[giradman]

Charlotte - Introduction (continued)

Charlotte and its environs has numerous attractions, including museums, performing arts, and restaurants - below is a list (not complete) of the many museums available (we've been to most but not all, yet!) - the ones highlighted in bold were visited today and most will be topics of upcoming posts. The pics show a number of these places - the original Mint Museum Randolph is just outside the 277 loop and was the historic mint established in 1835 (open in 1837), and also contains the two portraits of Queen Charlotte & George III (first 3 pics) - Dave

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
Billy Graham Library
Carolinas Aviation Museum
Charlotte Museum of History
Discovery Place Science
Harvey B. Gantt Center African Arts/Culture
Historic Latta Plantation
Levine Center for the Arts
Levine Museum of the New South
Mint Museum Randolph
Mint Museum Uptown
NASCAR Hall of Fame
President James K. Polk State Historic Site
Wells Fargo History Museum

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[scifan57]

Reed Gold Mine - NC State Historic Site - Gold Discovered in 1799 - Part II

Just some more pics from the previous posts, including a handful from inside the mine tour - looking forward to reading the book in the last image. Dave
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Did you try panning for gold?

 

[giradman]

Did you try panning for gold?

Hi Scifan.. - thanks for your interest in my 'new' thread (w/ a LOT of catching up!) - at the Reed Mine, panning for gold is an option but does not start until April, so not a choice for us at this time - however, in the 1990s, we did a 2-week trip to Alaska (half land & half on a ship) - we stayed in Nome a few nights and did pan for gold - I found a small speck and Susan nothing - not a thrilling experience as I recall - likely would not have panned even if available - BUT, the place is worth a stop if in the vicinity whether you want to pan or not - Dave

 

[giradman]

St. Peter's Church and the Museums

Well, we had a full day in Charlotte and explored the area w/i just a few blocks - the map below shows various colored squares of the places visited and our two evening restaurants (another post). Our first visit was to the modest but beautiful St. Peter's Church - more history in the quotes. The pics are a mixture of my own and several from the web - I went to a Catholic grade school and we were in a beautiful church each school day - ever since, I've loved visiting churches - this one was indeed small but appealing; we left several donations and Susan even lit a candle, a new experience for a Jewish girl. More to come on the museums. Dave

St. Peter's Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church at 507 South Tryon Street in Charlotte. Established in 1851, it is the oldest Catholic church in Charlotte, and until 1940 was the only Catholic church in the city. St. Peter's was originally at the extreme southern limits of the city, but today it stands in the heart of uptown, across from major art museums and next to The Green. It is most likely the oldest surviving edifice on Tryon Street. The original structure stood from 1851 until 1892. The building was damaged during the civil war and in 1892 was deemed structurally unsafe. The present structure, in a simplified Victorian Gothic style rendered in dark brick, dates from 1893. (Source)

As the city grew and new parishes were established in the suburbs, St. Peter's lost so many members that it ceased being a formal parish in 1970, and did not regain full parish status until 1986. Since that time, in cooperation with other churches in Charlotte, particularly their sister church, St. Peter’s Episcopal, they have been working to help the poor and unfortunate of Charlotte through low-cost housing, help for AIDS victims, and outreach to the homeless. Since 1986, St. Peter's has been staffed by the Jesuits.
A prominent feature of the church interior was a triptych by American painter Ben Long, a three-part fresco depicting Christ’s Agony in the Garden, Resurrection, and Pentecost. The fresco was severely damaged in February 2002. Following the damage to the fresco, the interior of the Church was renovated in 2007. (Source)

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[giradman]

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

For our day walking excursion just a few blocks from the hotel, we visited four different museums - these included the ones boxed in blue on my previous map. Our first (and a first experience) was to the Harvey B. Gantt Center (see quotes below) - Gantt was the first African-American student at Clemson University (located in South Carolina, his home state) and also the first black mayor of Charlotte - Susan & I voted for him twice when he ran (and lost) for the US Senate against the incumbent Republican, Jesse Helms.

The center is a beautiful building as seem from the pic (and expected since he is an architect) - there are several exhibit wings inside the structure - the main current exhibit is Welcome to Brookhill, mainly a photographic presentation of a Charlotte neighborhood undergoing change - if interested, see third quote w/ link below - the remaining images our my own from the exhibit. Dave

Harvey Bernard Gantt (born January 14, 1943) is an American architect and Democratic politician active in North Carolina.[2] The first African-American student admitted to Clemson University after attending Iowa State University, Gantt graduated with honors in architecture, earned a master's at MIT, and established an architectural practice in Charlotte with a partner. Gantt entered local politics, where he was elected to the city council, serving from 1974 to 1983. He was elected to two terms as the first black Mayor of Charlotte from 1983 to 1987. In the 1990s, he ran twice for the United States Senate against Jesse Helms, losing both times. (Source)

The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, formerly known as the Afro-American Cultural Center, is located in Charlotte, North Carolina and named for Harvey Gantt, the city's first African-American mayor and the first African-American student at Clemson University. The 46,500 sq ft, four-story center was designed by Freelon Group Architects at a cost of $18.6 million — and was dedicated in October 2009 as part of what is now the Levine Center for the Arts. (Source)

The land where Brookhill Village stands has been an African-American community since the 1930s. One company owns the property that makes up this 36-acre community just south of Uptown Charlotte, another firm owns the wooden, single-story buildings that were developed in 1951. This arrangement has become a quagmire for the owners and, subsequently, for the residents. In Charlotte, the current cost of an apartment averages $1,142 per month. Two-bedroom units are $1,169. With rents ranging from approximately $350 to $515 per month for two bedrooms, prices in Brookhill Village are among the lowest in the city. New construction in South End – a neighborhood just next to the Brookhill community – is one of the most active with thousands of new units currently under construction. (Source)

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[giradman]

Mint Museum Uptown Incorporating the Mint Museum of Craft + Design

Our second stop was the Mint Museum Uptown which opened in 2010 - much houses the collections of glass, ceramics, wood, and other media from the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, which was located further Uptown near the Discovery Place and the Blumenthal Center, but relocated to the new position. The building is another beautiful structure with a large gift shop at street level; there is a nice cafeteria which we had lunch on a previous visit. The pics below of the inside are my own and represents just a sampling of the many items to see inside the museum. There was a special retrospective exhibit of Michael Sherrill which I'll devote the next post. Dave

The Mint Museum's new 145,000-square-foot location opened on October 1, 2010. Designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston, the building's estimated cost is $57 million. Now that it is complete, this building is known as the Mint Museum Uptown with the original building on Randolph Road to be known as the Mint Museum Randolph. The Uptown location spreads over five floors and houses collections of glass, ceramics, wood and other material from the Mint Museum of Craft + Design. Contemporary Art, American Art and some of the European Art collections from the Randolph Road facility have also moved to the new location, bringing the Mint's arts and craft and fine arts focuses under one roof for the first time. The historic Randolph Road building remains open. Renovations and reinstallation are scheduled to highlight the Museum's holdings in Ceramics; Historic Costume and Fashionable Dress; Ancient American Art; Asian Art; Coins & Currency; Decorative Arts; and Spanish Colonial Art. (Source)

The Mint Museum of Craft + Design honors the legacy of the Charlotte region's rich craft heritage by collecting artistic craft in glass, metal, fiber, wood, mixed-media, and clay, including jewelry and furniture. With over 2,500 works, its permanent collections "present the creative evolution of studio craft from the utilitarian objects of the 19th century to the art of today". The Mint Museum of Craft + Design has been proclaimed as one of the foremost craft museums in the nation. It opened in 1999 following an $8.2 million donation to the Mint Museum of Art for purchase of a separate space to house the museum's craft and design collection in Charlotte's Uptown. Its permanent collection has been described as "complex and eclectic", featuring "everything from fine jewelry to fiber arts, from wacky, satirical, narrative ceramic sculpture...to product design." The museum closed in February 2010 to begin a move from its building on North Tryon Street to its new home in the Mint Museum Uptown. It reopened as part of the Mint Museum Uptown in October 2010. The move expanded the collection's gallery space from 10,000 square feet to 18,000 square feet in the new facility. (Source)

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[giradman]

Michael Sherrill - North Carolina Artist - Mint Museum Retrospective

Michael Sherrill was born in Charlotte and made the NC mountains his home since 1974 - be began as a humble potter but evolved into an extraordinary multi-media artist creating varied works from pottery with oriental and Native American influences, large sculptural structures, and wonderful nature works combining metal, ceramics, and glass. All pics of the art works are my own - Susan and I were really 'bowled over' by the versatility and artistry of Sherrill - if you are reading this post and can travel or live in Charlotte, then do not miss this exhibit. Dave

The son of an inventor & motorcycle racer and warrior princess homemaker, Michael Sherrill has lived in the western North Carolina mountains since 1974. He considers himself a materials-based artist experimenting primarily in the media of clay, metal, and glass. At the heart of his interest is the intersection of where humans and materials meet in both handmade objects and the natural world. Michael’s work is in several public collections including the Smithsonian Institute’s Renwick Collection, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Mint Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, Corning Museum of Glass, and Takoma Glass Museum, among others. (Source)

In 1993, the Year of Craft, Michael was selected for the White House collection, which traveled to venues around the United States. His piece, “Incandescent Bottles,” now resides in the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. As part of the International Ceramics Symposium (World Ceramic Exposition Foundation), Michael was one of 10 artists invited in the summer of 2004 to participate in a residency creating outdoor sculptures to be placed permanently at the International Ceramic Museum in Inchon, S. Korea. His other residencies include: the LH Project (2015), Museum of Glass (2010), John Michael Kohler Arts Center (2006), and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (2005). Michael was awarded the 2010 United States Artists Wingate Fellowship. (Source)

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[giradman]

Wells Fargo History Museum

Wells Fargo is our current bank after their buyout of Wachovia Bank, which originated in Winston-Salem and was our bank for many years - a sad lost for us and the community. Wells Fargo has a number of museums throughout the United States (history and time table HERE) - so, after visiting the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Susan was tired and headed back to the hotel, and I went to the Wells Fargo History Museum, just across the street. Entrance was free and the museum is small but well done - an excellent historic documentary film is available. Exhibits concentrate on the origins of Wells Fargo and also Wachovia in Salem, gold mining in North Carolina, and the stage coach history of the company, which was rather amazing before the expansion of railroads after the first intercontinental connection in 1869 - pics below show much of the museum. Dave

The Wells Fargo History Museum is located in Three Wells Fargo in Uptown Charlotte, adjacent to the Levine Center for the Arts.

The museum highlights gold mining in North Carolina, and the beginnings of Wachovia Bank. Exhibits include a model of an 1889 Wachovia Bank branch from Winston-Salem.

Wells Fargo history exhibits feature a rare Concord stagecoach, built in the mid-19th century.

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[suenc]

Reed Gold Mine - NC State Historic Site - Gold Discovered in 1799 - Part I

On our drive down to Charlotte, we detoured to visit the Reed Gold Mine - the start of the FIRST Gold Rush in the United States, nearly a half century before its discovery at Sutter's Mill in 1848 in California. The Visitor's Center includes a 10-minute introductory film which is well done, an excellent museum on the history of gold, particularly related to North Carolina, a self-guided tour of an underground gold mine, and a small gift store (we bought t-shirts and a recent book on 'Gold Mining in NC' - see next post) - more info in the quotes below. Pics are many of my own from the inside and the mine tour, and carry over to the next post.

In the early 1800s, the mining for gold was a major industry in North Carolina, and a number of 'mints' were established in the Charlotte area including the famous one in the city itself, which is now the Mint Museum. BTW, that first nugget found by Reed's son which he took $3.50 at that time but later was valued at $3,600 - just did a calculation in an inflation index - in today's USA dollars that amount is $84,000 - WOW! Dave




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The Reed Gold Mine story was news to me. I’m glad I’m not a miner.

 

[suenc]

Michael Sherrill - North Carolina Artist - Mint Museum Retrospective

Michael Sherrill was born in Charlotte and made the NC mountains his home since 1974 - be began as a humble potter but evolved into an extraordinary multi-media artist creating varied works from pottery with oriental and Native American influences, large sculptural structures, and wonderful nature works combining metal, ceramics, and glass. All pics of the art works are my own - Susan and I were really 'bowled over' by the versatility and artistry of Sherrill - if you are reading this post and can travel or live in Charlotte, then do not miss this exhibit. Dave




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Very impressive--talent and imagination in many media.

 

[suenc]

Wells Fargo History Museum

Wells Fargo is our current bank after their buyout of Wachovia Bank, which originated in Winston-Salem and was our bank for many years - a sad lost for us and the community. Wells Fargo has a number of museums throughout the United States (history and time table HERE) - so, after visiting the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Susan was tired and headed back to the hotel, and I went to the Wells Fargo History Museum, just across the street. Entrance was free and the museum is small but well done - an excellent historic documentary film is available. Exhibits concentrate on the origins of Wells Fargo and also Wachovia in Salem, gold mining in North Carolina, and the stage coach history of the company, which was rather amazing before the expansion of railroads after the first intercontinental connection in 1869 - pics below show much of the museum. Dave


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Darn! I missed seeing the stagecoach.