The Bulletin 



SETTLEMENT 



Mecklenburg Comity Avas foniied in 1702, being hirgely settled by 

 Scotch, with some Irish, Germans, and English. From Pennsylvania 

 and Virginia came the Scotch and Irish and then the Germans. From 

 Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina, came the English. ,Other 

 English settlers also came from eastern ISTorth Carolina. The people of 

 the county are intelligent, labor-loving, industrious, and patriotic. They 

 early felt their oppression by the English Crown, and a band of them 

 organized and declared war against the English Government. As a 

 result of this the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was adopted 

 and signed May 20, 1775, more than one year prior to that promulgated 

 by the Congress at Philadelphia, July 4, 1776. The people of Mecklen- 

 burg celebrate this event annually on May 20, and this day is a State 

 holiday. Excepting the city of Charlotte, the population is w^ell dis- 

 tributed throughout the county. There are, however, some large tracts 

 which are undeveloped and some abandoned old fields Avhich could be 

 divided and converted into a productive condition. The county, though 

 one of the most populous in the State, could easily support several times 

 the present population. Throughout the county there are a large num- 

 ber of college graduates who are farming according to the latest and 

 most scientific methods. The results secured by these men are indicative 

 of what the soils are capable of producing and, at the same time, give 

 encouragement to the remaining farming classes. 



INDUSTRIES 



The industries in Mecklenburg County are numerous and varied. 

 There are twenty cotton mills in operation in the county. Charlotte is 

 the center of the textile industry of the United States. Within a radius 

 of 100 miles are to be found more than three hundred cotton mills con- 

 taining more spindles and more looms than anywhere else in the world. 

 Within a radius of 50 miles of Charlotte are located four immense 

 hydro-electric plants generating a total of more than one-fourth million 

 ele(i^ric horse-power. Electricity is being transmitted not only all over 

 the county, but throughout a large part of this section in JSTorth Caro- 

 lina, and many of the cotton mills and other manufactories are operated 

 by this ]iower. Other manufactories too numerous to mention are oper- 

 ated in Charlotte. 



RAILWAY, TRACTION, AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION 



Mecklenburg County is favored with excellent railroad facilities. The 

 county-seat, Charlotte, is one of the leading railroad centers of the South, 

 having four railway lines entering the city, affording both fast freight 

 and passenger service. More than sixty passenger trains arrive and 

 leave Charlotte within the day, while fast through freight service is 

 maintained on all lines entering the city. The main line of the Southern 



