The marker is on the east side of the Bank of America stadium, inside the gates. You'll be able to…read moresee the marker from outside but probably not read it unless you have a ticket for a game. It points out what was here before it was a ballpark. The marker has the same text on both sides. It reads, "Good Samaritan Hospital. 1891-1961. Site of the first independent private hospital in North Carolina built exclusively for African Americans. Established by Jane Renwick Smedberg Wilkes of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. One of the oldest black hospitals then in operation in the U.S." In 1961, ownership was transferred to the City of Charlotte and the facility was renamed Charlotte Community Hospital. It continued operating until 1982, when it was converted into a rest home. Ultimately, in 1996, the building was demolished to make way for the stadium. [Review 518 of 2025 - 4118 in North Carolina - 24079 overall]

Located on the grounds of the old Union County Courthouse, this 40 foot tall granite obelisk is a…read morememorial to the Confederate soldiers from Union County. Atop the three-tier granite foundation rests the base of the obelisk. The tall shaft is topped with a polished sphere. All four sides of the base are inscribed. The east face of the base features a Confederate flag, while the east and west faces depict crossed rifles and crossed cavalry sabers, respectively. The monument was installed in 1910 by the Monroe Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. There has been some discussion about removing it and at this time, it is surrounded by chain link fence to prevent damage or vandalism. I suspect that it will be removed at some point soon so stop by while you still can. [Review 15439 overall, 943 of 2021, number 2986 in North Carolina.]

Located at the entrance of Elizabeth Park, this bronze statue is dedicated to a local hero that…read moremost Americans will not be familiar with. That person is Captain James Jack. He delivered the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence to Congress in Philadephia. This document declaring independence from Great Britain was signed by citizens of Mecklenburg County (a county that includes Charlotte and nearby cities) on May 20, 1775. Notice that this predates the more well known 1776 Declaration of Independence signed by the 13 colonies. It's a nice statue and I learned an interesting bit of history by stumbling upon it.

No, it's not Paul Revere. It's Captain James Jack!…read more According to local legend, a band of local patriots met on May 19, 1775 and drafted a set of Resolves that outlined the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. The documents declared that the actions of the British government were intolerable and that Mecklenburg County was no longer under British rule. You'll note that this was BEFORE July 4, 1776. At the time, he was a tavern owner but Captain Jack courageously volunteered to take these powerful documents on the journey from Charlotte to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. His actions were a risk to everything, all for the rights and protections that we take for granted today. If he'd been captured, the documents would certainly have led to his death as a traitor. But he made it and this was no doubt a part of the impetus towards the famous Declaration of Independence that all those other people signed. This statue is in Elizabeth Park, at the corner of Kings Drive and 4th Street, not far from Uptown Charlotte. And the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery on South Tryon has a beer named in his honor. Try it, it's tasty stuff! Round number review! #6400!

The historical marker reads, "Founder of the nation's first textile factory owned and operated by…read moreblacks, 1897-1904. Mill building is 350 yds. N." It is by the side of the road with no easy parking. Of course, the more information can be found online. "The Coleman Manufacturing Company in Concord represented the first major cooperative effort by North Carolina's African American businessmen and was the first textile operation in the nation owned and operated by blacks. Considerable public attention went to the mill during its relatively short period of operation." "Equipment testing began in late 1898 and full production of cotton yarn a year later. The mill at its peak employed 300 black workers. At the 1900 Exposition Universal in Paris, France, the factory was billed as "the only Negro cotton mill in the U.S." Industry-wide economic troubles forced Coleman to resign in December 1903. Benjamin N. Duke foreclosed on the mortgage in April 1904. Later a section of the mill built by Coleman was operated as Plant No. 9 of Cannon Mills Company." [Review 13180 overall, 497 of 2020.]

Il Grande Disco ('Grand Disc') was designed by a well known Italian artist named Arnaldo Pomodoro…read moreand installed in the middle of Charlotte's Uptown district in 1974. Il Grando Disco is one of six sculptures throughout the world, with the others being in New York, Illinois, Germany, Italy and Chicago.

I'm not sure why this plaza honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. is located next to a roundabout in…read moreConcord but its here. Laid with bricks and with three marble benches facing five stones carved with the man's face and number of important phrases from his speeches that reference Truth, Hope, Dream, Unity and Peace. There is no parking nearby so I'm still puzzled. [Review 13178 overall, 495 of 2020.]

This marker is located adjacent to the new Union County Courthouse building and is in very good…read morecondition. There is street parking nearby. The marker reads, "David F. Houston. Secretary of Agriculture and later of the Treasury under Wilson. College president and author. His birthplace stood 60 yards north." Online, there is more information. "Author, university administrator, U.S. cabinet official, and businessman David Franklin Houston had his beginnings in Union County. Houston was born in Monroe on February 17, 1866, the youngest child of William Henry and Cornelia Anne Stevens Houston. His family left North Carolina for Darlington, South Carolina, in 1872. He graduated from the College of South Carolina in 1887 and after a year of graduate school, served as superintendent of public schools in Spartanburg, South Carolina. From there he went on to receive a Masters of Arts from Harvard University in 1892." "Woodrow Wilson appointed Houston to the post of Secretary of Agriculture in 1913. The legacy he created while serving in that position derived from his work to change the department of agriculture's emphasis on bolstering production to one of improving marketing, prices, and distribution of products. He served as Secretary of the Treasury from February 1920 to March 1921 and then was elected chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. In 1924 he was mentioned as a potential Democratic candidate; however, Houston was ready to end his political career." "Out of politics Houston stayed involved in the corporate world and in education. He was president of Bell Telephone Securities Company and financial vice-president of American Telephone & Telegraph Company from 1921 to 1927. From 1927 to 1940 he was president of Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. Meanwhile he served as a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard and as a trustee of Columbia University. David Franklin Houston died on September 2, 1940, and was buried in New York's Cold Spring Harbor Memorial Cemetery. [Review 15440 overall, 944 of 2021, number 2987 in North Carolina.]

In the modern age, Charlotte is a banking capital. Some say that after New York and San Francisco,…read morethe Queen City is the third biggest financial city in the United States. So it's interesting to learn that this isn't a new phenomenon and has older origins. The marker reads, "Branch U.S. Mint. Stood a few feet southwest. Operated 1837-61, 1867-1913. Razed, 1933, and rebuilt as art museum three miles east." This is marker number L-5 and it was erected in 1969 by the North Carolina Archives and Highway Departments. The 1799 discovery of a massive gold nugget in Cabarrus County sparked America's first gold rush, positioning North Carolina and especially Charlotte as a hub of gold production. With local mines like Barringer and Gold Hill fueling the economy, Charlotte secured a branch of the U.S. Mint in 1837, designed by William Strickland in the austere yet refined Federal style. The mint produced gold coins until the Civil War, when it was repurposed by the Confederacy, and later served as a U.S. Assay Office until 1913. Threatened by demolition, the building was saved and relocated to Eastover in the 1930s through the efforts of Mary Myers Dwelle and local citizens. [Review 1432 of 2025 - 4503 in North Carolina - 24983 overall]