Crossroads to Commerce August 28, 2008

Enter this gallery through a gold mine and learn how the Charlotte region became the center of the first U.S. Gold Rush. See how, as the railroads reached Charlotte, trade and commerce flourished and cotton became king in Mecklenburg County. With a cotton economy the number of enslaved African Americans needed to plant and process the crops grew. See how as the railroads reached Charlotte trade and commerce flourished and cotton became king in Mecklenburg County. With a cotton economy the number of enslaved African Americans needed to plant and process the crops grew. View artifacts and documents that tell about Charlotte and Mecklenburg's participation in, and support of, the Confederate cause during the Civil War. Learn about the relocation of the Confederate Navy Yard to Charlotte in 1863, the role of women in the region during the war and the effects of Reconstruction in Mecklenburg County.