Charlotte City, Mecklenburg County

Charlotte constitutes the majority of Mecklenburg County and is the largest city in the state of North Carolina and the 19th largest city in the United States. Also known as the "Queen City," its name was made in honor of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg who was the queen consort of George III of the United Kingdom. Aside from the abovementioned nickname, Charlotteans, as what the residents are labeled as, call their land as "The Hornet's Nest" as referenced from British Commander General Cornwallis calling Charlotte a "hornet's nest of rebellion." A former NBA team's name was called Charlotte Hornets. In 2008 - 2009, Charlotte was chosen as the Best Place to Live in America by a website called Relocate-America based on factors like employment opportunities, crime rates and housing affordability.

Some of the most prominent people housed in Charlotte are evangelist Billy Graham, NBA players Walter Davis, Mugsy Bogues and Antawn Jamison, singers Clay Aiken, K-Ci and Jojo and Fantasia Barrino, reality TV star Kwame Jackson (from The Apprentice), authors Carson McCullers, Ranolph Scott and Travis Jeppesen and actress Sharon Lawrence.

Charlotte's pride lies on its being a major US financial center due to the expansion of the city's banking industry. Charlotte's skyline was also ornamented by the 60-foot postmodern gothic building of the Bank Of America Corporate Center which is the tallest skyscraper between Philadelphia and Atlanta. Charlotte also serves as headquarters to a number of Fortune 500 companies: Bank of America (largest commercial bank in the United States by deposits and second largest by market capitalization), Wachovia (the fourth largest banking chain in the United States based on total assets), Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, Nucor Corporation, Duke Energy, Sonic Automotive, Inc., Family Dollar, Goodrich Corporation and SPX Corporation.

Majority of Charlotte's people are Caucasian ( English, Italian, German, Irish etc.) and African American, sharing 54.7% and 34.4% of the 630,000 plus population, respectively. The remainder is composed of Hispanic, Asian, Native American and other races. The city is also known as "The City of Churches" having been a land of diverse religions and beliefs. Although most who practice religion are Protestant Christians, Charlotte has a number of houses devoted to religiosity including the Presbyterian Church, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Wycliffe Bible Translators and JAARS Center, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Islamic Society of Greater Charlotte, Myosho-ji, Wonderful Voice Buddhist Temple and more than 700 places of worship.

Visitors of Charlotte should visit the following attractions: Charlotte Historic Trolley Museum in South Boulevard, Charlotte Nature Museum in Sterling Road, Discovery Place (science museum) in North Tyron, Mint Museum of Art in Randolph Road, Paramount’s Carowinds Water and Theme Park in Carowinds Boulevard and Victory Lane Indoor Karting Center in Tipton Drive.