Charlotte
Charlotte, named in honor of Charlotte Reeves Robertson, the wife of General James Robertson, was established by act of the Tennessee General Assembly in 1804. Montgomery Bell, Sterling Brewer, John Davidson, George Clark and Robert Dunning were authorized to locate a suitable location for a seat of government. They purchased 50 acres owned by Charles Stewart for $5,000 and organized the town with 49 lots that was divided into blocks by 11 streets.
The first house in Charlotte was built before the town was planned by William Peacock. John Hyde built the next house on the southwest corner of the square. The oldest house still standing in Charlotte is a large brick home built by Jacob Voorhies on the west side of the Court Square in 1806. The first real tavern was established in 1810 by Rank Ellis. It stood on the northwest corner of the square.
The County’s first school, Tracy Academy, was chartered by the General Assembly at Charlotte in 1806, but the school was not active for another dozen years. The Charlotte Female Academy was established in the 1820s. The first rural library in Tennessee was chartered by the General Assembly at Charlotte in 1815. A four-year high school was established in Charlotte in 1927 and operated until all county high schools were consolidated in 1972. Creek Wood High School, located half-way between Charlotte and White Bluff was established in 2002.
Charlotte grew quickly and became an important trade and legal center as well as a transportation hub. Roads were soon built to Nashville, Cumberland Furnace, Clarksville, Columbia, Franklin, Vernon, Palmyra, and a western road, built on the old Chickasaw Trace that went to Natchez, Mississippi and to points beyond. Charlotte became an important stop on Stage Routes as early as 1812. The Tennessee Supreme Court met in Charlotte from 1819 until 1821. Sterling Brewer, of Charlotte, was Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor from 1821-1823.
The peace and prosperity of the 1820s was disrupted by a tornado on May 30, 1830 which almost destroyed Charlotte and surrounding areas. The two-story brick Courthouse was severely damaged and the log jail was demolished. The roof of the Courthouse was carried 13 miles to the east and public records deposited in the Courthouse and in other buildings which housed law offices were blown all over the countryside. Fortunately, many of them were recovered. Rebuilt after the tornado, the circa 1833 Courthouse was enlarged by adding two wings in 1934 and was restored in the mid-1990s.
The community recovered during the late 1830s and enjoyed its greatest growth and prosperity during the 1840s and 1850s. Most of the buildings located on the Court Square were built during this period. Charlotte was incorporated in 1837 and its first election was held in 1838. Charlotte barely missed being named the State Capital in 1842, falling two votes short of Nashville’s total.
Union soldiers established “Camp Charlotte” on the Courthouse grounds from December 1863 until March 1864. Guerillas, coordinated by scouts of Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joe Wheeler effectively weakened Federal control of Nashville by interfering with the steady flow of supplies on the Cumberland River. Many supply ships were attacked and sunk by the guerillas. Federal control of Nashville was not secured until General Grant ordered the completion of a railroad from Kingston Springs to the Tennessee River through the southern portion of Dickson County.
With the establishment of the Railroad growth moved from Charlotte to the new towns established along the new transportation routes. But, the community organized to house the county’s government has the distinction of being home of the “Oldest Courthouse in Use” in Tennessee. The Charlotte Courthouse Square Historic District was recognized by the US Department of the Interior as a National Historic Site in 1977. The Historic District includes more than 22 historic buildings. A new Courthouse Annex was constructed in 1977. Nearly all of the historic properties on the Court Square have been restored to their original appearance and adapted for modern uses.
Charlotte’s population according to the 1980 census the population was 788. The population jumped to 1,105 by the 1990 census and 1,153 by 2000.
Contact Information
City of Charlotte, P.O. Box 129, Charlotte, TN 37036, (615) 789-4184
Mayor
Bill Davis
Population 2000 Census
1,153