Attractions/Gay History
Charlotte is NC’s largest city and is known as the "Queen City". Before you get too carried away, it was named for a real queen ... Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, wife of George III. In the early years it was a major gold-producing center and the site of a Federal Mint until the 1848 California gold rush. Later farming trade and the cotton industry brought prosperity and growth. Once known for beautiful tree lined residential streets, today Charlotte’s skyline reflects the fact that is second only to New York for banking and it is in the process of a wonderful downtown renewal. It is even restoring one of its old trolley lines. While Charlotte still retains much of the old south’s conservatism, its "new South" population and business growth is constantly forcing her into the twenty first century of diversity, equal rights and freedom. Today, Charlotte has the one of the largest LGBT communities in the state and it is very active and organized. It boasts a statewide newspaper, an LGBT community center and many nightclubs and social organizations.
When visiting, don’t miss the Mint Museum of Art, the Levine Museum of the New South and Discovery Place with the Imax Theater Dome.
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