Charlotte was founded in the mid-1700's in a region populated by native Catawba Indians. The region's first inhabitants were from overseas and the northern states of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. Many were German or Scots-Irish in origin, who founded several of the Presbyterian churches still in existence today. Charlotte and its county are named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the German-born wife of British King George III. Queen Charlotte bore 15 children (of which 13 survived), and is the great-great-great-great grandmother of today's Queen Elizabeth of England. She was a patroness of the arts in Europe, notably to composers Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She also helped establish the Royal Botanical Gardens in England, also known as Kew Gardens.

In 1755, settler Thomas Polk built a dwelling at the crossroads of a Native American trading path and the Great Wagon road. This crossroads became the hub for the village of ‘Charlotte Town,’ incorporated in 1768. This hub, now known as 'The Square' or 'Trade & Tryon', comprises the heart of modern Uptown Charlotte. (The trading path became Trade St; the Great Wagon road became Tryon St, after William Tryon, former NC royal governor).

Charlotte was a site of encampment for both American and British armies during the Revolutionary War. During a series of skirmishes between British troops and Charlotteans, the town earned the nickname 'Hornet's Nest' from a frustrated Lord Cornwallis. (The name has endured over time, with many local teams, businesses and even schools claiming the moniker...)

In 1799, a 17 pound gold-colored rock was found in the Charlotte area by 12 year-old Conrad Reed, whose family used it as a doorstop. Three years later, the rock was declared by an expert to be near solid gold, sparking the nation's first Gold Rush. The Charlotte Mint was created on March 3, 1835 during the Carolina Gold Rush, establishing the city as a financial center. All gold coinage originating from the Charlotte Mint has a 'C' mint mark. The mint issued over $5 million in gold coins during its operation. During the Civil War, the Confederacy seized control of the Mint, turning it into a hospital and military office space. During the post-Civil War period, Charlotte became a cotton processing center and a railroad hub.

Modern day Charlotte is home to the 2nd largest banking industry in the US (after New York), and the headquarters of Bank of America, Wachovia, and other financial giants. It is also a pivotal business, distribution, transportation, and wholesale center for the region, as well as for the greater USA (almost two-thirds of the US population live within 650 miles of Charlotte, making it a natural trade hub). Charlotte is also the headquarters of many foreign companies (431 in 2005) which benefit from the Foreign Trade Zone established in 1980. The demographic of modern day Charlotte has evolved as well, with the establishment of many ethnic communities. Greek, Asian, Indian, German, British, Vietnamese, Russian, African and Latino populations are all represented, lending Charlotte an increasingly international flavor.