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Print35 Moments That Changed the City
In 2003, to celebrate the magazine’s thirty-fifth anniversary, we published a list of 35 moments in the previous 35 years that forever changed Charlotte.
- April 23, 1969: James McMillan Rules on Busing in Schools
- 1975: NCNB and First Union Help Restore Fourth Ward
- February 12, 1970: SouthPark Mall Opens
- April 19, 1977: District Representation Enters Local Politics
- 1975: Bruton Smith Gains Control of Charlotte Motor Speedway
- 8:04 A.M., November 21, 1978: Hank Stoppelbein Enjoys a Legal Cocktail at Benedictine's Restaurant
- Banking on Charlotte
- June 8, 1981: Charlotte's Banking Industry Goes National
- September 30, 1998: NationsBank and BankAmerica Merge
- December 14, 2000: Wachovia Opens the Door for First Union Bid
- 1981: Harry Nurkin hired at Charlotte Memorial Hospital
- November 1983: Harvey Gantt Elected Mayor
- 1985: Developers Turn Their 'Dozers Northward
- March 19, 1987: Jim Bakker Resigns from PTL
- April 16, 1987: Jerry Richardson Places a Phone Call to Hugh McColl
- November 4, 1988: The Charlotte Hornets Tip Off
- September 22, 1989: Hurricane Hugo Strikes Charlotte
- 1990: Airport Completes Expansion
- November 1, 1990: First portion of I-485 Opens
- November 20, 1992: Opening Night of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
- December 1993: Mythos Opens Downtown
- July 13, 1994: Morton's of Chicago Open
- 7:35 pm, March 20, 1996: Angels in America Opens at Charlotte Repertory Theatre
- November 7, 1995: Pat McCrory Elected Mayor
- July 10, 1996: William States Lee Dies
- 1996: Ground Is Broken on Ballantyne
- June 27, 1997: Dean & DeLuca Opens in Phillips Place
- August 29, 1996: Charlotte Trolley Begins Running on Norfolk Southern Track
- November 16, 1999: Cherica Adams Is Murdered
- January 27, 1999: Jim Black Elected Speaker of N. C. House
- September 11, 2001
- September 21, 2001: Courts Lift Order for Schools to Desegregate
- May 5, 2002: The PGA‘Tour Returns
- June 2002: Johnson and Wales Announces Campus
- December 17, 2002: Robert Johnson Awarded NBA Franchise
- April 30, 2003: Westin Charlotte Opens
For our fortieth, we decided to update the list, and we want your help. Vote for five moments from the past five years that we should add to the list.
We invite your responses and discussion. Please refrain from personal attacks, profanity, commercial promotion, or non sequiturs.
Reader Comments:
Southern writer Tony Early began his story "Charlotte" with one of my favorite quotes about my hometown - to paraphrase: "Charlotte hasn't been the same since the wrestlers moved to Atlanta." From 1931 to November 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions provided what was arguably the best televised and live professional wrestling of its day, creating memorable characters like "Nature Boy" Ric Flair among countless others. Anyone who lived in Charlotte during those years knows you've overlooked a huge moment in the evolution of this city by not including this sale on your list. As Lewis Grizzard once wrote, "Being a good sports journalist in the South means knowing the importance of getting Saturday night's wrestling results in Sunday morning's paper."