Mug Shot — «Charlotte - Center of the Known World»

City: Charlotte Country: USA Edition: 2008 Icon Edition Belongs to: 510 users (17 trading, 205 seeking)

Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. The city is a major U.S. financial center, the second largest financial center by assets following New York City. Bank of America and the East Coast operations of Wells Fargo are headquartered in the city. Charlotte is also home of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League, the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Carowinds amusement park and the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte and its resident county are named in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who had become queen consort of British King George III the year before the city's founding. A second nickname derives from the American Revolutionary War, when British commander General Cornwallis occupied the city but was driven out by hostile residents, prompting him to write that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion", leading to the nickname The Hornet's Nest. Charlotte has a humid subtropical climate. Charlotte is located several miles east of the Catawba River and southeast of Lake Norman, the largest man-made lake in North Carolina. Lake Wylie and Mountain Island Lake are two smaller man-made lakes located near the city.

The Center of the Known World - The playful signpost with its colorful pointers is the creation of San Antonio artist Gary Sweeney. Sweeney also produced the “author” signs throughout the park, in which the names of cities and towns across the country are joined to form the names of famous writers, such as Mark (Illinois) and Twain (California). Developed by Wachovia Bank in 2002 as part of the Ratcliffe condominium project and managed by Childress Klein Properties, The Green is, in fact, the roof of a parking garage. Four levels of underground parking are concealed beneath its landscaped terraces. The piece of art which tourists always pause to study is the signpost pointing to places named Charlotte. And Charlotte, it seems, is in all directions. Eleven Charlottes are mentioned, in addition to the one for which the artwork is named, “Charlotte—The Center of the Known World.” The signs point in the approximate direction of the locales they identify, and tell the distance in miles to each one.

photo by lucky
edited by mobydick74

  USA, Charlotte, North Carolina

Karma: 8 Added by Lucky 1 Comments