{"id":2013,"date":"2026-06-22T20:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2013"},"modified":"2026-06-22T20:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:37:28","slug":"why-is-downtown-charlotte-called-uptown-learn-the-citys-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2013","title":{"rendered":"Why is downtown Charlotte called \u2018uptown\u2019? Learn the city\u2019s history"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"summary\">AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article280707640.html\">Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Charlotte is an uptown girl living in an uptown world \u2014 but most cities aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>In most cities, a central area full of businesses and culture is called \u201cdowntown.\u201d As any native and most transplants will tell you, Charlotte\u2019s financial district is called uptown.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2011\">A hidden Dominican deli, cheap pizza and Charlotte\u2019s lost BBQ joints<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Charlotte is the <b>only major city<\/b> in the United States where the central business district is officially known as \u201cuptown,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/uptowncharlotte.com\/about\/history-of-uptown\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Charlotte Center City Partners.<\/a> But why?<\/p>\n<p>One explanation for the name comes from <b>Charlotte\u2019s higher elevation<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.historysouth.org\/about\/\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Tom Hanchett<\/a>, a Charlotte community historian, explained to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/charlottefive\/c5-around-town\/article236094703.html\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\"> The Charlotte Observer in 2015.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the mid-1700s, the nation\u2019s trading path from the southeast to the Atlantic ran along a ridge top,\u201d Hanchett said. \u201cOne of those Indian trading paths in Charlotte came to be Tryon Street and it crossed another that became Trade Street. This was the highest elevation point and the city grew around it. When people came to this point, they were going \u2018up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hanchett also noted that the name gained traction after a 1974 Charlotte City Council declaration aimed at encouraging people to visit the district.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA city council proclamation declared that the shopping and business district in the center city be officially named \u2018Uptown Charlotte,\u2019\u201d said Hanchett. \u201cThe push for this came from local merchant and booster, Jack Wood. Wood argued that Uptown name was in use in the 50s and needed to be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Uptown was built around the intersection of <b>Trade and Tryon streets<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/news\/local\/article308210485.html\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">the Observer previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2009\">North Carolina among the most economically segregated schools in the US, report says<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trade Street was named for the area\u2019s early role as a trading path, as Hanchett mentioned. Tryon Street was named in honor of William Tryon, former governor of North Carolina according to <a href=\"https:\/\/uptowncharlotte.com\/about\/history-of-uptown\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Charlotte Center City Partners.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The intersection was once the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmdb.org\/m.asp?m=175604\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">site of the hom<\/a>e of<b> Col. Thomas Polk.<\/b> He was a North Carolina legislator who played a key role in drafting the <a href=\"https:\/\/charlottemuseum.org\/learn\/articles\/evidence-for-and-against-the-mecklenburg-declaration-of-independence\/\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence<\/a> and the Mecklenburg Resolves.<\/p>\n<p>Polk is long dead, and Trade Street is no longer a trading path in the same sense as it was in the 1700s. Now, the intersection is called <b>Independence Square.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Independence Square is marked with four statues memorializing the industries that brought Charlotte to prominence, according to Center City Partners:<\/p>\n<p>Today, Charlotte is home to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/table\/charlottecitynorthcarolina\/PST045224\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">nearly 1 million people<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.charlottenc.gov\/Growth-and-Development\/Economic-Development\/About-Us\/Charlottes-Rankings-and-Accolades\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">19 Fortune 1000 companies<\/a> are headquartered here.<\/p>\n<p><i>Portions of this story were previously published in the Charlotte Observer.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Questions about life in North Carolina? Or have a tip or story idea you\u2019d like to share? The service journalism teams at The News &amp; Observer and The Charlotte Observer want to hear from you.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2007\">Charlotte region adds budget, nonstop flights to Indianapolis, Cleveland<\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can submit your question by <b><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSccVKD-gL7FQf5pkdkbdjLw965_FcrhM0VNSNc3CpkcOakHFg\/viewform?usp=dialog\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">filling out this form<\/a><\/b>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn the history behind Uptown Charlotte: Trade and Tryon\u2019s trading path origins, Independence Square statues, and the 1974 naming push.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why is downtown Charlotte called \u2018uptown\u2019? 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