Mecklenburg County in the late eighteenth century would be unrecognizable to the modern resident.  Charlotte occupied only a small portion of the county, with farmland, rivers, creeks, forests, and rolling grasslands composing the rest.  Nestled between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers, Charlotte occupied a prime position on two trade routes, the Great Wagon Road that ran north to south and another route that ran east to west at the current location of Trade Street.  This intersection of two former Indian paths, known in Charlotte as Trade and Tryon Streets, became the center of town.