Mecklenburg Iron Works drawings

The exact date of the formation of the Mecklenburg Iron Works is unknown, as is ownership of the firm until its purchase in 1859 by Captain John Wilkes. There is evidence, though, that the firm existed as early as 1846. The son of Admiral Charles Wilkes, John was graduated first in his class at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1847. Following a stint in the U.S. Navy, Wilkes married and moved to Charlotte in 1854. Two years after he purchased the iron works, the Confederate government took it over and used it as a naval ordnance depot. After the Civil War, Wilkes regained possession of the Iron Works, which he operated until his death in 1908. His sons, J. Renwick and Frank, continued the business until 1950, when they sold it to C. M. Cox and his associates. Products varied over the years from mining machinery and naval ordnance to turpentine stills. During the 1950s and 1960s, the fabrication of structural steel, engineered tank work, and similar products came from the Iron Works' plant on North Summit Avenue. Until its sale to the Carolina Steel Corporation in the mid-1960s, the Mecklenburg Iron Works was the longest running enterprise doing business in Charlotte.