Queen Charlotte statue
In 1990, a statue honoring Queen Charlotte was installed in the airport. The statue was created by Washington, DC, Artist Raymond Kaskey, who a committee of 16 people selected. He recounted the pose,
“I used her as a mythological symbol. Leaning backward in the wind seemed appropriate for an airport and the column sets her as a stationary weather vane. The emblem of the fountain is a compass rose, suggesting Charlotte as a crossroads. The crown in her hand is counterbalanced with the backward motion as a welcome sign to the pedestrian.”
The Queen’s Table, a private philanthropic group, and the city of Charlotte funded the statue. Most members of the group choose to remain anonymous.
The statue was moved in 2013 because of airport construction projects. According to WCNC Charlotte, it was first placed in a parking area. Then, in 2021, it was taken offsite for restoration, which was done in Seagrove, North Carolina, by Carolina Bronze.
“It’s a wonderful day as Quen Charlotte is back to welcome visitors to her city once again. Through all the construction, the development and growth, Queen Charlotte has been the constant. We are thrilled to bring her back inside so she can faithfully watch as we continue to build an airport fit for the Queen.”
The statue is now located in what is called the Queen’s Court, in the middle of the terminal lobby. Jack Christine, the airport’s Chief Infrastructure Officer, said,
“The Queen is really kind of an anchor. She ties the whole space together between what the lobby was before, and what it will be. She has had a bit of a journey and has been an important part of this project and a focal point of the expansion. This is the appropriate environment to preserve one of the city’s iconic pieces of art.”
One user wrote,
“Maybe it’s just me, but when I saw that statue outside back in the day, I imagined she was being blown away by the force of the airplane engines. Perhaps a metaphor for something….a juxtaposition of past and present. Anyway, talk amongst yourselves.”
Another recounted they used to say the Queen’s statue made it look like she got hit with a cannonball.
“25 years ago we said it looked like she’d been hit with a cannonball. We were too young to understand the physics of that and how this is not what would BBS the outcome.”
About the artist
Raymond Kaskey was a student in architecture school when he was awarded a $2,500 prize. in 1965, that was a significant amount of money. Kaskey went to school in Europe for one year to study, and he recounts that is where he got the taste for doing the figure of the Queen.
Kaskey was contacted by an art consultant for the State Department who wanted him to enter a contest for the airport.
“I’ve always been interested in classical structure with some kind of compositional intelligence behind the scenes. The Greeks had the idea that the future came at you from behind, whereas today, we think the future is out in front.”
He wanted to create a pose that signified motion or being held by the wind at her back. The hardest part about doing the queen was to make it unstable but not off balance. Kaskey recounts that he had to rig up the model using ropes from the ceiling and photograph from every possible angle.
What started as a smaller model was eventually turned into a 16-foot bronze statue.
About the city and the airport
The airport is located in the city of Charlotte, which was named after Queen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. When settlers first arrived in the area in the late 1960s, they named the area Charlottetowne, which was a way of honoring King George III. In 1968, the city of Charlotte was chartered.
According to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, the charter says,
“Be it therefore Enacted, by the Governor, Council, and Assembly, and by the Authority of the same, That the said Three Hundred and Sixty Acres of Land, so laid off by the Commissioners or Trustees as aforesaid, be, and the same is hereby constituted, erected, and established, a Town and Town Common, and shall be called by the name of Charlotte.”
Queen Charlotte was born in 1744 and was different from most women of her day not only because she was a queen, but because she was educated. She knew how to read and write and had studied botany, housekeeping, religion, and more. By the time she was 17, she was engaged to King George III.
Buckingham Palace was purchased by Queen Charlotte and King George III. Shortly after purchasing the property, the two moved in, and there, the Queen gave birth to 14 of her 15 children. The Queen was also very passionate about music and once performed with Mozart when he was a child.
In Memoirs of Her Most Excellent Majesty Sophia-Charlotte, queen of Great Britain, John Watkins wrote,
“In the middle of the room stood an immense tub with a yew tree placed in it, from the branches of which hung bunches of sweetmeats, almonds and raisins in papers, fruits and toys most tastefully arranged and the whole illuminated by small wax candles.”
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) was founded in 1936 with three runways, a hangar, and one terminal building. At the time, it was called Charlotte Municipal Airport. Eastern Airlines was the primary operator at the airport, and in 1937, it had two commercial flights.
Expansion projects included:
- Making longer and wider runways
- Adding a hospital
- Adding shops
- Adding barracks
- More than 90 structures were added
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Charlotte Air Base was renamed Morris Field. For several years, Morris Field was used for pilot training and antisubmarine patrols.
One year later, Piedmont Airlines chose Charlotte as its hub. The airline added new routes and even built a new terminal. Within eight years, Piedmont began flying internationally.
The airport was renamed again in 1982 to Charlotte Douglas International. Although USAir acquired Piedmont, Charlotte became a crucial airport for transatlantic operations.
Fast-forward to the 2020’s, Charlotte has been ranked in the top ten busiest airports worldwide. In 2023, CLT broke its passenger record, with more than 53.4 million passengers flying through. In 2022, CLT was the world’s seventh-busiest airport; in the previous year, it was fifth for arrivals and departures.
A few facts about the airport in 2021 from the Museum of the New South are available below:
As the airport continues to grow, officials are investing in the infrastructure. Most recently, a $3.5 billion project was announced that touches almost every part of the airport. The expansion includes runway work, and changes to the facilities.
Another project which is meant to be a new “front door” for the airport is already underway. Titled the CLT Destination District Project, this will see nearly 90 acres of land developed, and is split into two parts.
Today, the airport is crucial to American Airlines, which operates more than 90% of flights in Charlotte. The Queen’s City is home to one of seven American Airlines hubs spread throughout the United States. To this day, Piedmont Airlines continues to operate at CLT and is headquartered in Maryland.
