AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Here's a controversy that goes back to the American Revolution. Mecklenburg County in North Carolina claims that 250 years ago this week, its people became the first colonists to declare independence from Great Britain. Not everyone believes this, but that's not stopping the city from celebrating, as Nick de la Canal of member station WFAE in Charlotte reports.
NICK DE LA CANAL, BYLINE: If you've never heard of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, here's historian Scott Syfert with a primer. He's sipping beer inside a brewery, where he just finished a talk on the subject.
SCOTT SYFERT: In late May of 1775, 26 local Scots-Irish Presbyterian militia leaders are meeting in the log courthouse in what is now downtown Charlotte when they receive news that the battles of Lexington and Concord have just occurred, and they go ballistic.
DE LA CANAL: As the story goes, the men, in their fury, signed a local declaration of independence for Mecklenburg County.
SYFERT: And they say, we are the first people. We are leaving the British Empire. We're leaving British jurisdiction, and we're not stopping.
DE LA CANAL: They gave the declaration to a tavern owner, Captain James Jack, who rode to Philadelphia and delivered it to North Carolina's representatives in the Continental Congress, who reportedly dismissed it as premature. If the story is true, it would mean Mecklenburg County declared independence more than a year before the rest of the American colonies. One big problem - the document no longer exists.
SYFERT: The original papers are lost in a fire many years later in April of 1800.
DE LA CANAL: The declaration was never mentioned in news reports of the time, says David Fleming. He's another historian in the brewery, mingling and eating pizza with other history buffs here. But he says the document signers later gave sworn testimony that the declaration really happened.
DAVID FLEMING: We're talking about generals and governors and priests and renowned historians and military veterans. Men who just - there would be no reason for them to lie to build themselves up.
DE LA CANAL: Even as historians debate its authenticity, Charlotte celebrates Mecklenburg Declaration Day - or Meck Dec Day, as it's known here - every year. Since 1861, the date May 20, 1775, has been on the state flag, and North Carolinians can get a license plate that says, First in Freedom. Inside this Charlotte brewery, just about everyone says it really happened.
BRANDON STIREWALT: I will go to my grave saying that the Meck Dec is the first piece of paper in the colonies that gave us freedom from the king of England.
DE LA CANAL: Brandon Stirewalt is the director of operations for Town Brewing Company, which brewed a special First in Freedom lager to celebrate this year's 250th Meck Dec anniversary.
STIREWALT: Whether it is myth or legend, at this point, I think the entire culture surrounding it should be celebrated, right? It's 100% ours.
DE LA CANAL: And at the very least, he says, Meck Dec Day is getting more people interested in local history and the American Revolution.
For NPR News, I'm Nick de la Canal in Charlotte. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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