On May 30, 1830, a tornado destroyed most of downtown Charlotte. The roof of the courthouse was found away, and most of the county's early records were permanently lost. A new courthouse was completed in 1833, and still stands as the oldest functioning courthouse in the state of Tennessee. While Charlotte thrived as a stage coach hub for much of the 19th-century, the arrival of the railroad in the latter half of the century shifted the area's industrial focus to Dickson, several miles to the southwest.