To salute our progress spanning two-and-a-half centuries, Mecklenburg County is rolling out a special interactive website marking our 250th birthday -- our “sestercentennial” -- at www.Mecklenburg250.org.

The website gives users the chance to view historical “Mecklenburg Minute” videos created specially for the celebration, a calendar, and event news. Most importantly, it gives you an opportunity to tell your own Mecklenburg history.

Whether you are a relative newcomer or a seventh-generation “Mecklenburger,” you have a story to tell, and we want to hear it. Do you have pictures? A video? A fond memory of a time in Mecklenburg County? Or, maybe, a recollection of a not-so-joyful time (such as the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo). Submit it to our site and you could become part of County history, too.

Mecklenburg County’s 250th anniversary celebration was announced earlier this year through a proclamation issued by the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, who designated 2013 as the Year of the Mecklenburg County Sestercentennial Celebration and recognized the founding of Mecklenburg County on Feb. 26, 1763.

Legend holds that the first act of Mecklenburg County government took place almost 250 years ago on that February day in 1763 at a ramshackle wooden cabin that once stood near present-day Randolph and Caswell streets in Charlotte. The cabin was the home of Thomas Spratt and is held to be the location of the first court held in Mecklenburg County. To mark the occasion on Feb. 26 of this year, the Board of Commissioners will commemorate the important date by re-dedicating the historic courthouse at 700 E. Trade St. in Charlotte.

How to tell YOUR Mecklenburg History

The Mecklenburg Sestercentennial website allows you to post your story or you can email it to us at mecklenburg250@mecklenburgcountync.gov. So tell us about your Mecklenburg memory today. Our history isn’t complete without your story.