Abstract Edward Dilworth Latta founded the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company, also known as the Four Cs, in 1890. Latta and five other influential Charlotteans, including Mayor F.B. McDowell, developed the Dilworth area, had their own trolley system, and had control of gas and electric power in Charlotte. Incorporating other companies into his own, such as the Charlotte Gas Light Company and the Charlotte Electric Railway, Latta and his group maintained an effective monopoly in Charlotte....