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Charlotte is a city in Eaton County, Michigan, and the county seat of Eaton County, located about 21 miles from downtown Lansing.

Charlotte is pronounced 'shar-LOT,' with the stress on the second syllable — not like the much larger North Carolina city of the same name.

George William Barnes bought the townsite land from the U.S. government in 1832 and sold it in 1835 to New York speculator Edmond B. Bostwick, who founded the village with three partners and named it for his wife, Charlotte Lovett Bostwick — who herself would have preferred the name 'Charlotteville.'

Charlotte's first postmaster was appointed on March 17, 1838, and before the name Charlotte stuck, the community was known unofficially as Eaton Centre and Carmel.

Charlotte was designated the Eaton County seat when the county was organized in 1837, although county business continued to be conducted in Bellevue until 1840.

Charlotte incorporated as a village on October 10, 1863, and as a city on March 29, 1871.

The 2020 census counted 9,299 residents in Charlotte, with 3,801 households and 4,066 housing units across 6.50 square miles.

Charlotte is nicknamed the 'Maple City.'

From 1904 to 1907, Charlotte was an early automobile town — the Dolson automobile was built there during those years.

Two historic railroad depots survive in Charlotte — the 1885 Grand Trunk depot and the old Michigan Central depot on North Cochran Avenue — and the former Eaton County Courthouse now houses the Courthouse Square Museum.