The Carolina Road or the "Old Carolina Road" are names for various sections of the Great Wagon Road and other routes in colonial America. "The 'Old Carolina Road', extending from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to the Yadkin Valley, was one of the most heavily traveled roads in eighteenth century America."[1] Parts of the 180-mile-long (290km)Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area scenic byway follow the Old Carolina Road through Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
An article written during the Bicentennial discusses the colonial routes passing through and around Frederick, Maryland. The Dennis Griffith map of 1794 clearly shows the Monocacy Road crossing the river at Ceresville, Maryland. Thus this important route, described at first as a "plain path" between the villages of the Susquehannock Indians in Pennsylvania and Oceaneechee Island in the south, became a road passing through Fredericktown. It was a link in the old Carolina Road. The main Monocacy Road was recorded as passing near the Quaker Meeting House at Buckeystown, Maryland (near Md. Route 85).[2]
Central Virginia (High Road) alternative path
Starting in Pennsylvania, this "Carolina Road" led through southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and into Alabama. This was a major migration route of Swiss-German and Scotch-Irish settlers into frontier America in the 1740s until the American Revolutionary War.
Some consensus indicates this Carolina road started in Frederick, Maryland, with feeder roads and other trails reaching from Pennsylvania. Parts of this Carolina Road, almost 55 miles, follow modern U.S. Route 15 through Loudoun, Fauquier and Prince William Counties in Virginia. Noland's Ferry was a link in the Carolina Road.
Used as a transportation route, in addition to early settlers, manufactured goods including woolen and linen clothes and leather products, such as harness, saddles, boots and shoes, were sent south, and hides, indigo and money were sent back north. Many drovers herded swine, cattle, sheep and even turkey flocks along the Carolina Road. Because many of these drovers would pick up cows and other livestock to add to their herds in northern Virginia, this was also called the "Rogues' Road" by local farmers. "Indeed, as early as 1747, a Fauquier land grant refers to the Carolina Road as "Rogues Road," a name that appears in Fauquier and Loudoun deeds throughout the early 1900s. A few miles north of Leesburg, on old Montresor farm, a narrow wooded stream valley still bears the name Rogues' Hollow, for tradition states that this geographic depression was the lair for thieves about to plunder travelers."[3]
A portion of Carolina Road from the mid-1800s is illustrated in map form as part of Loudoun County, Virginia history.[4] Going south on the Old Carolina Road from Evergreen Mills Road at Goose Creek, one must turn right on Watson Road and follow it south to Highway 50 (the old Little River Turnpike, at Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church. The Old Carolina Road bed continues for a little just west of the church (foot traffic only).
Part of this "Carolina Road" follows the roadbed of U.S. Route 11, also known as the "Lee Highway", through Virginia. Near Cloverdale, Virginia is the historical marker: ""This is the old road from Pennsylvania to the Yadkin Valley, over which in early times settlers passed going south. On it were the Black Horse Tavern and the Tinker Creek Presbyterian Church."[5] The Black Horse Tavern on the marker refers to the nearby Black Horse Tavern-Bellvue Hotel and Office.
Part of the Great Wagon Road branched off near what is present day Roanoke, Virginia, and U.S. Route 220 in Virginia now follows along part of this section of the Carolina Road. In the early 1740s, white settlers followed an Indian Trading Path, sometimes referred to as the "Shenandoah Hunting Path" which led from Winchester Virginia to Salem, Virginia, and would later be known as the "Valley Pike" and even later, US Route 11. The colonial road was laid from Harrisburg toward the Potomac River, and extending southwards was settlements progressed in that direction. "During the interim, the North-South route was referred to by various other names such as "Indian Road", "Borden's Path", "Carolina Road", "Great Road", "The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road" and the "Road from Philadelphia to Yadkin."[6]
"The route was improved as a stage road in the early years of the republic. In 1838 it was rebuilt to serve the Pittsylvania, Franklin and Botetourt Turnpike,[7] which served to connect south central Virginia with the Valley."[8]
An historical marker, dated from 1987, is located nearby. "Here through the Maggoty Gap, the Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia to Georgia, known locally as the Carolina Road, passes through the Blue Ridge. Originating as the Great Warrior Path (Great Indian Warpath) of the Iroquois centuries before, the path was frequently used by the Iroquois before being ceded to the whites in 1744 to become one of the most heavily traveled roads in all Colonial America."[9]
A portion of the roadbed can be seen at Maggoty Gap, where it crossed the Blue Ridge at Maggodee Gap. Today this is part of the Cahas Mountain Rural Historic District in Boones Mill, Virginia. The volume of travel along this part of the Carolina road was so great that it encouraged the construction of two brick homes from the 1820s, the John and Susan Boon House and the Taylor-Price house. The Boon house offered accommodations for travelers, and probably the Taylor Price House was used as an inn also.
Another branch turned south from Big Lick, near present-day Roanoke, and turned south toward the Catawba country in South Carolina. Later this trading path would be called part of the Great Wagon Road or the Carolina Road. William Byrd II would mention it during his survey of the dividing line between North Carolina and Virginia during November 1728. "The Trading Path above mentioned receives its name from being the Route the Traders take with their caravans, when they go to traffick with the Catawbas and other Southern Indians... The Course from Roanoke to the Catawbas is laid down nearest Southwest, and lies through a fine country, that is watered by Several beautiful Rivers."[11]
The early settlement of Martinsville, Virginia, coincides with the route of the Carolina Road through Henry County, Virginia. The Carolina Road follows along or parallels present day U.S. Route 220 through the county. By the 1760s, sometimes 1,000 wagons a day would pass through Martinsville. "Initial settlement of the area around Martinsville coincides with the road. Settlers represented diverse cultural backgrounds: Germans, Welsh, Scots-Irish, English and African."[12]
North Carolina section
The Carolina Road extended into North Carolina as a major trade route and access for early settlers. However, once again it became known by different names, both locally and regionally. "In our state it is known as the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, the Great Wagon Road, or simply the Wagon Road. In Virginia, it is called the Carolina Road, because it led to Carolina."[13]
An early settlement by Morgan Bryan, a Pennsylvania Quaker, took six weeks to travel from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. The road was so bad that at times his wagon had to be taken apart and carried away in sections over some of the mountains. "The trail called "The Great Wagon Road" or "The Old Carolina Road" passed thru the Bryan Settlement, about one mile south of the junction of the Deep Creek and the Yadkin River, at a place called the Shallow Ford.[14][15]
Rockingham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,757. Its county seat is the independent city of Harrisonburg.
Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town. Located in the far northeast of the state, in the War of 1812 it was a refuge for important federal documents evacuated from Washington, DC, and in the Civil War, it changed hands several times.
Purcellville is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia. The population was 8,929 according to the 2020 Census. Purcellville is the major population center for Western Loudoun and the Loudoun Valley. Many of the older structures remaining in Purcellville reflect the Victorian architecture popular during the early twentieth century.
The Shenandoah Valley is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, to the north by the Potomac River, to the south by the James River, and to the Southwest by the New River Valley. The cultural region covers a larger area that includes all of the Valley plus the Virginia Highlands to the west and the Roanoke Valley to the south. It is physiographically located within the Ridge and Valley Province and is a portion of the Great Appalachian Valley.
The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough, including a chain of valley lowlands, and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountains system. The trough stretches about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from Quebec in the north to Alabama in the south and has been an important north–south route of travel since prehistoric times.
Sterling, Virginia, refers most specifically to a census-designated place (CDP) in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population of the CDP as of the 2020 United States Census was 30,337 The CDP boundaries are confined to a relatively small area between Virginia State Route 28 on the west and Virginia State Route 7 on the northeast, excluding areas near SR 606 and the Dulles Town Center.
Virginia State Route 7 (VA 7) is a major primary state highway and busy commuter route in northern Virginia, United States. It travels southeast from downtown Winchester to SR 400 in downtown Alexandria. Its route largely parallels those of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail and the Potomac River. Between its western terminus and Interstate 395 (I-395), SR 7 is part of the National Highway System. In 1968, the Virginia State Highway Commission designated the road as the "Harry Flood Byrd Highway" between Alexandria and Winchester to commemorate Harry F. Byrd Sr. (1887–1966).
U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern United States, unlike its parent route as well as conventionally even-numbered highways which run east-west. US 220 extends for 678 miles (1,091 km) from an intersection with US 1 in Rockingham, North Carolina, to its interchange with the Southern Tier Expressway in South Waverly, Pennsylvania. Some sections of the route are part of the Appalachian Development Highway System's Corridor O as well as I-73 in North Carolina. US 220 is designated as a spur route of US 20 but the route does not intersect US 20 or connect to other spurs of US 20.
U.S. Route 50 is a transcontinental highway which stretches from Ocean City, Maryland to West Sacramento, California. In the U.S. state of Virginia, US 50 extends 86 miles (138 km) from the border with Washington, D.C. at a Potomac River crossing at Rosslyn in Arlington County to the West Virginia state line near Gore in Frederick County.
The Great Wagon Road was an improved trail through the Great Appalachian Valley from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and from there to Georgia in colonial America.
Loudoun County, Virginia, was destined to be an area of significant military activity during the American Civil War. Located on Virginia's northern frontier, the Potomac River, Loudoun County became a borderland after Virginia's secession from the Union in early 1861. Loudoun County's numerous Potomac bridges, ferries and fords made it an ideal location for the Union and Confederate armies to cross into and out of Virginia. Likewise, the county's several gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains that connected the Piedmont to the Shenandoah Valley and Winchester were of considerable strategic importance. The opposing armies would traverse the county several times throughout the war leading to several small battles, most notably the Battle of Ball's Bluff.
The Great Indian Warpath (GIW)—also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail—was that part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans which ran through the Great Appalachian Valley. The system of footpaths extended from what is now upper New York to deep within Alabama. Various Native peoples traded and made war along the trails, including the Catawba, numerous Algonquian tribes, the Cherokee, and the Iroquois Confederacy. The British traders' name for the route was derived from combining its name among the northeastern Algonquian tribes, Mishimayagat or "Great Trail", with that of the Shawnee and Delaware, Athawominee or "Path where they go armed".
Snickers Gap, originally William's Gap, is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountain on the border of Loudoun County and Clarke County in Virginia. The gap is traversed by Virginia State Route 7. The Appalachian Trail also passes across the gap. Bear's Den and Raven Rocks are adjacent to the gap.
The 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as White's Battalion, White's Rebels and the Comanches, was a Confederate cavalry unit during the American Civil War raised by Elijah V. White in Loudoun County, Virginia in the winter of 1861-62. The battalion was initially raised as border guards along the Potomac River below Harpers Ferry but were ultimately mustered into regular service as part of the Laurel Brigade. Despite this, they continued to play a conspicuous role in the ongoing partisan warfare in Loudoun throughout the war. The battalion was particularly notable during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, when it played a prominent role in the Battle of Brandy Station and subsequently conducted a series of raids on Union-held railroads and defensive positions in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The 35th was the first Confederate unit to enter Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The Catoctin Valley is a small valley, geographically and culturally associated with the larger Loudoun Valley in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Nolands Ferry I Archeological Site is an archaeological site near the historic Noland's Ferry boat landing at mile 44.58 on the C&O Canal and Tuscarora. The Archeological Site is a prehistoric occupation site located in the Monocacy region of southern Frederick County, Maryland. Diagnostic artifacts at the site indicate that the site was almost continuously inhabited from the Paleo-Indian period to the early 19th century, with the most substantial inhabitation occurring during the Late Woodland period.
King Yanabe Yalangway was the eractasswa (chief) of the Catawba Indian Nation, sometime around the 1740s. Not much is known about him other than the fact that he preceded King Hagler as chief. His training was evidently under "king" Whitmannetaughehee's leadership.
Several special routes of U.S. Route 220 exist. In order from south to north they are as follows.
The original Maggoty Gap was a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the counties of Roanoke, Virginia and Franklin, Virginia. Over time, as roads were improved and relocated, the identified location of the gap moved with them. It is now mapped at a spot in Roanoke County.
Morgan Bryan, an immigrant, led his extended family to the Forks of the Yadkin in the Province of North Carolina, now the state of North Carolina, and founded Bryan's Settlement there. He was known for "establishing critical settlements down the Shenandoah Valley along the Great Wagon Road in the Southeast." Bryan and his wife Martha raised their granddaughter Rebecca Bryan Boone, the wife of Daniel Boone.
↑ Kagey, Deedie Dent. Community at the Crossroads, a Study of the Village of Bonsack of the Roanoke Valley. Roanoke, Va: D.D. Kagey, 1983. Pages 11–13.
↑ Virginia. Pittsylvania, Franklin, and Botetourt Turnpike Company Records. 1838. Abstract: These records contain letters sent, field notes (1838), 3 vols., reports and lists of stockholders for the years 1838–1848, 1850, 1852–1853. OCLC: 291090337.
↑ Byrd, William, and William K. Boyd. William Byrd's Histories of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina. New York: Dover Publications, 1987. Pages 166, 298–299.
↑ "The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road." By Michael O. Hartley and Martha B. Hartley. From Tar Heel Junior Historian 45:2 (spring 2006). North Carolina Museum of History. Office of Archives and History, N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
Hofstra, Warren R. Domestic Architecture and the Early Shenandoah Valley. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1992. Presented at the February 21, 1992, meeting of the Shenandoah Valley Regional Studies Seminar. Abstract: Describes the importance of roads and their effect on the architecture of farms and homes throughout the Shenandoah Valley in the 18th and 19th centuries. Discusses how improved roads allowed rural Virginians to transport their produce to centralized markets, such as Winchester, Virginia. Improved markets caused a transition from a barter-based system to a capitalist market economy. Describes how that transition affected architecture, land use, and community life in the Shenandoah Valley; particularly in the Winchester and Frederick County regions.
Hyland, Thomas R. The Carolina Road: From a Primitive Mid-17th Century Indian Trading Path to a Primary Pioneer Settlement and Inter-Colony Trading Route. Leesburg, VA: the author, 2009.
Kegley, Mary B. Finding Their Way from the Great Road to the Wilderness Road, 1745-1796. Wytheville, VA: Kegley Books, 2008. * Pawlett, Nathaniel Mason. A Brief History of the Roads of Virginia, 1607–1840. Charlottesville: Virginia Highway & Transportation Research Council, 1977. Abstract: This volume consists of what was originally intended as the introductory chapters of the Albemarle road history. Since most readers are probably unfamiliar with the history of roads in Virginia, it was thought proper to devote the first section of that work to a sketch of the development of road transportation here up to the coming of the period of intense railroad development in the nineteenth century. At the suggestion of several of the people who read the first draft, and in-the interest of increasing the utility of this particular section, a separate publication was decided upon. The author hopes that this brief sketch will help to place development of the roads of Albemarle, as well as those of the other counties, within the larger context of the development of Virginia's roads, and that it will simultaneously provide some understanding of the varied and often conflicting forces which shaped transportation policy at the colonial and state levels.
Scheel, Eugene (2014). "The Carolina Road". History of Loudoun County, Virginia. Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Virginia. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
Scheel, Eugene M. Loudoun Discovered: Leesburg & the Old Carolina Road. Vol. 2 Vol. 2. Leesburg, Va: Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, 2002.
Scheel, Eugene M., and B. P. Harrison. The Carolina Road Corridor of Loudoun County: Once the Main North-to-South Trail, and Cradle of Farming in America. Waterford, Va: Eugene M. Scheel, 1997.
R. Kyle Stimson, The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road in Forsyth County, North Carolina, 1750–1770 (1999)
Virginia, and Virginia Transportation Research Council. A History of Roads in Virginia: "the Most Convenient Wayes". [Richmond, Va.]: The Department, 1989.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
