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| link1=[[United States Genealogy|United States]] | |||
| link2=[[United States Migration Internal|Migration]] | |||
| link3=[[US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads|Migration Trails and Roads]] | |||
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| link5=[[Great_Valley_Road|Great Valley Road]] | |||
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= | The '''Great Valley Road''', also called in various parts the "Great Wagon Road," "Great Warriors' Path," "Valley Pike," "Carolina Road," or "Trading Path," was the most important Colonial American route for settlers of the mountainous back country of the southern British colonies. It went from [[Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Genealogy|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] over to the Shenandoah Valley of [[Virginia, United States Genealogy|Virginia]] forking into the [[Tennessee, United States Genealogy|Tennessee]] Valley and Knoxville. The other fork went more south into the Piedmont Region of [[North Carolina, United States Genealogy|North Carolina]], and then to its terminus on the Savannah River at Augusta, [[Georgia]]. From Philadelphia to Augusta was 735 miles (1183 km). Several other important early pathways merged with, or split off from the Great Valley Road.<ref name="DollarM">William Dollarhide, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38096564 Map Guide to American Migration Routes 1735-1815]'' (Bountiful, Utah: Heritage Quest, 1997)[{{FSC|973 E3d}}], 7 and 13.</ref> | ||
=== Historical Background === | |||
After 1744, the Great Valley Road was most heavily used by Ulster-Irish immigrants called Scots-Irish in America to spread through most of Appalachia bringing their [[United States Church Records#Presbyterian|Presbyterian]] religion.<ref name="ComptonB" /> Pennsylvania Germans also used the trail to spread into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The Moravians of Pennsylvania followed the road | The American Indians developed a network of eastern trade and warrior trails stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. One of these trails, the Great Warrior Path from New York to the Carolinas, also served as the western boundary of British settlement until 1744. In that year a new treaty gave control of the east side of the trail to European colonists in Virginia. This opened the way for the trail to evolve into one of the most important roads for settlers in Colonial America.<ref>Dollarhide, 5.</ref> By 1765 the road was cleared for use by horse drawn wagons.<ref name="ComptonB">Brenda E. McPherson Compton, "The Scots-Irish From Ulster and The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road" in ''ElectricScotland.com'' at [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/wagon_road.htm http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/wagon_road.htm] (accessed 31 July 2010).</ref> | ||
After 1744, the Great Valley Road was most heavily used by Ulster-Irish immigrants called Scots-Irish in America to spread through most of Appalachia bringing their [[United States Church Records#Presbyterian|Presbyterian]] religion.<ref name="ComptonB" /> Pennsylvania Germans also used the trail to spread into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The Moravians of Pennsylvania followed the road to settle the Wachovia region of North Carolina starting in 1753. The first settlements of Virginians in Tennessee were associated with the end of the trail in that region in the 1760s. | |||
In 1746 the [[Pioneer Road]] first crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains from Alexandria to Winchester, Virginia, where it fed into the Great Valley Road.<ref>Dollarhide, 6</ref> The [[Wilderness Road]] opened in 1775 into central Kentucky, and branched off the Great Valley Road in southwest Virginia at Bristol (Sapling Grove).<ref>Dollarhide, 12-13.</ref> Starting in the late 1770s explorers and pioneers at Staunton, Virginia started using the [[Kanawha Trail|Kanawha Trail]] which followed the New River/Kanawha River into West Virginia.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Kanawha River" in ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanawha_River (accessed 1 August 2010).</ref> From the terminus of the Great Valley Road at Knoxville, [[Avery's Trace|Avery's Trace]] to Nashville opened in 1788, and the [[Georgia Road]] to Athens opened in 1805. | In 1746 the [[Pioneer Road]] first crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains from Alexandria to Winchester, Virginia, where it fed into the Great Valley Road.<ref>Dollarhide, 6</ref> The [[Wilderness Road]] opened in 1775 into central Kentucky, and branched off the Great Valley Road in southwest Virginia at Bristol (Sapling Grove).<ref>Dollarhide, 12-13.</ref> Starting in the late 1770s explorers and pioneers at Staunton, Virginia started using the [[Kanawha Trail|Kanawha Trail]] which followed the New River/Kanawha River into West Virginia.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Kanawha River" in ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanawha_River (accessed 1 August 2010).</ref> From the terminus of the Great Valley Road at Knoxville, [[Avery's Trace|Avery's Trace]] to Nashville opened in 1788, and the [[Georgia Road]] to Athens opened in 1805. | ||
=== Route === | === Route === | ||
*[https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~gentutor/genealogy/Valley.pdf The Great Valley Road]<br><br> | |||
''(Northeast to Southwest)''<ref>Dollarhide, 7, 12, and 13.</ref> | ''(Northeast to Southwest)''<ref>Dollarhide, 7, 12, and 13.</ref> | ||
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*Martinsville, Henry, Virginia (on south fork of the Great Valley Road) | *Martinsville, Henry, Virginia (on south fork of the Great Valley Road) | ||
*Salem, Forsyth, North Carolina | *Salem, Forsyth, North Carolina | ||
*Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina | *Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina | ||
*Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina | *Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina | ||
*Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina (where it merged with the | *Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina (where it merged with the [[Fall Line Road|Fall Line Road]]) | ||
*Augusta, Richmond, Georgia | *Augusta, Richmond, Georgia | ||
=== Settlers and Records === | === Settlers and Records === | ||
For partial list of settlers who used the Great Valley Road, see:<br> | For partial list of settlers who used the Great Valley Road, see:<br> | ||
'''''in North Carolina''''' | '''''in North Carolina''''' | ||
* | *[http://www.fmoran.com/morav.html The Wachovia Settlement in North Carolina] | ||
* | *[http://www.fmoran.com/settlers1.html Early Settlers in the Wachovia Community] | ||
*[https://moravianarchives.org/ Moravian Archives] | |||
*Levin T. Reichel, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50623974 Moravians in North Carolina: an authentic history]'' (1857 reprint:Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing for Clearfield, 2002) [{{ | *[https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/the-wachovia-tract/ The Wachovia Tract] (North Carolina History Project) | ||
*Levin T. Reichel, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50623974 Moravians in North Carolina: an authentic history]'' (1857 reprint:Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing for Clearfield, 2002) [{{FSC|6015050}}]. Indexed in Elvert Ivey Memorial Library, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37577126 Index to Moravians in North Carolina, an authentic history]'' (Hickory, N. Car.: Elbert Ivey Memorial Library, [199?]) [{{FSC|975.6 F2mr index}}]. | |||
'''''in Tennessee''''' | '''''in Tennessee''''' | ||
*East Tennessee Historical Society, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44435788 First families of Tennessee | *East Tennessee Historical Society, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44435788 First families of Tennessee : a register of early settlers and their present-day descendants]'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, c2000) [{{FSC|976.8 H2ff}}]. | ||
'''''Journals''''' | |||
Owen kept a journal of his trip from Virginia to Alabama in 1818. He followed the Great Valley Road as he traveled through Southwest Virginia into Tennessee. His journal is available online at [http://archive.org/stream/publicationssou02assogoog#page/n100/mode/2up Internet Archive] - free.<ref>"John Owen's Journal of His Removal from Virginia to Alabama in 1818," ''Publications of the Southern History Association,'' Vol. 1, No. 2 (Apr. 1897):89-97. Digitized by [http://archive.org/stream/publicationssou02assogoog#page/n100/mode/2up Internet Archive].</ref> | |||
{{Wikipedia|Great Wagon Road}} | {{Wikipedia|Great Wagon Road}} | ||
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=== Internet Sites === | === Internet Sites === | ||
*Brenda E.McPherson Compton, "The Scots-Irish From Ulster and The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road" in ''ElectricScotland.com'' at [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/wagon_road.htm http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/wagon_road.htm] (accessed 31 July 2010). | *Brenda E. McPherson Compton, "The Scots-Irish From Ulster and The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road" in ''ElectricScotland.com'' at [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/wagon_road.htm http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/wagon_road.htm] (accessed 31 July 2010). | ||
*"The Old Wagon Road" at http://www.delmars.com/family/wagonrd.htm (accessed 31 July 2010). | *"The Old Wagon Road" at http://www.delmars.com/family/wagonrd.htm (accessed 31 July 2010). | ||
*Joe A. Morley, ed., ''The Way We Lived in North Carolina'' chapter excerpts "The Great Wagon Road" at [http:// | *Joe A. Morley, ed., ''The Way We Lived in North Carolina'' chapter excerpts "The Great Wagon Road" at [http://waywelivednc.com/before-1770/wagon-road.htm http://waywelivednc.com/before-1770/wagon-road.htm] (accessed 1 August 2010). | ||
=== Other Wiki Pages === | |||
*Many of the [[US Migration Trails and Roads]] | |||
=== Sources === | === Sources === | ||
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{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
{{Tennessee|Tennessee}} | {{Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania}}{{Maryland|Maryland}}{{West Virginia|West Virginia}}{{Virginia}}{{Tennessee|Tennessee}}{{North Carolina|North Carolina}}{{South Carolina|South Carolina}}{{Georgia|Georgia}} | ||
[[Category:Migration_Routes]] [[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Maryland]] [[Category:Virginia]] [[Category:Tennessee]] [[Category: | [[Category:Migration_Routes]] [[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:Pennsylvania Migration Routes]] [[Category:Maryland Migration Routes]] [[Catgory:West Virginia Migration Routes]] [[Category:Virginia Migration Routes]] [[Category:Tennessee Migration Routes]] [[Category:North Carolina Migration Routes]] [[Category:South Carolina Migration Routes]] [[Category:Georgia (state) Migration Routes]] | ||
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