Great Valley Road

United States   Migration   Trails and Roads   Great Valley Road

The Great Valley Road went from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Roanoke, Virginia. There it split with one fork going to Knoxville, Tennessee, and the other to Augusta, Georgia.

The Great Valley Road, also called in various parts the "Great Wagon Road," "Great Warriors' Trail," "Valley Pike," "Carolina Road," or "Trading Path," was the most important Colonial American route for settlers of the mountainous backcountry of the southern British colonies. It went from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia forking into the Tennessee Valley and Knoxville. The other fork went more south into the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, and then to its terminus on the Savannah River at Augusta, Georgia. Several other important early pathways merged with, or split off from the Great Valley Road.

Historical Background

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 become one of the most important roads for settlers in Colonial America. 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 Presbyterian religion.

The Wilderness Road into Kentucky branched off the Great Valley Road in southwest Virginia.

Route

(Northeast to Southwest)

• Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• Gettysburg, Adams, Pennsylvania
• Hagerstown, Washington, Maryland (crosses Cumberland Road)
• Winchester, Frederick, Virginia (Pioneer Road from Alexandria joins here)
• Staunton, Augusta, Virginia (start of Kanawah Trail to West Virginia)
• Roanoke, Roanoke, Virginia (trail forks toward Knoxville and Augusta)
• Bristol, Washinton, Virginia (start of Wilderness Road to Boonesborough
• Jonesboro, Washington, Tennessee
• Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee (connects with Avery's Trace to Nashville, and Georgia Road to Athens)

• Martinsville, Henry, Virginia (on south fork of the Great Valley Road)
• Salem, Forsyth, North Carolina
• Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina 
• Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina 
• Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina (where it merged with the Fall Line Road)
• Augusta, Richmond, Georgia

Settlers and Records

For partial list of settlers who used the Great Valley Road to settle in ??? , see .