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Introduction
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The Great Wagon Road was a Colonial American thoroughfare from Pennsylvania to North Carolina and from there to Georgia. It was the heavily travelled main route
for settlement of the Southern United States, particularly the 'back
country'. Beginning in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Great Wagon
Road passed through the towns of Lancaster and York in southeastern
Pennsylvania. At Chambersburg, Pennsylvania the
road turned southwest along the
Great Indian War
and Trading Path that follows U.S. Route 11, an ancient Native-American pathway that
extended from Iroquois
Confederacy
in New York State as far south as Alabama. It continued through Hagerstown, Maryland to the
crossing of the Potomac River at Williamsport, Maryland and into
Virginia where the route entered the Shenandoah
Valley
at Winchester, Virginia. was locally referred to as the Philadelphia
Wagon Road. The Shenandoah portion of the road is
also known as the Great Valley
Road and later the Valley Pike. Note that despite its present day name, the
southern part of this road was by no means passable by wagons until later
Colonial times. The 1751 Fry-Jefferson map mentions the term 'Waggon' only north of Winchester. |
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South of Shenandoah Valley, the road
reached the Roanoke
River
at the town of Big Lick (today, Roanoke,
Virginia).
Near the present day cities of Roanoke and Salem, Virginia the Great Wagon
Road forked southwest, leading to Fort Chiswell and into the upper New River Valley and on to the Holston River in the upper Tennessee Valley, from which the Wilderness Road led into Kentucky. South of the present day cities of
Roanoke and Salem, the Great Wagon Road was also called the Carolina Road. From there, the route passed through the
Roanoke River Gap to the east side of the Blue Ridge
Mountains,
and continued south through the Piedmont |
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on the map to view a full-sized image |
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region and the present-day North Carolina towns of Winston-Salem, Salisbury, and Charlotte, ultimately
reaching Augusta,
Georgia
on the Savannah
River. |
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Road Trip
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If you have traced your 18th
or 19th century ancestors to any of the counties listed below it
is quite possible that they traveled to that location along this migration
route. Therefore you may find
additional relevant information about your ancestral lineages by taking the
following road trip through these localities. |
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COUNTY (Road
Trip Segment) |
COUNTY (Road
Trip Segment) |
COUNTY (Road
Trip Segment) |
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Adams County, Pennsylvania (2,3) Aiken County, South Carolina (12) Augusta County, Virginia (5,6) Berkeley County, West Virginia (3,4) Botetourt County, Virginia (6,7) Cabarrus County, North Carolina (9) Chester
County, Pennsylvania (1) Chester County, South Carolina (10,11) Davie County, North Carolina (9) Edgefield County, South Carolina (12) Forsyth County, North Carolina (8,9) |
Franklin County, Pennsylvania (3) Franklin County, Virginia (7,8) Frederick County, Virginia (4) Henry County, Virginia (8) Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (1,2) Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (9,10) Montgomery County, Virginia (7) Newberry County, South Carolina (11,12) Philadelphia
County, Pennsylvania (1) Richmond
County, Georgia (12) Roanoke
County, Virginia (7) |
Rockbridge County, Virginia (6)
Rockingham County, Virginia (5) Rowan County, North Carolina (9) Saluda County, South Carolina (12) Shenandoah County, Virginia (4,5) Stokes County, North Carolina (8) Union County, South Carolina (11) Washington, County, Maryland (3) York
County, Pennsylvania (2) York
County, South Carolina (10) |
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Genealogy Road Trip
This “Genealogy Road Trip” is divided into
segments that require between 1 and 2 hours of driving time. The entire 772 mile journey should take approximately 17.25 hours to
drive at 45 miles per hour.
Within each segment you will find links to
resources* that will assist you in planning a successful and enjoyable
experience. The following maps are
designed to show a close-up view of the counties and communities along this
migration route. Relevant county seats
are designated with a |
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From: Philadelphia, PA To: Lancaster, PA |
From: Lancaster, PA To: Gettysburg, PA |
From: Gettysburg, PA To: Martinsburg, WV |
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From: Martinsburg, WV To: New Market, VA |
From: New Market, VA To: Staunton, VA |
From: Staunton, VA To: Fincastle, VA |
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From: Fincastle, VA To: Ft .Chiswell & Rocky Mount, VA |
From: Rocky Mount, VA To: Winston-Salem, NC |
From: Winston-Salem, NC To: Charlotte, NC |
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From: Charlotte, NC To: Chester, SC |
From: Chester, SC To: Camden & Newberry, SC |
From: Newberry, SC To: Augusta, GA |
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Segment 1
From:
Philadelphia, PA To: Lancaster,
PA |
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Driving
Distance = 79 miles; Driving Time = approximately
1.50 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 2
From: Lancaster,
PA To: Gettysburg,
PA |
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Driving Distance = 55 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.25 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 3
From:
Gettysburg, PA To: Martinsburg,
WV |
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Driving Distance = 70 miles; Driving Time = approximately
1.50 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 4
From:
Martinsburg, WV To: New Market,
VA |
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Driving Distance = 74 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.25 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 5
From: New
Market, VA To: Staunton, VA |
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Driving Distance = 46 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.00 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 6
From: Staunton,
VA To: Fincastle,
VA |
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Driving Distance = 72 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.50 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 7
From: Fincastle,
VA To: Ft .Chiswell & Rocky Mount, VA |
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Driving Distance = 47 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.00 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 8
From: Rocky
Mount, VA To:
Winston-Salem, NC |
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Driving Distance = 82 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 2.00 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 9
From:
Winston-Salem, NC To: Charlotte,
NC |
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Driving Distance = 84 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 2.00 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 10
From: Charlotte,
NC To: Chester, SC |
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Driving Distance = 45 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.25 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the
following LINKS to find information about the counties and localities
found along this segment of the Route. |
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Segment 11
From: Chester,
SC To: Camden &
Newberry, SC |
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Driving Distance = 46 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.00 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Segment 12
From: Newberry,
SC To: Augusta, GA |
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Driving Distance = 72 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.72 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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Use the following LINKS to find
information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the
Route. |
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Internet Resources
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The Google search engine button and following web sites
may provide you |
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with additional information to assist with your research about this topic.
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·
Migration Routes,
Roads & Trails ·
Historical
U.S. roads and trails - Wikipedia ·
U.S. Historical Maps -
Perry-Castañeda Collection ·
Early
American Roads and Trails |
·
American
Migration Fact Sheets ·
Map guide to American
migration routes,1735-1815 ·
The Overland Trail
Links--Ancient Indian Trails ·
Migration
Message Boards – Ancestry.com ·
The
African-American Migration Experience ·
Migration
Trails – map of many U.S. trails |
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·
The Great Wagon Road
– The way we lived in
NC ·
The Scots-Irish & The Great
Philadelphia Wagon Rd ·
Great Wagon Road - Wikipedia ·
Mapping
the Great Wagon Road - NC Digital History ·
Great
Wagon Road - Historical Marker at Bethania, NC ·
The
Great Wagon Road – Map ·
The Great Wagon Road
– angelfire.com ·
Great
Valley Road – FamilySearch Wiki ·
Great
Wagon Road - NCpedia |
·
The Great Wagon Road
– NC Museum of
History ·
The Scots-Irish: The Great Wagon
Road ·
The Great Wagon Road
– Lowry Ancestors ·
The
Great Wagon Road - North Carolina History Project ·
Great Philadelphia Wagon
Road – Marker Lewisville, NC · The Great Wagon Road - The Royal Colony of SC ·
The
Great Wagon Road – by Greg Belcher ·
The
Great Wagon Road - WRAL.com |
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Download a free 2-page Fact Sheet |
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about American migration routes |
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The
following Link
will take you to our library of genealogy reference books. Here you will find books about historic American roads, trails, and paths. In addition, there are texts that pertain
to ethnic and religion groups, history, geography as well as other books that will
assist you with your research. |
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This Link will take you to our |
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collection of reference books. |
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Image Gallery
During our research we have collected images and
photographs that are of general interest to a variety of historic American
roads, trails and migration. Some of
them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide
the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of
this topic as well as our ancestors past lives. |
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Use this LINK to see the “Image |
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Gallery” that
pertain to this topic. |
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Use
the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about this topic. This
button will link you to the Google Images Search page.
Enter the topic
you are |
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searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images”
display page you will see the image, as well as the website of which it
is associated. |
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About this webpage
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CONTACT INFORMATION
We do
like to hear from others who are researching the same people and surnames. We
need your help to keep growing! So
please Email
photos, stories, and other
appropriate information about this topic. RULES OF USE We only ask that if you have a personal website
please create a link to our Home Page. -- This
webpage was last updated on -- 01 January 2013 |
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