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Introduction
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The Nashville Road was built by the
military in 1788 and is essentially a continuation of the Knoxville Road which was a primary route
for settlers traveling the Great Wagon Road. This route provided a more direct path
from Bristol,Tennessee to
Nashville and other points in Middle Tennessee. The route rapidly became the
primary route for east-west traffic through the heart of Tennessee because it
took travelers through less difficult terrain than the Wilderness Road and it accommodated large
wagons. This wagon road started in Knoxville, Tennessee and
traveled across the Cumberland Plateau west some
180 miles to Nashville.
Old U.S. Route 70 followed this
passageway. Today much of the old road
runs parallel to Interstate 40. |
Click
on the map to view a full-sized image |
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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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Anderson
County, TN (1) Bledsoe
County, TN (2) Blount
County, TN (1) Cannon
County, TN (4) Cheatham
County, TN (4) Cumberland
County, TN (2,3) Davidson
County, TN (4) DeKalb
County, TN (3,4) Knox
County, TN (1) |
Loudon
County, TN (1,2) Macon
County, TN (4) Morgan
County, TN (1,2) Putnam
County, TN (3) Rhea
County, TN (2) Roane
County, TN (1,2) Robertson
County, TN (4) Rutherford
County, TN (4) |
Smith
County, TN (4) Sumner
County, TN (4) Trousdale
County, TN (4) Van
Buren County, TN (3) Warren
County, TN (3) White
County, TN (3) Williamson
County, TN (4) Wilson
County, TN (4) |
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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 190 mile journey should take approximately 4.25 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, beginning and end points of each
segment are noted with a and historical sites with a
. |
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From: Knoxville, TN To: Kingston, TN |
From: Kingston, TN To: Crossville, TN |
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From: Crossville, TN To: Smithville, TN |
From: Smithville, TN To: Nashville, TN |
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Segment 1
From: Knoxville,
TN To: Kingston, TN |
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Driving
Distance = 40 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.00 hours |
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Start your road trip
in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee
at James White's Fort,
located at 205 East Hill Avenue. This
historical site is a re-creation of the 18th century settlement that became
the city of Knoxville. James White's
Fort is within walking distance of other attractions such as the William
Blount Mansion, Market
Square, and the Old City. From White’s Fort take W. Hill Ave. 6
blocks to Poplar St. and turn right one block then turn left onto US Route 70
at World’s Fair Park. Follow signs for US Route 70 (Kingston
Pike) out of Knoxville toward Farragut
a community named in honor of American Civil War
Admiral David Farragut,
who was born just to the east Campbell's Station in 1801. Continue on US Route 70 from here to Kingston, Tennessee
the county seat
of Roane County.
Kingston has its roots in Fort Southwest Point,
which was built just south of what is now Kingston in 1792. |
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: Kingston,
TN To: Crossville,
TN |
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Driving Distance = 35 miles; Driving Time = approximately .75 hours |
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Continue through Kingston on W. Race
Street and cross over the Clinch River
on the on the US Route 70 bridge. Pass
through the city of Rockwood. During the late 1700s and early 1800s the Cherokee
village of Chief Tallentuskie,
a Cherokee leader, was located here.
At Eureka
turn right to continue on US Route 70 (Historic Avery Trace). Continue on US Route 70 towards the town of
Crab
Orchard.
Crab Orchard's position in a gap in the Crab Orchard Mountains made it
an early "gateway" to the Cumberland area as early as the late
1700s. Pioneers passing through the area named it for its abundance of wild crab apple
trees. From Crab Orchard continue on
US Route 70 (Knoxville Highway) into Crossville,
Tennessee. Crossville, the seat of Cumberland
County, has its roots in the intersection of several early American
roads. It is here that the Old
Walton Road branches off on US Route 70N towards Carthage, Tennessee. |
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:
Crossville, TN To: Smithville,
TN |
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Driving Distance = 50 miles; Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours |
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Follow signs for US
Route 70 through the downtown, and leave via US Route 70 (Sparta Highway)
towards the Crossville Memorial Airport.
Continue on US Route 70 to Pleasant Hill
a town that was first settled in 1819. From here proceed to
Sparta
the seat of White County. Sparta was established in 1809 Sparta grew
quickly due to its location along the stage road between Knoxville and
Nashville. In the 1830s, brothers Barlow and Madison Fisk built the Sparta Rock House,
which served as an inn along the stage road.
From Sparta continue on US Route 70 (Smithville Highway). Soon after passing over the Caney Fork River
you will enter Smithville
the seat of De Kalb County
Tennessee. |
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:
Smithville, TN To: Nashville,
TN |
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Driving Distance = 65 miles; Driving Time =
approximately 1.50 hours |
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Leave
Smithville via US Route 70 (Nashville Highway). Pass through the town of Liberty.
Founded in 1797 the main street area is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places as the Liberty Historic District. From Liberty you will pass through Alexandria
and Watertown
on the way to the city of Lebanon, Tennessee.
Lebanon is the seat of Wilson County
and the home of Cumberland University, that was founded in
1842. Soon after entering Davidson
County you will encounter “The
Hermitage” an
historical plantation
and museum
located 12 miles east of downtown Nashville.
The plantation was owned by Andrew
Jackson, from 1804 until his death at the
Hermitage in 1845. Continue on US
Route 70 into downtown Nashville to Fort Nashborough.
This historic site was the stockade
for the settlement that became the city of Nashville. A reconstruction today stands in Riverfront
Park on the banks of the Cumberland
River. |
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 |
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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Download a free 2-page Fact Sheet |
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 |
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. |
“The Hermitage” an
historical plantation and museum located 12 miles east of downtown Nashville, was the home of Andrew Jackson |
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Use this LINK to see the “Image |
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 |
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 -- Email us with your
comments or questions. 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
us
your 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 March 2013 |
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