Old South Carolina State Road

United States   Migration    Trails and Roads    South Carolina    Old South Carolina State Road

The Old South Carolina State Road connected the colonial seaport of Charleston with several important internal South Carolina towns as well as the Catawba Trail and Old Cherokee Path on South Carolina's northern border near Landrum in Spartanburg County. Charleston was the largest European settlement in South Carolina, its capital, on the King's Highway, and the start of several other trails. The Catawba Trail connected the Old South Carolina State Road to Asheville, North Carolina and to the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap from Virginia and Tennessee into Kentucky. The Old Cherokee Path connected the Lower Cherokee Indian villages in South Carolina and Georgia with several Indian trails, especially the Great Valley Road an important migration route through Virginia to Tennessee. The Old South Carolina State Road was opened to European settlers in 1747. The Old South Carolina State Road began in Charleston County, South Carolina and ended near Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The exact route is uncertain and may have varied over the years. The length of the road was about 180 miles (290 km).

Historical Background
From the first contact with Europeans the Cherokee Indians had settlements called the Lower Cherokee Villages in the northwest part of South Carolina and part of Georgia. The most prominent was the town of Keowee. Several important Indian trails radiated out from these villages. These trails would eventually become migration routes for European settlers. The Cherokee resisted most European settlement near their villages. The Cherokee sided with the British during the American Revolutionary War. By 1777 Patriot forces attacked and drove the Cherokee from South Carolina. Patriot veterans soon began to settle in former Cherokee areas.

Charleston was founded in 1670 by English and African immigrants from the Caribbean island of Barbados. It became the largest city and capital of the South Carolina colony. Many trails and roads radiated out from Charleston. In 1747 the Old South Carolina State Road was opened and settlers began pouring north along it into the interior. In 1753 the British colony of South Carolina built Fort Prince George across the river to the east of the Cherokee town of Keowee. It is likely that a branch of the Old State Road went to Fort Prince George.

As roads developed in America settlers were attracted to nearby communities because the roads provided access to markets. They could sell their products at distant markets, and buy products made far away. If an ancestor settled near a road, you may be able to trace back to a place of origin on a connecting highway.

Route
The first European colonists settled in counties along this trail (south to north) as follows:


 * Charleston 1670 by English and African Barbadians
 * Dorchester 1696 by New Englanders from Massachusetts
 * Orangeburg 1731 by Reformed Swiss, German Lutherans, and French Huguenots
 * Calhoun 1730s by Scots-Irish (that is Ulster-Irish), Germans, and French Huguenots
 * Lexington 1730s by Germans, and French Huguenots
 * Newberry 1750s by Germans, English, and Scots-Irish
 * Laurens 1753 by Scots-Irish
 * Spartanburg 1755 by Scots-Irish
 * Greenville 1777 by Scots-Irish, and Revolutionary War Veterans
 * Pickens 1753 by English, and Scots-Irish
 * Oconee 1784 by Germans, and Revolutionary War Veterans


 * Polk County, North Carolina about 1767 by Scots-Irish


 * Stephens County, Georgia about 1777 by Revolutionary War Veterans

There are three possible routes the Old South Carolina State Road may have taken to exit the state. Over the years the route may have shifted:


 * from Newberry to Union to Spartanburg to Landrum in Spartanburg County, South Carolina on the route that would become the old Appalachian Highway or U.S. Route 176 to Polk County, NC.
 * from Laurens to Greenville to Travelers Rest in Greenville County, South Carolina north along what became U.S. Route 25 to Polk County, NC.
 * from Greenville west to Clemson and Seneca (earlier Fort Prince George and Keowee) in Oconee County, South Carolina probably overlapping the Old Cherokee Path west to Toccoa, Georgia (earlier Tugaloo) via what became U.S. Route 123.

Connecting trails. The Old South Carolina State Road linked to other trails at each end. Other trails also crossed it in the middle.

The migration pathways connected at the south end in Charleston included:


 * the Atlantic Ocean 1670
 * King's Highway about 1704
 * Fort Moore-Charleston Trail about 1716
 * Camden-Charleston Path 1732
 * Charleston-Savannah Trail late 1730s
 * Old South Carolina State Road 1747
 * Charleston-Ft. Charlotte Trail about 1765
 * Secondary Coast Road

The migration pathways connected at the north end near Spartanburg County, South Carolina included:


 * Catawba Trail pre-historic
 * Old Cherokee Path pre-historic
 * Old South Carolina State Road 1747

Between those two ends the Old South Carolina State Road also crossed and had junctions with several other important migration routes:


 * Occaneechi Path pre-historic in Lexington County
 * Fall Line Road about 1735 (overlapped the Occaneechi Path) in Lexington County
 * Great Valley Road (south fork) 1740s (overlapped the Occaneechi Path) in Lexington County
 * Lower Cherokee Traders' Path pre-historic in Spartanburg County
 * Upper Road about 1783 in Spartanburg County

Modern parallels. The modern roads that roughly match the old Old South Carolina State Road start in Charleston, South Carolina. Take Interstate 26 west (that is north) to Goose Creek. From Goose Creek follow U.S. Route 176 northwest to Henderson, North Carolina.

Settlers and Records
The Old South Carolina State Road from Charleston to Orangeburg was part of earlier routes and already well-traveled by the time the State Road opened in 1747. Settlers who came via Charleston may have arrived by sea, or by the King's Highway. Some later settlers may have joined the State Road at its junction with the Fall Line Road near Columbia. Especially the Ulster-Irish in the old Ninety-Six District used the State Road to reach early settlements in what became Newberry, Laurens, Union, Spartanburg, and Greenville counties east of the Cherokee Villages. Once the Cherokee left what became Pickens and Oconee counties during the Revolutionary War, in 1777 veterans of that war began settling on Cherokee land and probably used part of the Old South Carolina State Road to help get there.

No complete list of settlers who used the Old South Carolina State Road is known to exist. Nevertheless, local and county histories along that trail may reveal pioneer settlers who arrived after 1747 and therefore who were the most likely candidates to have traveled the Old South Carolina State Road.

For partial lists of early settlers who may  have used the Old South Carolina State Road, see histories like:

in Newberry County, SC:


 * George Leland Summer, Newberry County, South Carolina: Historical and Genealogical ([Newberry, South Carolina : s.n.], 1950) WorldCat entry.

in Union County, SC:



in Laurens County, SC:



in Spartanburg County, SC:



in Greenville County, SC:



in Pickens County, SC:



in Oconee County, SC:


 * Frederick Van Clayton, Settlement of Pendleton District, 1777-1800 (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, c1988) WorldCat entry. The old Pendleton District embraced the present counties of Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens. Includes plats and their owners taken from the "State Record of Plat Books."

in Polk County, North Carolina:


 * D. William Bennett, Polk County, North Carolina, History (Tyron, NC: Polk Co. Hist. Assoc., ©1983.) WorldCat entry.

in Stephens County, Georgia:


 * Katheryn Curtis Trogdon, History of Stephens County, Georgia (Toccoa, Ga.: Toccoa Womans Club, [c1973]). WorldCat entry.