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 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 Indian Warpath or Great Valley Road as it was called in Virginia. 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 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The length of the road was about 180 miles (290 km).

Historical Background
Scots-Irish (that is Ulster-Irish), and German farmers migrating along the Great Valley Road (sometimes called the Great Wagon Road) through Virginia began settling the counties near the north end of the Old South Carolina State Road in the 1750s. However, during part of the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1763 they decided to leave the Washington County, Virginia area. Some settlers after the war in Johnson County, Tennessee and Watauga County, North Carolina were pushing beyond the Proclamation line protecting Indians from intruders. Many of the re-settlers in the area became involved in the Watauga Association (a semi-automomous government) starting in 1772. In turn this led to the tentative and short-lived State of Franklin.

The south end of the Old South Carolina State Road was in Oconee County, South Carolina at the convergence of several Indian trails and settler roads mostly leading to the lower Cherokee Indian village of Tugaloo across the Savannah River in Stephens County, Georgia. Tugaloo was built at or became the nexus of several trails along the Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina. Before the Revolutionary War Cherokees resisted white settlements on their land. During the American Revolutionary War the Cherokee Indians took sides with the British. By 1777 Patriot forces had driven the Indians from the Lower Cherokee Villages in South Carolina, and Tugaloo, Georgia, and Patriot veterans began settling the area.

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
 * Lexington
 * Newberry
 * Laurens
 * Spartanburg County, South Carolina 1755 by Scots-Irish
 * Greenville County, South Carolina 1777 by Scots-Irish, and Revolutionary War Veterans

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 north end in Washington County, Virginia included:


 * Great Indian Warpath pre-historic (overlapped by the Great Valley Road opened to European settlers about 1744).
 * Old South Carolina State Road pre-historic
 * Wilderness Road 1775

The migration routes connected at the south end in Oconee County, South Carolina, or in Tugaloo, Stephens, Georgia included:


 * Savannah River pre-historic
 * Old South Carolina State Road pre-historic
 * Lower Cherokee Traders' Path pre-historic
 * Coosa-Tualoo Indian Warpath
 * Tugaloo-Apalachie Bay Trail
 * Augusta and Cherokee Trail about 1777
 * Fort Charlotte and Cherokee Old Path about 1777
 * Upper Road about 1783
 * Unicoi Trail or Turnpike 1813

Between those two ends the Old South Carolina State Road was also crossed by several other important routes:


 * Jonesboro Road after 1769 crossed the Old South Carolina State Road near the Burke/McDowell county border, NC. The Jonesboro Road connected New Bern, North Carolina to Jonesborough and Knoxville, Tennessee.
 * Rutherford's War Trace opended in 1776 through the same place because it overlapped the Jonesboro Road there.
 * Catawba Trail a pre-historic route met the Old South Carolina State Road near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The Catawba Trail connected the Lower Cherokee villages with the Cumberland Gap and Wilderness Road into Kentucky.
 * Old South Carolina State Road opened in 1747 and met the Old South Carolina State Road near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The Old South Carolina State Road zig-zagged its way to Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina.

Modern parallels. The modern roads that roughly match the old Old South Carolina State Road start in Toccoa, Georgia. From Toccoa, take US-123 east to Easley, South Carolina, then east on US-124 to Greenville. Go north on US-25 to SC-11. Turn east on SC-11 to Gowensville. Take SC-14 north to Landrum, then northwest on US-176/Asheville Highway to Tryon, North Carolina. Turn north and then east onto NC-108 to Rutherfordton. Take US-64 north to Lenoir, then go north on US-321 to Boone. Take US-421 to Mountain City, then turn northeast onto NC-91 to Damascus, Tennessee. From Damascus take US-58 northwest to I-81, the Interstate version of the Great Valley Road.

Settlers and Records
The Great Valley Road was the trail leading to the north end of the Old South Carolina State Road. A few colonists settled in Washington County Virginia in the early 1750s but decided to leave for safety reasons during the French and Indian War. The Lower Cherokee Villages on the South Carolina and Georgia part of the Old South Carolina State Road inhibited most European settlements until the American Revolutionary War. Settlers prior to 1777 were most likely using trails other than the Old South Carolina State Road to reach their new homes.

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 1777 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 Washington County, VA:


 * Lewis Preston Summers, History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 (1903; reprint, Baltimore: Regional Pub. Co., 1971) WorldCat entry.

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 Stephens County, GA:


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