Abstract:
The highway as North Carolina’s colonists knew it was the primary pathway for many. Covering 700 miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to August, Georgia, this road largely traveled by foot played a pivotal role in creating some of the state’s metros and major cities. Commemorating the importance of the Great Wagon Road are items in the Rowan Museum such as a wagon made by John Israel Nissen, descendant of original travelers of the road. A personal sign of the road’s importance is on display at the Knox Farm: the rim of one of The Great Wagon’s wheels. John Knox’s eighth generation descendants can’t attest the rim was on their ancestor’s wagon; they only know it’s always been part of the farm’s landscape.