Abstract:
The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, which cut diagonally through North Carolina's Piedmont, was the primary southbound route for English, Scotch-Irish, and Germanic immigrants who began arriving in Pennsylvania in the 1720s. By 1760, it had become the most heavily traveled road in America, fostering the establishment of new towns throughout the south, including Salisbury, Charlotte, and the Moravian settlements of Bethania and Salem in North Carolina. Revolutionary War battles fought along the Wagon Road include Camden, Cowpens, King's Mountain, and Guilford Courthouse.