Some of you know how your ancestors came to live in the specific places you've found them, but others are still looking for clues. An article in a recent newspaper genealogy column reminds us that 18th and 19th century pioneers moving west and south in the U.S. had to travel by boat or horse and wagon. They used these established roads to get to where they were headed: The Pioneers Road, over the Blue Ridge Mountains (U.S. 11 or Interstate 81) Great Valley Road, from New York to Carolinas Braddocks Road, from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh (U.S. 40) Forbes Road, from Harrisburg, PA to Pittsburgh (basic route of the PA Turnpike) National Road, from Cumberland, MD to Wheeling, WV to Vandalia, IL (following Interstate 70 from Wheeling to Vandalia) Fall Line Road, from Fredericksburg, VA through VA, NC, SC, and into GE (somewhat following U.S. 1) Mohawk Trail, from Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY (current route of NY Central RR) Later trails west of the Mississippi River included California, Oregon, Santa Fe, and Taos Trails The point of the article was that you MIGHT find clues to your ancestry by looking at the routes your ancestors PROBABLY used to get where they went. _____________________ Extended reading: Sites discussing roads used in early American history: discussion on migrations in VA, starts at Nr. 608 on this page: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhs25.html Early American Roads and Trails http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cgaunt/etc/v98i77.txt Early American Roads and Trails http://www.geocities.com/gentutor/trails.html Pioneer Migration Routes Through Ohio http://members.aol.com/traltman/migration.html

Cindy wrote: > > Sites discussing roads used in early American history: > > Early American Roads and Trails > http://www.geocities.com/gentutor/trails.html > This one includes MAPS!!!!!