This was really fascinating and definitely fills in some gaps. In a few cases, I've found where ancestors that migrated to Virginia from Pennsylvania eventually moved on into North Carolina near the Yadkin. Some of the Burkes did this. Also, I believe Daniel Boone (no relation) did the same. This certainly makes sense considering the fact that the road ran along this route! Thanks SO much for sharing this interesting info!! MizzKat (Only 2 more weeks until I get to change that to "Ole Kat!" The big "5-0" is April 1st!) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barbara Stanley" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 5:52 AM Subject: [VAPATRIC] Wagon Road THE GREAT PHILADELPHIA WAGON ROAD Dr. Harry Y. Gamble This famous road began at the Schuylkill River Ferry on the west side of Philadelphia. The Schuylkill rises to the south of Hazelton, near the center of eastern Pennsylvania, and flows southward through Schuylkill Haven, thence to Port Clinton where it is joined by the Little Schuylkill. The larger river then flows south through Reading, then south-eastern through Potstown and Norristown to the southern Philadelphia area where it joins the Delaware. Beginning at Schuylkill River Ferry the road ran west through what is known as the Pennsylvania Dutch County to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, thence to Harris Ferry on the Susquehanna River (midway between Lancaster and York) and on to York, Pennsylvania. The road then moved in a gradual southwestern direction crossing part of what is now Maryland to Williams Ferry on the Potomac River, then stretched southwest across the tip of West Virginia to the beautiful plateau of the Winchester, Virginia area just south of the most eastward thrust of West Virginia. From Winchester the road ran to present day Strasburg where the northern reaches of the Blue Ridge suddenly sprawl eastward as if by natural accommodation to open the mouth of the great valley of Virginia lying between the Appalachian on the west and the Blue Ridge on the east. Much of Highway Rt. 11 running through the Valley follows the bed of the Old Wagon Road. At some points it parallels or intersects the old road. The new Interstate Highway 81 through the Valley runs some distance west of the old road. Entering the beautiful Valley and hugging close to the Blue Ridge the road ran from Strasburg through or near the present day towns of Toms Brook, Woodstock, Edinburg, Mt. Jackson, New Market, Mauzy and through the small and widely scattered hills of the Harrisonburg area, to Mt. Crawford, Weyer's Cave and Staunton. From Staunton the road ran through the Lexington area to Buchanan where the James River was crossed at Looneys Ferry and where the Appalachian Range makes a southeasterly thrust to touch the Blue Ridge. Moving toward the present site of Roanoke and with deminishing ruggedness of the Blue Ridge permitting more frequent passages of safety to the east, the road turned eastward through the Staunton Gap, then southward crossing the Blackwater, Irvine and Dan Rivers and on to Wachovia, North Carolina on a tributary of the Yadkin River. After about 1756 the road ran on to the Trading Ford on the Yadkin River near present day Salisbury where it intersected other old trails originating in Virginia and leading into the south and southwest from the Trading Ford. <http://www.garstfamily.com/articles/PhilaWagonRoad.htm>http://www.garstfam ily.com/articles/PhilaWagonRoad.htm ---------- At 10:54 PM 3/16/2005 -0500, you wrote: >Mizz Kat, > >My De Hart family came from Amherst County starting about 1795. I think many times families moved together trying to get more or better land or maybe free land grants. Also, my De Harts were in PA and before that in NY so it makes sense that the Penn families came down the Old Wagon Road from PA like my De Hart family did, and then into Amherst Co. I have been told that the Old Wagon Road was just about in the same place that I-81 is now, and that where the intersection of what is now Cloverdale Road and Rt 117, is where the Old Wagon Road took a turn to the left. Some of the people went that way into other counties such as Bedford and Amherst, and the others continued onward into what is now Roanoke and beyond. I don't have any records on this, just talk from meetings I have attended. There is a book on the Old Wagon Road and I thought I had a copy, but cannot find it at the moment. Try your local library to see what they have. > >Ol' Pat ==== VAPATRIC Mailing List ==== Patrick Co., Va. List Administrator Barb Stanley [email protected] -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.2 - Release Date: 3/11/05 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.2 - Release Date: 3/11/05

Another book on the subject is The Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia to the South, by Parke Rouse, Jr. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973), still widely available in paperback. Karen Stuart