The Trading Path
Waxhaw, Union County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Trading Path. Colonial trading route, dating from the seventeenth century, from Petersburg, Virginia, to the Waxhaw Indians in Carolina, passed nearby.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Beginning in the seventeenth century, the Trading Path ran from Petersburg, Virginia, deep into the Carolina backcountry to reach the Waxhaw people. Traders drove packhorses along the route, exchanging European goods for deerskins and building the earliest commercial ties between colony and Native nations. The path passed nearby, threading through country that would soon fill with settlers.
Why it matters
This colonial highway of the Piedmont carried the trade and traffic that reshaped Native and settler life alike across the Carolinas.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Trading Path
Charlotte, NC
The Trading Path, dating from the 1600s, linked Petersburg, Virginia, to the Catawba people of the Carolina Piedmont. Along it moved traders, packhorses, and the goods that bound Native nations to distant colonial markets. Following routes long used by Indigenous travelers, the path passed nearby and helped funnel settlers into the region.
The Trading Path
Concord, NC
The Trading Path was a colonial overland route that took shape in the 1600s, carrying traders and goods south from the Virginia settlements toward the Catawba and Waxhaw peoples of the Carolina Piedmont. Much of it followed far older Indigenous trails. This artery of deerskins, cloth, and manufactured wares helped open the backcountry to European settlement, and it passed near this spot.
R. Gregg Cherry
Gastonia, NC
R. Gregg Cherry served as governor of North Carolina from 1945 to 1949, guiding the state through the transition from World War II to peacetime. A former legislator, he championed better roads and rural electrification that modernized life for farm families across the state. His grave lies three miles southeast.
Red Hill
Concord, NC
Red Hill was the home and tavern of John and Martin Pheifer, a hospitable stop in the Cabarrus County backcountry where travelers of note broke their journeys. Its guests reportedly included royal Governor William Tryon and, later, President George Washington during his 1791 Southern Tour. Taverns like Red Hill were the inns, courtrooms, and news exchanges of their day.