Trader's Path
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The Trader's Path was a colonial highway through southwestern
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, established in 1740. The Trader's Path was an early road from
Augusta County, Virginia Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its county ...
, now part of
US 460 U.S. Route 460 (US 460) is a spur route of U.S. Route 60. It currently runs for 655 miles (1,054 km) from Norfolk, Virginia, at its parent route U.S. Route 60 at Ocean View to Frankfort, Kentucky, intersecting its parent route once ...
and US 220 Alternate. Established in 1740, the Trader's Path led from
Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...
to
Big Lick, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is l ...
(now known as
Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...
), and was used to bring settlers and traders from central Virginia into the Roanoke Valley. Earlier accounts of the Trader's Path date to the middle and later 17th century. "During the 1600s, some white men from eastern Virginia took what they called the "Trader's Path" into the western country, where they trapped and traded. They crossed the
Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...
not far from present-day
Floyd, Virginia Floyd is a town in Floyd County, Virginia, United States. The population was 425 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Floyd County. The Town of Floyd was originally named Jacksonville as the surrounding county was formed during the tenur ...
and made their way into the
New River Valley The New River Valley is a region along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States. It is usually defined as the counties of Montgomery (including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg), Pulaski, Floyd, and Giles and the ...
. Not primarily interested in exploring or map making, let alone establishing permanent farms and communities, they depended on friendly relations with Indians and profitable relations with fur-bearing animals. Deliberate exploration parties pushed west across the Blue Ridge as early as the 1670s, long before the settlement of what is now Montgomery County.
Abraham Wood Abraham Wood (1610–1682), sometimes referred to as "General" or "Colonel" Wood, was an English fur trader, militia officer, politician and explorer of 17th century colonial Virginia. Wood helped build and maintained Fort Henry at the falls of ...
sent out a party of exploration, probably along the Trader's Path, in 1671 from what is now
Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...
. The party included his brother, Thomas Wood; Thomas Batts, Robert Fallam; and an Indian guide, Perecute. The men made their way up the
Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...
to present-day
Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combin ...
, across the Allegheny Ridge, along Stroubles Creek, and down a river-they called it Wood's River, though it later acquired the name New River-into present-day western
Giles County, Virginia Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia on the West Virginia state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,787. Its county seat is Pearisburg. Giles County is included in the Blacksburg- Christiansburg, VA M ...
. Since the New River joins the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
, the 1671 expedition to the New River provided one basis for England's claims to the Ohio Valley." Part of the Trader's Path continued along part of Merriman Road in Roanoke, and past the historic
Starkey School Starkey School is a historic school building located at Starkey, Roanoke County, Virginia. It was built about 1915, and is thought to incorporate an earlier one-room school built about 1894. It is a brick school building flanked by wings built in ...
. Section 7, page 1. "The earliest route used by white men through
Montgomery County, Virginia Montgomery County is a county located in the Valley and Ridge area of the U.S. state of Virginia. As population in the area increased, Montgomery County was formed in 1777 from Fincastle County, which in turn had been taken from Botetourt Count ...
was the Trader's Path, which connected Montgomery with the areas to the east beyond the Blue Ridge. It crossed the Blue Ridge between Franklin and Floyd counties and may have followed the Little River to a ford of the New River at or near Ingles Ferry. Batts and Fallam very likely followed this path on their exploration to the New River in 1671." This was also the earliest known road through
Floyd County, Virginia Floyd County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,476. Its county seat is the town of Floyd. Floyd County is included in the Blacksburg- Christiansburg, VA Metropolitan Statistical ...
, "...running east to west, and crossing the
Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...
where Back Creek enters the river, thence by John Mason's, R. Poague's, the headwaters of Back Creek and southwest over Bent Mountain. It continued westward through the
Little River (New River) The Little River, a tributary of the New River (Kanawha River), New River, is approximately 65 miles long in southwest Virginia in the United States. It rises in two forks in Floyd County, Virginia, Floyd County near the Blue Ridge Parkway. It fl ...
area to the Lead Mines. No doubt many traders and hunters whose names were never recorded followed the Trader's Path and Indian Trails through the Appalachian country in pursuit of this trade."Floyd County Heritage Book Committee (Floyd County, Va.). Floyd County, Virginia
Summersville, WV: S.E. Grose & Assoc, 2001. Page 8.


References


Bibliography

* Carter, Nora. 2009. "Old Roads of Bedford County". Bedford Genealogical Society Quarterly. 23, no. 2: 26–27. Notes: Written by a WPA project under the Conservation and Development Commission in 1938, and a copy given to Mrs. George P. Parker, historian of Peaks of Otter Chapter, D.A.R. by the author ...Includes extensive list of mills (names and locations) on p. 27. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/416577165. Historic trails and roads in Virginia Historic trails and roads in the United States {{Virginia-road-stub