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See Lancaster Reports
February 7, 2007
By: Nancy Howell
 For those of you who were unable to attend the conference on
February 3 at Andrew Jackson State Park about the Great Wagon Road, you
missed a great history lesson and informative event. See Lancaster sees it
as just one more great asset to proudly keep before the public about
Lancaster County. On Sunday a group took a ride on the section of The
Great Wagon Road that is near the park.
As it was explained to a packed house The Great Wagon Road stretched from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Augusta, Georgia. It primarily focused on
Scots Irish who traveled south along the nearly 735 mile path. They
traveled roads that forked off to lead them to settlements throughout
Virginia and the Carolinas. The route which linked Salisbury, North
Carolina to Camden, South Carolina runs through Andrew Jackson State
Park. Interesting enough many of our major highways today are components
of the Great Wagon Road.
The program centered around trying to visually create for the audience
a picture of who these pioneers were and how they traveled. Today we do
not think about going to Charlotte to shop, but the early settlers
would have had to make that a two day trip. Such facts were presented
by four very well informed and interesting historians. It was obvious
they had been chosen because of their enthusiasm as well as knowledge.
But probably the most exciting speaker was Charles Vaughan from Van
Wyck, son of Richard and Linda Vaughan. Charles is a teacher in
Columbia and has an interest in The Great Wagon Road because he has
traced his roots back to the Scots Irish and the movement in America.
Such knowledge of Trails is a great resource for See Lancaster who is
trying to learn more and develop such trails for tourist adventures.
We appreciate all that the Andrew Jackson Park staff went to for this
conference and do hope we are offered the opportunities to have other
such events. See Lancaster is also working with a regional group in
North Carolina on the same subject, trails. We know that Lancaster has
a lot to offer for locals and tourist
alike. We hope to create Revolutionary and Civil War Trails as well
as learning more about The Great Wagon Road. Interestingly enough,
once the settlers hit the South Carolina boundary the trails became
many. They went in east, south and west patterns making for many
trails that have yet to be researched.
If such opportunities are offered again, and the staff of Andrew
Jackson Park seems to think they will be, be sure and take advantage
of it. We live in an interesting area and so much has yet to be
researched, but we are in danger of losing some of the information
if caution is not taken with our growth and development.
For more information about tours, events and other possible
adventures for your family, contact See Lancaster.
See Lancaster
286-1145
email: seelancaster@seelancaster.org
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