Migration Paths into Old Tryon

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Settling the Western Frontier

Migration Paths into Old Tryon

European Migration 1600 - 1775

During this time period the migration to the eastern seaboard was from Western Europe, mainly the British Isles, Germany and France. Nearly all immigrants left Europe either from British or Dutch ports regardless of their native origins. Most families settling in the area west of the Catawba River in NC arrived in America either in Philadelphia or Virginia. A few came in through ports in the northeast and possibly from Charleston.

James River to the Southside 1740 - 1776

After more than a hundred years of settlement, the James River area was becoming rather "crowded". New immigrants were arriving and old estates were passed along usually by the laws of primogenitor. Seeking farmland meant moving southwest into what became called the Southside of Virginia. Here the land was rolling piedmont interlaced with rivers. Due to the frontier nature of the Southside and areas just to the west, the area also became home to those escaping the force of British law.

PA to NC 1750 - 1775

This migration is generally considered the great German migration into the Carolinas. Indeed the Germans were the primary group to travel this path. First Moravians from Bethlehem, PA moved south the form the communities of Bethabara and then Salem near the Watauga River. Soon word spread to other Germans about the possibilities of this area. Problems with the French to their west and the growing scarcity of land in PA, many German immigrants -- often the second generation -- moved down the Great Wagon Road. Some English settlers came with them, usually those who had dealings with the German communities in PA. This group of migrants settled primarily in present day Lincoln County and northern Cleveland County.

VA to Western Carolinas 1760 - 1800

The migration of Virginia families into the old Tryon area occurred in two phases. In the 1760s many families left Virginia, according to family legend, for the frontier to avoid the harassment of the Stamp Act. After the Revolution, there was a second migration. This time it was people seeking their fortune on the frontier or soldiers settling in on the land grants for service in the Revolution. Many of these families had moved from the James River settlements to the Southside and then to the Carolinas. Most of these settlers established themselves in what is now Rutherford County or southern Cleveland County.

Resettlement 1790 - 1810

In the decades around 1800 the was some shifting of families between North and South Carolina and between Lincoln and Rutherford Counties. It occurred among all the ethnic groups and reflected a growing Americanization of the various cultures.

Westward Migration 1800 -

The great Westward Migration began late in the eighteenth century but began in earnest after 1800. The children of old Tryon headed to Georgia both for the Land Lotteries and the gold rush. Others went further west into the mountains of North Carolina and on into Tennessee. From Georgia and Tennessee, they followed the national movement of western expansion.