NC Museums Council

The land stretching along the Yadkin River drew Native American tribes, explorers, woodsmen, and settlers here to linger as long ago as 1670. The two Great Wagon Roads led immigrants to their new home in the South, with Scotch Irish settlers arriving as early as 1747, and the German immigrants following several years later.

The convergence of those two Great Wagon Roads–the Trading Path from eastern Virginia and the Great Pennsylvania Wagon Road from the north–made the area easily accessible and spurred a growing population of settlers. By 1753, colonial Governor Matthew Rowan signed a bill creating Rowan County and Saint Luke’s Parish. Two years later, in 1755, Salisbury was established as the county seat. The county continued to grow and was the largest and most heavily populated county in the colony until 1836 when the boundaries were redrawn to form 26 counties.

As the railroads developed, Southern Railway’s main east-west and north-south lines intersected in Rowan County. Southern Railway President Samuel B. Spencer recognized the importance of this location, and in 1896 authorized construction of Southern Railway’s steam engine repair facility in what is now the town of Spencer.

During the Civil War, Rowan County was the location of the only N. C. Confederate war prison. Today, the site is home to the Historic National Cemetery honoring those killed in the Civil War. Along the course of history, Rowan County played host to several notables including Andrew Jackson, who studied law here, and George Washington, who spent the night here while passing through the area.

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