Town Development in the Colonial Backcountry: Virginia and North Carolina
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1991 Town development in the colonial backcountry: Virginia and North Carolina Christopher E. Hendricks College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Geography Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Hendricks, Christopher E., "Town development in the colonial backcountry: Virginia and North Carolina" (1991). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623814. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-vj48-3605 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Order Number 9224075 Town development in the colonial backcountry - Virginia and North Carolina Hendricks, Christopher Edwin, Ph.D. The College of William and Mary, 1991 Copyright ©1992 by Hendricks, Christopher Edwin. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced withwith permission ofof the the copyright copyright owner. owner. Further Further reproduction reproduction prohibited prohibited without without permission. permission. TOWN DEVELOPMENT IN THE COLONIAL BACKCOUNTRY - VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Christopher Edwin Hendricks Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy » /"Author Approved, December 1991 James P. Whittenburg ‘V /tj. y c l . Thad W. Tate Kevin P . Kelly, 62.d A Warren R- Hofstra Shenandoah University 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................ iv LIST OF MAPS............................................ v ABSTRACT................................................ vii INTRODUCTION............................................ 2 CHAPTER I. SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND EARLY URBAN MOVEMENTS 28 CHAPTER II. THE COUNTY TOWN......................... 64 CHAPTER III. THE TRANSIENT COURT AND ITS EFFECT ON TOWNS 146 CHAPTER IV. THE MIGRANT TOWN........................ 200 CHAPTER V. TRADING TOWNS AND RESORT COMMUNITIES..... 264 CHAPTER VI. CONCLUSION............................... 301 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................ 322 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I really cannot begin to thank everyone who helped me at the many libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, universities, and courthouses across North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia which I have frequented in preparation for this work. However, I can thank John Selby, Thad Tate, Kevin Kelly, and Warren Hofstra for all of their help and criticism while this project was coming together. Mostly, want to thank Dr. James P. Whittenburg, a man who has touched more lives and influenced more scholars than he dares to realize. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF MAPS Map Page 1 VIRGINIA PIEDMONT................................ 19 2 NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT.......................... 21 3 Winchester, 1758................................. 69 4 The Fairfax Addition, Winchester................ 74 5 Staunton - 1749.................................. 82 6 A Map of the Town Land of Salisbury............. 89 7 Plan of the Town of Salisbury................... 95 8 Plan of the Town of Hillsborough................ 99 9 Plan of the Town of Hillsborough - 1768......... 104 10 A Map of Campbell ton - 1768..................... 109 11 Fayetteville.................................... 112 12 Fincastle - 1778..... -.......................... 121 13 Charlotte Courthouse (Dalstonburg)............. 152 14 Plan of New London Town......................... 156 15 Peytonsburg..................................... 162 16 Plat of Woodstock Virginia...................... 169 17 Hitetown (Leetown).............................. 175 18 Martinsburg, Va. 1779........................... 178 19 Plan of the Town of Richmond - 1774............ 184 20 Mecklenburg - 1758.............................. 206 21 Shepherdstown................................... 209 22 Stephensburg.................................... 214 v . .. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF MAPS (cont.) Map Page 23 Strasburg....................................... 217 24 Bethabara - 1760................................ 225 25 Bethania - 1761................................. 230 26 Unitas ......................................... 237 27 Salem - 1765.................................... 240 28 Cross Creek - 1770.............................. 272 29 Bath............................................ 287 30 Virginia, North Carolina....................... 304 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The backcountry of colonial Virginia and North Carolina saw a process of urbanization during the third quarter of the eighteenth century uniquely shaped by a large-scale immigration from colonies to the north, aided by the westward extension of local government. This rapid development did not lead to the creation of a hierachical economic system of central places, but rather linear networks shaped by the geography of the region. Ironically, this phenomenon occurred in an area of two American colonies usually considered to be devoid of towns during the colonial period. This dissertation is a study of twenty-eight towns established from 1744 to 1776 in the Piedmont Southside and Great Valley of Virginia and Piedmont North Carolina. The towns are categorized by their primary function (administrative, migrant, or trade), and then analyzed individually, taking into account the circumstances of their establishment, their intended purpose, their design, and actual development. The goal of this work is not only to provide a regional town study, but also to identify commonalities in town development, including methods of establishment, economic activities on local and regional levels, the roles of public institutions, and what factors helped determine success or failure. The interaction between towns is also explored to determine trade and communication links, any network systems, and areas of urban influence. The study is an attempt to identify and describe the growth of a significant colonial urban movement. vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TOWN DEVELOPMENT IN THE COLONIAL BACKCOUNTRY - VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Introduction Scholars have largely ignored town development in the colonial South. Historians have categorized the development of the southern colonies as a rural phenomenon, and through force of repetition, a generally accepted model of colonial development that contrasts urban