Travel in tlie Good Old Days
A description of a trip from Wil¬
mington to Charlotte, together with
some of the difficulties which ac¬
companied traveling in North Caro¬
lina during the ante-helium period.
Rij WILLIAM A. ALLH WDS
TRAVEL in North Carolina many
years ago was slow and some¬
times difficult, but it was prob¬
ably no less interesting than the
trips we make today.
Plank roads represented the
super-highways during the decades
just preceding the War Between
the States. Railroads, for the most
port, were still in the pioneering
stage, and many people were skep¬
tical concerning this means of get¬
ting about from place to place.
Steamboat transportation was con¬
sidered the most commodious
method of traveling, and the horse
was looked upon as man’s best
servant.
The following sketch, from the
yellowed pages of an old Queen
City newspaper, gives an enlight¬
ening account of a business trip
made by a Tar-Heel journalist
from Charlotte to Wilmington, dur¬
ing this period. The journey was
made by various modes
of transportation, and
it required nine days
to complete the round-
trip:
"The Observer’s his¬
torian returned a few
days ago from a jour¬
ney to Wilmington,
the city which is built
on the eastern bank
of the Cape Fear. The
object of his visit was
the closing of a trade
previously made by
which he exchanged
one able-bodied man
slave for four barrels
of rum. He had been
apprised by letter
through stage post of
the long expected ar¬
rival at the port of the
sailing vessel from the
West Indies, bearing
the patiently awaited
cargo of rum. and left
at once to deliver the
collateral and secure
the barreled goods. The historian
made the return journey in safety
and without incident of untoward
nature. The rum was stored in the
hold of one of the palatial steamers
which ply between Wilmington
and Fayetteville and the voyage
was begun near nightfall. One
rich planter with his interesting
family of wife and three daughters,
several stock traders, a trapper,
two turpentine merchants and a
small party suspected of being
gamblers, made up the ship’s pas¬
senger list. Morning found the
scenery changed. Instead of the
flat, level fields of rice we saw as
we left Wilmington, we found our¬
selves passing through wild bluffs,
densely wooded, with here and
there stupendous hills and craggy
cliffs. The river is narrow and
deep, except at the points where
shoals are encountered. These
shoals prove a provoking source
of delay at times of low water and
often the boats have to be warped
over them. When that becomes
necessary, the captain will send
his Negro deckhands forward to
tie a rope to a tree. The free end
of the rope is then brought to a
winch on deck and by slow de¬
grees the boat is pulled over the
shoal water, the bottom grating
on the pebbly bed at a rate that
makes one fear a plank will be
ripped off. There is talk of trying
to induce the Government to tear
a way through the shoals with
powder.
"We arrived at Fayetteville on
the second morning and when the
boat tied up at the landing we
could see no signs of a town. The
passengers were assisted up a high
bluff from the top of which the
spires of the churches could be
seen a mile distant. Fayetteville
is the most important trade town
in the eastern section, with the
exception of Wilmington. Traders
from the interior of the state come
here in covered wagons loaded
with all kinds of produce, notably
tobacco and cotton, and return
loaded with supplies of dry goods
and provisions.
"At Fayetteville I had no diffi¬
culty in disposing of my cargo of
rum which had been my intention
in going to that
market, where good
prices prevail. I got
rid of my stock at the
satisfactory price of
two pounds sterling
per gallon. This I de¬
posited for exchange
in the Fayetteville
bank and resumed my
journey home.
"I was lucky enough
to fall in with a
Fayetteville planter
who was going to
Wadesboro over the
new plank road, and
it was elegant and
comfortable traveling
in a post chase, the
route leading through
the hamlet of Troy,
where the road forks
in one direction to¬
ward Wadesboro and
further on toward
Lincolnton and Salis¬
bury. From Wades¬
boro I made the re¬
mainder of the jour-
The old State House at Fayetteville.
THE STATE. March 23. 1946
