FORMATION OF HENDERSON COUNTY, est 1838
& MIGRATION ON THE GREAT WAGON ROAD
1838  ~  Henderson County was created by the North Carolina General Assembly
from the southern part of Buncombe County.
Henderson County was created from the southern part of Buncombe County by an act ratified by the North Carolina General Assembly on December 15, 1838.  The area was settled after 1788 when the Cherokee Nation was moved to the west side of the Pigeon River.  The county is named for Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, who died in 1833.

Part of Rutherford was annexed to Henderson in 1844; the boundary line between Buncombe and Henderson was altered in 1851; Polk County was established from Henderson and Rutherford in 1855; and Transylvania County was formed from Henderson and Jackson in 1861.

source:  Henderson County Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc.
Maps from 1775 to 1900
showing the gradual formation of counties in Western North Carolina
Division of Archives and History, NC Dept of Cultural Resources; originally published in
"The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663 - 1943" by David L. Corbitt.
1791  ~  BUNCOMBE COUNTY 

formed from parts of Burke and Rutherford counties, and includes all of Western North Carolina
1838  ~  HENDERSON COUNTY 

formed from southern part of Buncombe County, and includes some of today's Transylvania County
1861  ~  TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY

formed from parts of southern Henderson and Jackson counties.
The Great Wagon Road is labeled G.W.R. on the map.
  • Originally a Native American hunting, trade, and war trail called the "Warrior's Path"
  • Sometimes called the "Great Philadelphia Wagon Road"
  • From the 1750's, carried settlers from northern states into the Piedmont and beyond
Links to articles & map on NCPedia.org
Picture
The Great Wagon Road and its offshoots in North Carolina, 1750-1780. Map by Mark Anderson Moore, courtesy North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh.