On McCormick Highway (U.S. 378) 0 miles east of Fortson Road, on the right when traveling west.
Tory Pond, 100 yards south from this marker, is the spot where a band of Tories were hanged for the murder of Colonel John Dooly, in 1780, while he slept in his home, located some 3/4 mile to the east. Previously, a number from this band had . . . — — Map (db m21286) HM
On East Main Street (State Road 18/268) at North Bridge Street, on the right when traveling west on East Main Street.
Constructed in 1902, the original Wilkes County Courthouse is now the Wilkes Heritage Museum, home of the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. This beaux-arts, neo-classical revival building was designed at the turn of the 20th century by the . . . — — Map (db m210440) HM
Near West North Street just west of North Bridge Street, on the right when traveling west.
Captain Robert Cleveland was born in Virginia around 1744 and moved with his family to western North Carolina around 1766. Cleveland acquired 150 acres near the Lewis Fork in what is today known as the Purlear Community by 1778. He built his log . . . — — Map (db m192195) HM
On 1st Street Northeast, on the right when traveling east.
Benjamin Cleveland was born in Virginia, later served in the North Carolina House of Commons and led the Wilkes County militia at the Battle of Kings' Mountain on October 7, 1780. This battle was considered a turning point of the American Revolution . . . — — Map (db m107924) HM
On Old Mulkey Road (State Highway 1446), on the right when traveling south.
Hannah Boone, born 24 August 1746, sister of Daniel Boone, and wife of Revolutionary War soldier Richard Pennington, who served at Enoch Osborne’s Fort in Virginia, died near here on 9 April 1828. The family arrived at Mill Creek in 1798 from . . . — — Map (db m39568) HM
Near Jackson Street south of Seventh Street, on the right when traveling south.
Richard Henry Allen was born in 1807, in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Following a career as a merchant in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in 1840 he moved to New Orleans and became a cotton factor. In 1859, Allen retired to Thibodaux, entered sugar cane . . . — — Map (db m114080) HM
On Calhoun Falls Highway (Georgia Route 72) at Bobby Brown State Park Road, on the right when traveling east on Calhoun Falls Highway.
“The Point,” where early settlers crossed into Georgia, is eight miles east of here. As soon as this area was ceded, Governor Wright opened a post at the confluence of the Broad and Savannah Rivers, known as Fort James. “The . . . — — Map (db m37051) HM
On Mallorysville Road (County Route 106) at Dunkhill Road (County Route 105), on the right when traveling west on Mallorysville Road.
At Clarke’s Creek, near here, on the night of February 13, 1779, American troops commanded by Col. Elijah Clark, Col. John Dooley and Col. Andrew Pickens, encamped. Very early the next morning, they launched a surprise attack on the British . . . — — Map (db m46840) HM
On East North Street at Broad Street, on the left when traveling east on East North Street.
A stately oak stood here for nearly 300 years. It symbolized the patriots' yearning for freedom and the bitterness of their conflict with the British crown. In 1779, two tories (Americans loyal to Britain) plundered the home of George Wilfong in . . . — — Map (db m183068) HM
On West Main Street (North Carolina Route 18/268) just east of North West Street, on the right when traveling west.
For more than one hundred and fifty years, St. Paul's Episcopal Church has found a home atop a steep hill in downtown Wilkesboro, North Carolina. St. Paul's Church traces its beginnings to 1836. The brick Gothic church was constructed in 1848 and . . . — — Map (db m187683) HM
On West Robert Toombs Avenue (Business U.S. 78) at North Mercer Street (Georgia Route 44), on the left when traveling west on West Robert Toombs Avenue.
This was the home of Jesse Mercer, pioneer Baptist preacher and largest contributor to the founding of Mercer Institute at Penfield, now Mercer University of Macon.
Jesse Mercer, born in North Carolina Dec. 16, 1769, was the son of Rev. Silas . . . — — Map (db m25861) HM
On Greenlee Ford Road 0.2 miles north of Carbon City Road (U.S. 70) when traveling north.
A patriot militia of about 1,500 men crossed this ford heading south on the morning of October 1, 1780. They were pursuing in enemy force led by Major Patrick Ferguson of the British Army. The men came from as far away as present-day eastern . . . — — Map (db m210355) HM
On State Highway 268, on the right when traveling west.
On the 28th of May 1866, Laura Foster, a beautiful but frail girl, was decoyed from her fathers house at German Hill in Caldwell County to a place in Wilkes County and was murdered. Tom Dula (Tom Dooley) was later hanged for her murder. She was . . . — — Map (db m57259) HM
On North Carolina Avenue just north of West Cherokee Street (State Route 11), on the left when traveling north.
Prelude to the Battle of Kings Mountain In the vicinity before you, a Patriot militia numbering 1,400 continued their two-week march in search of British Major Patrick Ferguson and his Loyalist army during the Revolutionary War. The . . . — — Map (db m196946) HM
On West King Street (U.S. 321/421) at Coffey Street, on the right when traveling east on West King Street.
(Southeast side)
"Pioneer Portraits" in Bronze
My vision is to commemorate the brave, courageous and industrious spirit of the pioneers. The representative bronze busts evoke the determined self-reliance of the early American founders . . . — — Map (db m269706) HM
On East Main Street (North Carolina Route 18/268) at Broad Street, on the right when traveling west on East Main Street.
Built in 1891 by the Wilkesboro Hotel Company, this structure was purchased by Nike Smithey in 1906 for $3,800 and renamed the Smithey Hotel. While operating the hotel Mr. Smithey also began a dry goods business on the first floor.
This . . . — — Map (db m286180) HM
On U.S. 421 at Tennessee Route 67, on the left when traveling south on U.S. 421.
This gap on the overmountain Indian trail was used as a barter site by Indian traders before settlement. Later Daniel Boone, James Robertson and other pioneers used the Trade Gap. This easternmost settlement is one of the oldest in Tennessee. — — Map (db m104306) HM
On 04 October 1750, Squire Boone received a Land Warrant and Survey for a 640-acre tract "lying...upon Grant's Creek, alias Lickon (Licking) Creek" in present Davie County. He received a grant for this 640 acres on the present Elisha and Dutchman . . . — — Map (db m53219) HM
Fire as quick as you can, and stand your ground as long as you can. When you can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; but I beg you not to run quite off. It we are repulsed, let us make a point of returning, and renewing the . . . — — Map (db m17522) HM
On Greenlee Ford Road 0.3 miles north of Carbon City Road (U.S. 70), on the right when traveling north.
During the America n Revolution, at this ford of the Catawba River, around 1390 men from Western North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia crossed here on their way to the Battle Of Kings Mountain. The men who crossed the river here were all . . . — — Map (db m285957) HM WM
Near West Main Street at Terrace Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
David Allen, Eighteenth-Century Entrepreneur
David Allen arrived mid-century in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With an eye on the plentiful timber and swiftly moving rivers, he set about building a sawmill. He likely had lumber . . . — — Map (db m258609) HM
On State Highway 28 at Old Charleston Road (Local Road 38), on the left when traveling south on State Highway 28.
About four miles southeast is the site of the American Revolutionary Battle of Long Cane. On December 12, 1780, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Allen and a British force of 400-500 men defeated Colonel Elijah Clarke and 100 Americans, an advanced . . . — — Map (db m241074) HM
