Transportation had always been difficult in North Carolina — both in the east, where rivers and swamps criscrossed the landscape, and in the west, where mountain ranges separated scattered communities. The state was slow to fund improvements, but in the first half of the nineteenth century, North Carolinians gradually built canals and roads to improve transportation and trade. In this chapter, we’ll consider the difficulties of travel, the means of transportation available, and the impact improvements had on the state’s economy.

Section Contents

• Steamboats
• The Dismal Swamp Canal
• How a Canal Works
• Elisha Mitchell and His Mountain
• Elisha Mitchell Explores the Mountains
• The Buncombe Turnpike