Following Their Footsteps
North Carolina Scottish Trek
The early settlement of North Carolina was deeply influenced by Scottish Highland immigrants in the southeast, Lowland Scots in the northeast and the Ulster Scots (Scotch-Irish) in the west. The Cape Fear Scottish Immigration Memorial Fund is working on a privately funded “Scottish Trek” throughout the state, starting at the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site and ending at or near Grandfather Mountain. There will be informational markers at places that were greatly impacted by these pre-Revolutionary Scottish immigrants. In addition to Brunswick Town, Moore’s Creek National Battlefield, Cross Creek (Fayetteville) and other locations will have educational markers erected as the Trek develops. A Story Map is in development.
North Carolina Scottish Trek
Proposed Route
Identified Locations
Scottish Heritage Center
Founded in 1989, the Scottish Heritage Center built one of the nation's premier collections of Scottish and Scottish-American history, genealogy, and culture — and is now the subject of a feasibility study to reopen as the Scottish Heritage Discovery Center.
Mill Prong House
A 1795 Federal-style plantation home built by Highland Scot John Gilchrist, Mill Prong House stands as one of the region's last intact links to the Highland Scots settlement of the Cape Fear valley.
South River Presbyterian Church
South River Presbyterian Church, built 1855–1857 near Garland in Bladen County, is a rare surviving link to North Carolina's Highland Scottish heritage — a Greek Revival country church that once held services in Scottish Gaelic. Now maintained by the Cromartie Family Association and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it remains a living stop on the North Carolina Scottish Trek.