Follow Civil War General Sherman's route along the Old Stage Road from Fayetteville through the site of the March 1865 Battle of Averasboro - 23 miles of historic and scenic landscape.

Along the Route:

• Clarendon Bridge Site
• Old Bluff Church
• Silver Run Skirmish Site
• Taylor's Hole Creek Skirmish Site
• The William Smith Plantation House and Transportation Museum
• Oak Grove Plantation House
• Averasboro Battlelines
• Averasboro Battlefield Scenic Byway
• Chicora Civil War Cemetery
• Averasboro Battlefield Museum
• Lebanon Plantation House

Historic Highlights Surrounding the Avererasboro Historic Byway:

Pre-Colonial Period: During the mid to late 1600s and the early 1700s, resident Native Americans were forcibly displaced by militia action. With the end of hostilities in 1718, colonization by European settlers increased significantly.

Colonial and Revolutionary War Period: Along the Upper Cape Fear River just above what is now Fayetteville, ferry sites, a bridge, nad improved trails and byways for horse, wagon, and stagecoach travel were developed. The town of Averasboro was established to support the naval stores production in the area, and eventually a plank road system was installed. Smith's Ferry on the Cape Fear at the mouth of the Lower Little River was a major crossing point during the Revolutionary War. In 1825, General Lafayette of Revolutionary War fame passed through Averasboro on the stage road en route to Fayetteville. By 1850, the Smith Plantation, "Smithville," (8200 acres) with its three plantation houses, a saw mill, and grist mills was a dominant feature.

Civil War Period: Although support for the Confederacy was strong in the Averasboro/Smithville community, except for providing numerous soldiers, no military involvement occurred there until March 1865 when the Left Wing of Union General Sherman's army was confronted by a Confederate army under the command of General William J. Hardee. The result was the two day Battle of Averasboro, the prelude to the larger Battle of Bentonville.

Related Trails and Byways:

• Averasboro Battlefield Scenic Byway
• North Carolina Civil War Trails
• Cumberland County Cultural Heritage Trails
• North Carolina Bicycle Route 5