Western North Carolina

Last Update: 25/MARCH/2026

Compiled by Pete Payette - Š2026 American Forts Network

Camp Chronicle
(1917 - 1919), Gastonia
An Army field artillery training camp supporting a firing range at the base of Crowder's Mountain to the west. Camp site located on the west-side of South Linwood Street.

Col. William Graham's Fort
(1780), near Grover, Cleveland County
The fortified home of state militia Col. William Graham, located on Buffalo Creek northwest of town. It was raided by Tories in August 1780.

Camp at Ramsour's Mill
(1780), near Lincolnton
A Loyalist/Tory encampment of 1,300 troops under Lt. Col. John Moore. Attacked by Patriots in June 1780. Exhibits at the Lincoln County Museum of History at 403 East Main Street.

Confederate Laboratory
(1863 - 1865), Laboratory
Located about two miles south of Lincolnton on the South Fork River was a CSA facility to manufacture plant-based drugs. Gunpowder may have also been produced near the war's end. Marker located on US 321 (South Aspen Street) in Lincolnton.

Fort Dobbs (1) (State Historic Site)
(1756 - 1764, 1770's), Statesville FORT WIKI
It was the only NC colonial militia fort on the frontier during the French and Indian War. It was 53-by-40 feet square with two three-story 24-by-22 square foot blockhouses. Daniel Boone served here with Major Hugh Waddell's Rangers. Attacked by Cherokees in 1760. The fort was later abandoned. The site was used on occasion by the NC state militia during the American Revolution. Located north of town on Fourth Creek. A full reconstruction is planned in the future.

Thomas Young's Fort
(1778), near Houstonville
A settlers' two-story log blockhouse located about two miles north of town on Hunting Creek. Also used as a Patriot supply depot for the area.

Fort Hamby
(1865), near Wilkesboro
A two-story log farmhouse converted into a fortified stronghold for criminals and Union deserters. Armed citizens captured it by force in May 1865. The site is now under the waters of the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir at Lewis Fork Creek.

Owens' Fort
(1756 or 1757 ?), Wilkes County ?
A stockaded compound under a cliff overhang, located somewhere in the Upper Yadkin River Valley. The outlaw Owens' Gang operated from here, pillaging outlying settler homes and travelers. A posse of settlers and Rangers came through Boone Gap via Fort Dobbs (1) to arrest the gang.

Deep Gap Fort
(1865), near Deep Gap
A palisaded Union fort built during Union General Stoneman's Raid (March 1865), once located on what is now the Blue Ridge Parkway. A marker is located on US 421. Troops were also posted at Watauga Gap, State Gap, and Sampson Gap.

Camp Watauga
(1863 - 1865), Watauga County
A CSA camp. Undetermined location, possibly Watauga Gap (?)

Blowing Rock Fort
(1865), Blowing Rock
A Union palisaded fort built after General Stoneman's Raid (March 1865) to guard the pass.

Fort Rollins
(1865), Blowing Rock
A palisaded CSA fort built after Union General Stoneman's Raid (April 1865).
(NOTE: this may be the same as Blowing Rock Fort above.)

Boone Court House Fort
(1865), Boone
The county court house was occupied and fortified by Union troops during General Stoneman's Raid (March 1865).

Camp Mast
(1863 - 1865), Sugar Grove
A CSA training camp. Captured by the Union in March 1865.

Fort Defiance (1)
(1776 - 1780), Yadkin Valley
A NC state militia fort used against the Cherokee. General William Lenoir's home was built beginning in 1788 on the site of the former frontier fort and took its name. See also Fort Defiance from NCpedia.org

Frederick Grider's Fort
(1777 - 1780), Lenoir
A settlers' fort. Patriot militia camped here enroute to the Battle of King's Mountain (October 1780). A 1925 stone monument is located at 102 Willow Street SW, near Harper Ave., at the former Lenoir High School (now LHS Apartments) (private property).

Camp Vance (4)
(1861 - 1864), near Drexel
A CSA training camp that was raided by the Union in June 1864. Marker located on Sequoia Circle, now a residential area just west of town on US 70, although the actual site may be located just east at Settlemyre and Zion Roads.
(thanks to Dan Frezza for providing location)

Fort San Juan
(1567 - 1568), near Morganton
A Spanish blockhouse built by the Juan Pardo Expedition at an Indian village known as Joara (or Joada or Juada), located near the headwaters of the Catawba River. About 30 men were left here for the winter in January 1567. Pardo returned in September 1567, but the garrison had by then moved to the village of Chiaha in Tennessee. On their way back to the coast in November or December 1567, another group of 15 - 30 men were left here, but they probably did not survive the winter. Hernando DeSoto had previously visited Xuala in May 1540, which was probably the same place. The presumed site was excavated in 2004, about five miles north of town. Exhibits are at the History Museum of Burke County in Morganton.

Col. Charles McDowell's Station
(1776 - 1780), Morganton
A settlers' station located north of town on the upper Catawba River (Warrior Fork) at the "Quaker Meadows". A Cherokee-led seige and skirmish occurred here in July 1776. McDowell had 10 men here to protect 120 women and children, and held out until Brig. Gen. Griffith Rutherford arrived with 2400 men of the state militia. The present brick house at Quaker Meadows, at 119 St. Mary's Church Road, was built in 1812 by Capt. Charles McDowell (Jr.), son of Col. Charles McDowell. Operated by Historic Burke Foundation.

Capt. William Moore's Fort
(1776 - 1779), Burke County
A Patriot militia fort. Undetermined location, but likely within present-day Burke County.

Capt. William Morrison's Fort
(1776 - 1780), Burke County ?
A settlers' or Patriot militia fort. Undetermined location.

Cathey's Fort
(1776 - 1782), near Woodlawn, McDowell County
A settlers' fort (built by either George or William Cathey (brothers ?), both captains in the local militia at the time) located on the North Fork Catawba River at or near Armstrong Creek, used by the NC state militia as a rendezvous point against the Cherokee in September 1776. About 150 men were garrisoned here under Col. Joseph McDowell in 1777. The house was later acquired and known as William Wofford's Fort (2) from 1782 to 1791. Acquired by the Greenlee family in 1791. The house was still extant in the 1950's, although not on its original location. State marker located on US 221 north of town.

Nearby at the western end of Turkey Cove on Armstrong Creek was (William ?) Wofford's Fort (1) (1781- 1782). When attacked by Cherokee Indians in January 1781, before the fort was completed, help was requested from Cathey's Fort.

Capt. Samuel Davidson's Fort
(1776 - 1782), Old Fort, McDowell County
A log stockade was built around the Davidson homestead on Mill Creek by the NC state militia in August 1776 for use against the Cherokee, originally known as Fort Rutherford and/or Upper Fort (possibly in reference to the nearby "Upper Falls" of the Catawba River), located on either Samuel Davidson's land, or brother George Davidson's land, which was first settled by the family in 1770. Later known as Davidson's Fort. Used by the state militia through 1782. Samuel relocated his family further west in the spring of 1784, but was there killed by Indians. His family then fled back to the old family fort area. After the Civil War (in 1873) the community here became known as Old Fort. The last traces of the fort were washed away in the flood of 1916. A typical frontier-style blockhouse with stockade wall has been reconstructed at the town park located on Lackeytown Road, about one mile from the original site. Stones from the original foundations were used in 1937 to build the Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center on the original site of the fort.

Montford Cove Fort
(1776 - 1778), McDowell County
A local militia Patriot fort located in "Montford Cove" on Cove Creek, on the southwest base of Ledbetter Mountain, south of Sugar Hill. A 1980's stone monument is located at 363 Wilkerson Way (private property), near the Wild East Farm.

Major William Davidson's Fort
(1770's), McDowell County ?
A settlers' or Patriot militia fort. Undetermined location. This place is apparently not the same site as Samuel Davidson's Fort in Old Fort, but possibly located nearby. This William was unrelated, or possibly a cousin, to Samuel Davidson.

Capt. John Potts' Fort
(1776 - 1780's), Rutherford County
A settlers' fort located in "Montford Cove" on Cedar Creek, about halfway between the present-day crossroads of Bills Creek and Whitehouse. County marker (erected 1988) located on Bills Creek Road at Landing Lane. Potts was killed in a skirmish with Loyalists in August 1780 at Wofford's Ironworks, near Cedar Springs (Spartanburg), SC, and not "by Indians" as the marker states. Potts' widow, Mary, continued to live here until at least 1784.

George Russell's (Sr.) Fort
(1776 - 1782), near Lake Lure, Rutherford County
A settlers' fort used (or built) by the local militia beginning in the summer of 1776, located on the west bank of Cove Creek (aka North Fork Broad River) at its junction with the (Main) Broad River, north-northeast of Rock Springs. The log house was built in 1775 (according to local tradition), but George Russell Sr.'s purchase of this land from Archibald McDowell was not recorded until January 1778. However, Russell was known to be living here as early as July 1775. The Russells were still in Virginia in 1772, where son George Jr.'s birth was recorded, and the family moved to North Carolina shortly thereafter. This George Russell was not in the militia, and was not the same George Russell that fought for the Patriots at King's Mountain in October 1780. That George Russell died in 1797. This George Russell died in early 1782, leaving the property to his widow Mary Underwood Whiteside Russell and their son George Jr.. George Russell Sr. was at one time considered a Tory sympathizer (most likely "guilt by association" with regard to his wife's side of the family), and his property was briefly seized by the state after his death in 1782, only to be returned shortly thereafter to his widow. John Underwood Whiteside (son of Mary Underwood Whiteside Russell's previous marriage to William Whiteside (d.1761)), his brother Thomas Whiteside, and also their uncle, Mary's brother Joseph Underwood Jr., were known Tory sympathizers, and all three may have even taken up arms with British Major Patrick Ferguson's Loyalist forces at some point. The Russell property on Cove Creek was later sold by George Jr. to his older stepbrother John Whiteside in 1826, and Mary Russell died here soon after in 1828. This tract was next sold in 1836 by John Whiteside to Elias Lynch (cousin of Laxton Lynch). The original Russell log cabin no longer exists, long vanished to time. The county marker (erected 1989) located on US 64/74A at Farfara Way, about two miles west of Cove Creek, does not mark the correct location.

NOTE: A circa 1820 two-story log cabin once located on the property known locally (since about 1950) as the "Pumpkin Center", on the Chimney Rock / Hickory Nut Gap Road (US 64/74A) two miles west of Cove Creek, was dismantled in 2020 for restoration, and since that time has been mistakenly confused and conflated with the Russell Fort cabin. It was not. See also The Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County, North Carolina

Thomas Waddleton's Fort
(1770's - 1780's), Polk County
A settlers' fort also used by the local militia in 1780, located on Walnut Creek south of Rock Springs. Exact location undetermined. Also spelled Wadlington in some period documents.

Archibald Grant's Fort
(1779 - 1781), Polk County
A settlers' fort located in "Mumford's Cove" on the Green River watershed. Used by the local Patriot militia at various times. A 40-man company under Capt. William Porter was here in the spring of 1779 (April-June). Exact location undetermined.

Fort Good Hope
(1776 - 1777), Rutherford County
A local militia Patriot fort located on the upper Broad River during the 1776 Cherokee campaign. Exact location unknown.

Camp at Gilbert Town
(1780), near Rutherfordton
A major Loyalist/Tory stronghold just before the Battle of King's Mountain (October 1780), established by Major Patrick "Bull Dog" Ferguson at what is now known as the Ferguson Ridge area. Patriot militia forces were encamped here shortly after the battle. The old townsite was located west of Cathy's Creek, along Holland Creek, north of town. State marker located on North Main Street (US 221) at Harley Drive. Ferguson Ridge Encampment site county marker located on Rock Road.

Alexander McGaughey's Fort
(1776 - 1780's), near Westminster
A settlers' fort located on Cane Creek, northeast of Gilbert Town, near the present Brittain Presbyterian Church (1852). The main house was built in 1765, and was fortified in the summer of 1776 by the local Patriot militia. The first church here was built in 1768. County marker was located on US 64 just south of Pearidge Road.

Capt. James McFadden's Fort
(1776 - 1777), near Green Hill
A settlers' fort located on Mountain Creek about three miles west of Rutherfordton, the main house built before 1769 by John McFadden (father). Also spelled McFadin. County marker located on Maple Creek Road at Miller Creek Cove. North Carolina militia troops were garrisoned here in the summer of 1776 to fortify the place. Attacked and burned by Loyalists/Tories in 1777. James' brother Andrew later established the McFadin's Station in Kentucky in 1785.

Col. Andrew Hampton's Fort
(1770's), Green Hill
State militia Capt. Hampton's fortified home on Mountain Creek. County marker located at 2388 US Highway 64/74A, just west of the Green Hill Community Center at 2501 US Highway 64/74A.

Camp Irwin
(1863), Rutherfordton
A CSA camp.

White Oak Fort
(1780), Polk County
A local militia Patriot fort located at (William ?) Capshaw's Mill on White Oak Creek. Also known as Capshaw's Fort. Exact location undetermined.

Col. John Earle's Fort
(1750's, 1770's - 1780's), near Tryon, Polk County
A settlers' fort used by the local militia in 1780, located near Earle's Ford on the North Pacolet River, just north of the state line on the west side of present-day Hunting Country Road, northeast of Interstate 26, and west of the Red Fox Country Club property. The Battle of Earle's Ford occurred in July 1780, between the local Patriot militia and a force of Loyalists/Tories. Earle's Ford was located at the state border. The battle took place on the north or east bank of the North Pacolet River, on the South Carolina side of the state border.

Another reference mentions a John Earle having settled here, or nearby in South Carolina, in the 1750's (same person ?, or father ?).

Tryon Blockhouse
(1756 - 1776), Tryon
According to local tradition, originally built in 1756 as a settlers' trading post (name ?), and was soon afterwards fortified during troubles with the Cherokee. Also used for a short time in June 1776 by the South Carolina militia, then known as Capt. Thomas Howard's Fort. The Battle of Round Mountain (aka Howard's Gap) (June 1776) occurred northwest of the city. The house later became a tavern in the early 1800's. Originally located about 300 feet inside the South Carolina state line, the single-story dog-trot style log house was purchased by future Converse College (Spartanburg, SC) president Oliver Cromwell Carmichael in 1942 and was moved across the line to its present site, then renovated and enlarged in 1944 with new additions. The Tryon Blockhouse Steeplechase horse races began in 1947, and was held here annually before relocating to a new larger site in 1988. The 11.5 acre property was sold by Carmichael in 1960, ending its association with the college. The original house (greatly modified) still exists, on Block House Farm at 131 Blockhouse Road, just north of the old Southern Railroad line (now abandoned). An 1813 state-line boundary stone is still located nearby, marking the western end of the NC-SC state border at that time. NC state marker (erected 1951) located on US 176 at the state line, about one-half mile west from the site.

Mill's Station
(1780 - 1781), Polk County ?
A small settlers' fort located in southern Rutherford County, or possibly present-day Polk County. Exact location undetermined. A force of Loyalists and Chickamauga Indians under Capt. William Bates attacked the fort and killed the settlers there in November 1781.

Civil War Defenses of Asheville
(1861 - 1865), Asheville
CSA camps located here included:
Camp Clingman (1) (1861), located on French Broad Ave. near Philip Street.
Camp Jeter, located at Cherry and Flint Streets.
Camp Patton (1861), located on Chestnut Street, east of Charlotte Street.
Camp Vance (1) (1861), located near Sulpher Springs (location ?).
Camp Winslow (3)
Camp Woodfin

Battery Porter, located on Battery Park Hill.
Traces of CSA earthwork gun emplacements (1865) remain on the grounds of UNC-Asheville Botanical Gardens.

Asheville Confederate Armory
(1861 - 1863), Asheville
A commercial armory, located at Valley and Eagle Streets, that was taken over by the CSA Ordnance Department in the fall of 1862. Equipment was transferred to Columbia, SC in 1863. The building was destroyed in February 1865 by Union troops. State marker located on College Street.

French Broad River Forts
(1793), Madison County
The NC state militia built or used several forts during a campaign against the Cherokee and Creek Indians in 1793.
Burnt Canebrake Blockhouse near Hot Springs.
Warm Springs Blockhouse at Hot Springs.
Painted Rock Blockhouse at Paint Rock (possibly in Tennessee ?).
Hough's Blockhouse a settlers' fort (undetermined location) (possibly in Tennessee ?).
(see also Painted Rock Blockhouse and John Huff's Fort in Cocke County, TENNESSEE page 1)

Fort San Pablo
(1567 - 1568), near Marshall ?
A Spanish blockhouse built by the Juan Pardo Expedition on the French Broad River (near Ivy Creek ?) at an Indian village known as Cooweechee or Cauchi. About 15 - 30 men were left here in November or December 1567, but they probably did not survive the winter.

Camp Huntington
(1836), Swain County ?
An Army post in the Cherokee Nation. Undetermined location. Possibly Murphy ?

Fort Lindsay
(1838), Almond
An Army fort used for the Cherokee Removals.

Fort Scott
(1838), Aquone
An Army fort used for the Cherokee Removals.

Fort Hembree
(Cherokee Removal Forts)
(1837 - 1838), Hayesville
One of many Army forts (most are in Georgia) that were gathering places for the removal of the Cherokee Nation. Located on Fort Hill one mile southwest of town along Blair Creek. Site is private property. Roadside exhibit on US 64 at Fort Hembree Road. History and exhibits at the Clay County Historical and Arts Council Museum at 21 Davis Loop.

Fort Montgomery
(1838), Robbinsville
An Army fort used for the Cherokee Removals.

Fort Delaney
(1838), Andrews
An Army fort used for the Cherokee Removals.

Fort Butler
(Cherokee Removal Forts)
(1837 - 1838), Murphy FORT WIKI
The headquarters post of the Army's Eastern Division during the Cherokee Removals. Site located at Cherokee and Fifth Streets, located across the Hiwassee River from the main part of town. History and exhibits at the Cherokee County Historical Museum (admission fee) at 87 Peachtree Street.

NEED MORE INFO: Camp Joe Harris Road in Wilkesboro.
Towns:

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North Coastal North Carolina - page 3 | Central North Carolina - page 4

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