Migration Routes, Roads & Trails » General Resources

America's Great Migrations Project

African American Great Migration, Latinx American Great Migrations, Asian American and Pacific Islander Migrations, Southern Diaspora (White, Black, Latinx), Dustbowl Migration, Migration Histories for Each State by Race 1850-2018, Selected State Migration Histories

American Migration Patterns

Article by Beverly Whitaker.

Ancestry Academy - Whiskey, Farming and the Choices to Move: Understanding Family Migration

Moving from one location to another required a major change in living conditions. The choices that led to the decision to move, and the directions of movement are pivotal in understanding those ancestors. What might help you understand the migration choices your ancestors made? How can we develop strategies that force us to learn more about our family and find new answers?

Ancestry.com - Message Boards - Migration

Early American Trails and Roads

Descriptions of 18 of the major early roads: The Boston Post Road; Braddock's Road; The California Trail; The Fall Line Road; The Federal Road; The Great Wagon Road; The King's Highway; The Mohawk (Iroquois) Trail; The Mormon Trail; The Natchez Trace; The National Road; The Oregon Trail; The Pennsylvania Road; The Santa Fe Trail; The Trail of Tears; The Upper Road; The Wilderness Road; Zane's Trace.

FamilySearch - US Migration Trails and Roads

Chronological List of Major Historic Trails and Roads Used in the Settlement of the United States

FamilySearch Books - Independence Rock : the great record of the desert

FamilySearch Wiki - United States Migration Timeline 1784 to 1839 (National Institute)

Historic American Roads, and Migration Routes

This website identifies over 400 historic American roads, trails and migration routes. Each has as brief description which may also include links to a topographic map, and/or images of the route. This site also includes approximately 40 web-pages specifically designed for those who seek to follow their ancestor

Historic trails and roads in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Motion: The African American Migration Experience

From the trans-Atlantic slave trade through the Great Migrations up to the modern African immigrations to the United States.

National Oregon/California Trail Center

Montpelier, Idaho.

Paper Trail - Pioneer Wagon Train Diaries $

Paper Trail is the website database created by the Oregon-California Trails Association from thousands of trail-related documents of the mid-19th century western migration. Whether people traveled west for gold, land, religious freedom or new opportunity, they wrote diaries, letters, articles and recollections about the journey. From over 3,500 original documents Paper Trail organizes information into an easy-to-search database, featuring names, dates, routes, travel parties, locations and interesting features. The website also lists the library where each document or its copies may be found. The information from each document is accessible by subject codes and by a 6-page outline survey of each document in the Paper Trail website. Names searches are free. Reports require modest subscription.

Piedmont Trails - Migration Routes & Colonial Roads

Roots & Routes

A heritage travel and public education website, including migration maps.

The American West - Development & History

The Overland Trail

Trails West

Map of early western migration trails and descriptions.

Transportation | Descendants of the Great Dismal

Understanding Midwest Migration Patterns to Further Family History Research

By Rhonda R. McClure for BYU Family Historian, Volume 2, Article 2, 2003.