Salisbury, North Carolina, is the county seat of Rowan County, which was carved in 1753 from Anson County. Salisbury, located on the junction of a Native American trading route and the Great Wagon Road through North Carolina, was an important economic crossroads through most of the 18th and 19th centuries. Salisbury became a railroad hub in the 1850s, was the location of a large Confederate prison during the Civil War, and is home to two historic colleges--Catawba College and Livingstone College. The locally popular soft drink Cheerwine has been headquartered in Salisbury since 1917. Today, Salisbury is revered as a historic North Carolina city that preserves the past while actively embracing the future. Salisbury showcases the rich transportation, commercial, and community history of this piedmont city.