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.