The Nation Ford Chapter of the DAR takes its name from a historic landmark at the Catawba River.  A ford is a "place in a river or other body of water where it may be crossed by man or beast, either on foot or by wading."

Nation Ford is located at the banks of the Catawba River where it runs between Fort Mill and Rock Hill, SC. It is known as Nation Ford because it is the place where the entire Catawba Indian Nation crossed the shallow ford in search of new territory to settle. Most of the Nation's principal villages were eventually located along the banks of the river.

The Nation Ford Road, a "superhighway" of its day, was first an animal and hunting path.  Later it brought traders and settlers, as well as soldiers of the Revolution and the Civil War.  It became known as part of the "Great Wagon Road" that brought settlers from the north into the southern frontiers.  Parts of it became today's busy Tryon Street in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.

There have been three historic markers placed in the area. One marker is just south of Fort Mill and states "Nation Ford Road or Great Western Trading Path in use prior to 1650...is 2.5 miles south of this spot." The second one is in Rock Hill and states in part: "...having crossed the Catawba at Nation Ford, April 27, 1865, Jefferson Davis fled."  A recent marker replaced a missing marker on US 21 at the bridge over the Catawba River at Nation Ford and reads, "Two miles downstream, the prehistoric crossing of Catawba Indians...was used by Virginia traders in 1652."

Nation Ford Road passed through what is now Anne Springs Close Greenway, a local area in Fort Mill, South Carolina, preserved for public recreation and naturalization use. Two signs mark parts of the path, which can still be seen today.  One sign states that the British marched down the road on their way to various battles and camps. The other states that the Catawba Nation called it the "Great Trading Path."

One story of the Revolutionary War era is that British Colonel Tarleton, while encamped in Fort Mill, pressed an old Irishman to pilot his troops across the Nation Ford. The river was then in a flooded condition. It is said the colonel didn't show much respect for the area citizens or to the pilot in this endeavor, so the old man had them disembark in a swell in the water close to the destination shore, claiming he could get no closer.

Nation Ford and Nation Ford Road were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.  The ancient legacy of Nation Ford lives on today with many area schools, roads, and businesses carrying the name. 

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