🏛️ CulturalDay trip · from Charlotte, NC

The Waxhaws & the Making of Andrew Jackson

Just south of Charlotte lies the Waxhaws, the rolling Scots-Irish frontier settlement that straddles the Carolinas' border and claims the boyhood of America's seventh president, Andrew Jackson. This unhurried day begins at the Museum of the Waxhaws, which tells the interwoven story of the region's Native Waxhaw people, its Revolutionary-era battles, and the disputed birthplace of Old Hickory. The old railroad town of Waxhaw itself has become one of the region's best antiquing destinations, its brick Main Street lined with dealers, cafes, and a genuinely walkable small-town core. The afternoon crosses into South Carolina to Andrew Jackson State Park, where a museum, a Jackson statue by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, and a replica one-room schoolhouse sit on land near where the future president grew up on the Carolina backcountry frontier.

Museum of the Waxhaws & historic downtown Waxhaw antiquingAndrew Jackson State Park & its frontier museum

Day 1 — Waxhaw, NC & the Waxhaws region

🚗 1 hr 50 min driving📍 4 stops

🌅

Morning

🚗

Drive

Charlotte, NC → Museum of the Waxhaws, Waxhaw, NC

40 min8:00 AM → 8:40 AM

Museum of the Waxhaws

★ 4.5

This regional heritage museum on the edge of Waxhaw interprets the layered history of the Waxhaws — the Native Waxhaw people who gave the region its name, the wave of Scots-Irish settlers who farmed the red-clay frontier in the eighteenth century, and the Revolutionary War that swept violently through these hills. The centerpiece is the story of Andrew Jackson, born in the Waxhaws in 1767 and raised here before the war orphaned him; the museum lays out the still-unsettled dispute between North and South Carolina over exactly which side of the line he was born on. Exhibits include period tools, textiles, and a memorial to the Battle of the Waxhaws. It is the ideal orientation stop before exploring the town and, later, the state park across the border.

8:40 AM📍 See location

🍽️

Lunch

🍽️ Lunch9:40 AM

Maxwell's Tavern

Set in a restored building on Waxhaw's brick Main Street, Maxwell's Tavern is a comfortable downtown gastropub and a reliable midday table between the museum and an afternoon of antiquing. The kitchen turns out elevated pub fare — burgers, flatbreads, salads, and rotating specials — with a solid draft and cocktail list in a warm, wood-and-brick room. Its central location means you can walk straight out the door and into the antique district afterward.

★ 4.7$$bar📍 Maps →

3 options · tap to switch

☀️

Afternoon

📍

Historic Downtown Waxhaw Antique District

Downtown Waxhaw grew up around the Seaboard Air Line railroad in the late 1800s, and its compact grid of brick storefronts has become one of the best antiquing destinations in the Charlotte region. A cluster of multi-dealer antique malls and specialty shops fills the historic buildings along Main and Broome Streets, stocked with everything from primitive farm tools and Southern folk art to vintage furniture, glassware, and railroad memorabilia. The rail line still runs right through the middle of town, adding to the atmosphere. It is an easy, pleasant afternoon on foot, with coffee shops and a couple of galleries interspersed among the antique dealers.

12:00 PM📍 See location

🌙

Evening

🚗

Drive

Waxhaw, NC → Andrew Jackson State Park, Lancaster, SC

20 min5:00 PM → 5:20 PM

Andrew Jackson State Park & Museum

★ 4.5

Just across the state line near Lancaster, South Carolina, this 360-acre park sits on land in the Waxhaws where Andrew Jackson spent his boyhood, and South Carolina claims it as his birthplace. A compact museum presents backcountry frontier life in the 1760s and 70s — Jackson's hardscrabble upbringing, the Revolutionary War that killed his mother and brothers, and his rise to the presidency. Outside stand a striking equestrian statue of the young Jackson on horseback by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and a reconstructed one-room schoolhouse. A quiet lake, picnic grounds, and shaded trails make it a serene close to the day before the drive back to Charlotte.

5:20 PM📍 See location

🚗

Drive

Andrew Jackson State Park, SC → Charlotte, NC

50 min6:20 PM → 7:10 PM

Plan your own escapeExplore more trips →