History Rowan County has experienced a rich history and has called itself home to many prominent figures. Read on to discover more about Rowan County’s past. In 1753, colonial governor Matthew Rowan (d. 1769) signed a bill creating Rowan County and Saint Luke’s Parish. Salisbury (the county seat) was established two years later. Rowan was the largest and most populated county in the colony and in the state until current boundaries were drawn in 1836. Twenty-six counties were formed out of Rowan County. -Daniel Boone (king of the wild frontier) spent his boyhood hunting and fishing at Boone’s Ford on the Yadkin River. -Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States studied law in Salisbury from 1784 to 1787 under a prominent lawyer named Spruce Macay. -Marshal Michel Nay, known as Peter Stuart Nay, was one of Napoleon's ablest generals. Nay lived, taught school, and died near the town of Cleveland. Nay is buried in the Third Creek Presbyterian Church graveyard in Rowan County. Our state is also within a 700-mile radius of more than 150 million U.S. and Canadian Consumers. We can also offer you quick access to two international airports. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is approximately 45 miles away and the Triad International Airport in Greensboro is approximately 55 miles away.