The Nichol's Gap Road was a central Pennsylvania highway established in the 18th century near Maryland, extending westward from the Black's Gap Road "just west of Little Conewago Creek"[1] at the Crofs Keys stand of James Black.[2] The road went past both the Rock Creek Church[3] and the 1761 Samuel Gettys tavern where Gettysburg would be surveyed in 1786. The highway was built over South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania) via Nichol's Gap (39°45′07″N 77°28′16″W / 39.75204°N 77.470994°W) and down the Devils Racecourse[4] into the Cumberland Valley, allowing access to Hagerstown, Maryland.[5] Called the "Hagerstown Road" during the Battle of Gettysburg, parts of the road are now designated (east-to-west): U.S. Route 30, Pennsylvania Route 116 (Fairfield Road to Fairfield, Pennsylvania), Iron Springs Road, Gum Springs Road, and Old Route 16. (The summit section through Nichol's Gap—"Fairfield Gap" during the Civil War[6]—no longer has a roadway.)
Rock Creek Church, located one mile north of the future town of Gettysburg (located near the junction of Carlisle Street and the Mummasburg Road)