Road Building in Georgia:
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

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The first roads built by European colonists linked the coastal settlements to the colony’s interior and provided routes of expansion. These early roads were built both to encourage settlers to move inland and to facilitate military transportation. Later roads were meant for general travel and trade and to connect existing settlements.

American Indian trails consisted of footpaths that evolved by continual and traditional use. They typically followed the easiest routes, running along ridges and drainages, while avoiding stream crossings and swampy areas. Where crossings were necessary, they were facilitated by rocky shoals or shallows.

The routes of American Indian trails often influenced the locations of Colonial roads and settlements. For example, in 1734 General Oglethorpe established the Town of Ebenezer at a site where several American Indian trails met at a ford on Ebenezer Creek. Similarly, in 1736 Oglethorpe founded Augusta at an important convergence of Native American trade routes near the fall line of the Savannah River. Over time, many Indian trails were incorporated into the colonial road network and ultimately became parts of the permanent and modern road system. Georgia’s transportation structure continued to expand through the 1700s and by the end of the century an extensive network covered most of the state.

In 1755, Georgia passed its first road law. This act by the General Assembly divided the colony into nine districts, each of which received six surveyors charged with laying out and overseeing the maintenance of roads in their districts.

Early roads were built and maintained in some areas by hired labor paid for with special taxes. Mostly, though, private citizens were required to spend a certain number of days per year working on the roads. During periods when citizens were called for service, they had to bring their own tools, including mattocks, picks, shovels, axes, and plows.

Roads in Georgia have been built from different materials. Early on, the most common, easiest, and cheapest material to build with was dirt, and the first trails and roads were simply cleared pathways. Roads in Georgia were not surfaced until after the end of the American Revolution in 1784.