Historical Context for Federal Roads in Georgia
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The Project
In 2005, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Georgia’s Old Federal Road, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration Georgia Division commissioned a project to study, record, and recount the history of Georgia’s oldest road. The project thoroughly examined the history of the road, along with the cities and towns, and prehistoric and historic sites associated with the road, through research and archaeological investigations.
The results of this work, performed by the Centers for Archaeological Research and the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, is presented in two separate volumes: Phase I describes the important places and moments along the Old Federal Road from 1805 through the 1860’s, while Phase II of the study records the physical remains of the Old Federal Road and its relevance to the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, a driving tour was developed, highlighting the important people, places, and history along the Old Federal Road.
The Location
The eastern beginning point of the Federal Road through north Georgia lies in Hall County, between Atlanta and Gainesville near the town of Flowery Branch. From there, travelers took the Federal Road north and west until a point just south of Ramhurst, where it forked into two branches leading into Tennessee. One headed north toward Tellico, the other went through Rossville and headed into Tennessee at Chattanooga. The western point for travel along the route of the Federal Road in Georgia ends at the Tennessee border between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Rossville, Georgia.
The History
Georgia’s Old Federal Road had a profound impact on the development of early nineteenth-century north Georgia. This important road helped shape U.S. and Indian relations, facilitated economic growth, and became a pivotal route for two of the largest Civil War campaigns in the state of Georgia.
Before 1805, with the signing of the Treaty of Tellico, the Old Federal Road was a Cherokee trail, known as the Middle Cherokee Path. This trail connected Georgia and the Cherokees to Florida, ending at Saint Augustine, to Tennessee, ending in modern day Nashville. By 1835, with the Treaty of New Echota, the Cherokee trail turned Federal Road would be redefined. It is at this point in its history that the road no longer represented free expansion but forced removal, as 16,000 Cherokees came to call this road the Trail of Tears. Within 30 years the Old Federal Road would play an important role in the mobilization of both Federal and Confederate troops during the campaigns of Chickamauga (1863) and Atlanta (1864) in the Civil War.
These are just some of the stories found along Georgia’s Old Federal Road. An in-depth look of the Old Federal Road throughout its 200 year history can be found in both the texts and the driving tour offered on this website.
Historical Context
Acknowledgements
- The Phase I study was prepared by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.
- The Phase II study was prepared by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Mississippi.
- Cherokee music on the Driving Tour is from Project Songbird: Phase One, used by permission from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Photographs are by David Wharton.
Georgia’s Old Federal Road Driving Tour, which includes audio CD’s and a map, can be downloaded at www.georgia.org/podcast.