Old Federal Road
From Tate through Jasper to Talking Rock, this highway coincides closely with the course of the Old Federal Road, northwest Georgia's first vehicular way which linked Tennessee and Georgia across the Cherokee Country. Permission to open the route was granted informally by the Indians in 1803 and confirmed by treaty in 1805.
Emigrants from the lower southeast followed this course into Tennessee and Alabama. It became the first postal route of this section and was used by travelers in reaching the gold fields of North Georgia.
GHM 112-4 Georgia Historical Commission 1954
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.