Old Federal Road
This highway is part of the Old Federal Road, an early thoroughfare that linked Georgia and west Tennessee across the Indian Country. It began on the southeast boundary of the Cherokees, in the direction of Athens, Georgia and led toward Nashville via Rossville. Another branch ran from Ramhurst, Georgia toward Knoxville. Formal permission to open this road was granted by the Cherokees in the 1805 Treaty of Tellico. Prior to its use by the Whites, the route was an Indian trading path to Augusta.
This thoroughfare became the earliest vehicular way of northwest Georgia, the first postal route of this section, and an important emigrant trace to the West.
GHM 023-7 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1986
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.