Old Federal Road

Walker County · dedicated 1992 · On Chickamauga Ave (U.S. 27), on the left when traveling south in Rossville.

The first vehicular and postal route of Georgia to Rossville was the Federal Road across the Cherokee Nation. Beginning on the southeast Indian boundary in the direction of Athens, Georgia, the thoroughfare led this way toward Nashville via Tate, Jasper, Talking Rock and Spring Place. Formal permission by the Cherokees to open the road was granted in the 1805 Treaty of Tellico, Tennessee. Prior to that time the trace served as an Indian trading path to Augusta. The earliest post office in northwest Georgia was established on this route at Rossville, on April 5, 1817 with John Ross as postmaster.

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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This marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program, administered by the Georgia Historical Society. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

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US Post Office-Rossville Main300 ft

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