Old Federal Road

Old Federal Road is a Tennessee historical marker in Etowah., McMinn County.

McMinn Co., Hwy 30 at Robinson St.,Etowah.

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The Treaty of 1805 between the United States and the Cherokee Nation established the Old Federal Road. The road extended from the Tellico Blockhouse on the Little Tennessee River to the towns of Madisonville and Columbus, Tennessee. This route linked the states of Tennessee and Georgia for carrying mail and commerce. There was a postal stop in McMinn County in the small town of Cantrell's Crossroads, which later became Williamsburg. The postmaster, James D. Williams, owned a home along the road approximately one mile north of this spot.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1794 · Map of the Tennessee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Map of The Tennassee (sic) Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1797 · Tennassee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1809 · United States of America, southern part. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1829 · Tennessee (A. Finley, 1829) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

Old Federal Road

Historical maps covering this location

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