The Federal Road, originally called Georgia Road, was a federal toll highway passing through the Cherokee Nation in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. From 1805 to the 1840s, the road linked Savannah, Georgia with Knoxville, Tennessee. The road also opened Cherokee lands to settlement.
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The Federal Road ran from the location of modern day Ringgold to Athens, Georgia, passing southeast through the Cherokee Nation and the modern day Georgia counties of Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Pickens, Dawson, Forsyth, Hall, Jackson, and Clarke counties.[1][2]
The Georgia Road was built from 1803 to 1805 through the Cherokee Nation on a land concession secured with the Treaty of Tellico. The Georgia Road opened in 1805. In 1819 the road was improved and renamed to the Federal Road.[3][1]
As white travellers passed on the road, some settled near the road. They built homes and farms encroaching on Cherokee territory. In 1830 the Georgia took the remaining Cherokee territory and distributed it to settlers in 1832.[3]
The Federal Road continued to serve as a major transport route into the 1840s, but parts of the road fell into disuse as newer roads were opened.[3]