Historic Rails and Forgotten Trails of Early Georgia

Modern travelers moving across the state of Georgia today often encounter street and road signs for an avenue called "Old Alabama Road" in Gwinnett, Fulton, Bartow and numerous other counties. Other travelers in the White, Union and adjacent counties occasionally pass by road signage for historic routes called "the Unicoi Turnpike" and "the Logan Turnpike." Still others passing across Hall, Forsyth, and counties within that realm often come across a pike called "Old Federal Road." Unbeknownst to most all of these "modern" travelers, these "turnpikes" and "old" roads were the original routes used by pioneer settlers as they moved across the virgin forests and untamed wilderness which was fast becoming the state of Georgia. Remnants of these original westward trails can still be witnessed and experienced in numerous localities if one wishes to seek them out.

There likewise are numerous forgotten and abandoned rail lines throughout Georgia dating as far back as pioneer days. Remnants of these historic holdovers can also still occasionally be seen. History abounds for those willing to do just a bit of research and take the time to search out these historic vestiges of yesteryear. A few examples include the Western & Atlantic Railroad dating to Civil War days which still exists from Atlanta to Chattanooga, owned today by the state of Georgia; the Western & Macon Railroad, remnants of which also still exist and on which such individuals as Georgia native and famed old West gunman John Henry "Doc" Holliday and others once traveled; and the list goes on and on.

In days of pre-history, cloven-hoofed wildlife such as elk, bison, deer, antelope and the like traveled seasonally to new forage opportunities, and in their migrations, they invariably followed the routes of least resistance around the endless hills and through passes in the mountainsides, and across the countless streams, creeks and rivers they encountered. Native Americans later adopted many of these same game trails for their own use and improved upon them directionally, traveling more horizontally or vertically across great distances to trade with and wage war against other aboriginals. In turn, pioneer Americans likewise adopted the routes and gradually improved many of them, trekking across what was fast-becoming a new nation. Along the way, they endured hostile Native Americans, dangerous wildlife, disease, famine and countless other hazards in the great movement which came to be known as "Manifest Destiny."

The earliest of the pioneer immigrants were initially confronted with the great barrier of the Appalachian Mountains and were forced to migrate southward down the continental eastern seaboard of what later became the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina before reaching Georgia, where they were finally able to turn westward and travel inland. These early inland routes eventually gained identities such as "the Alabama Roads," or "the Unicoi Turnpike," or "the Logan Turnpike," or "the Federal Road," and numerous other names. All along these early routes, toll roads, inns and ferries were established along the routes - first by enterprising upwardly-mobile Cherokee Indians determined to "assimilate" with the White hoards invading their country - and later by pioneer American settlers.