R Olin Jackson 340 pages hardcover
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.
The 37 captivating articles with 217 photos, maps and illustrations
on the 340 pages of this volume provide vivid accounts of these trails
and rails and the people who experienced them. This then is the story of
the Historic Rails and Forgotten Trails of Early Georgia.