Fort Lawrence

Fort Lawrence was located in present Taylor County near this site, about 35 miles west of the Flint River opposite the town of Francisville and the Benjamin Hawkins' Creek Indian Agency, which was located east of the river. The fort was one of several fortified posts built along a military road which passed through Creek Indian territory. It was expanded for military transport in 1811. The road was created from the old Federal Road postal route linking Washington, DC and New Orleans, Louisiana., In response to the Creek Nation Civil War (1813-1814) General John Floyd, Commander of Georgia Troops, constructed the forts. Fort Lawrence was secured by a stockade wall 13 feet high, 80 yards wide and 80 yards long. It was defended by two block houses positioned at opposite corners. Fort Lawrence served as a major supply point and final staging area for troops en route west where they fought hostile tribes of Creeks called "Red Sticks"., The Marquis de Lafayette traveled the Old Federal Road March 29, 1825, and "passed the night" at the Creek Indian Agency., In 1843 the first telegraph line in Georgia was erected along a segment of the Old Federal Road, which later became known as the Wire Road.