The Old Federal Road

The Old Federal Road that opened the southeastern United States to settlers once crossed at this location. In 1805, the United States Congress granted funds to build a post road from Georgia to New Orleans to cross the sparsely settled wilderness of Creek Indian Territory. From its beginning as a Native American path to a narrow horse trail used to carry the U.S. mail, the Federal Road underwent great development and eventually became a major military road. It also became the main stagecoach route for all who travelled through Alabama. Many people passed this way including Revolutionary War hero Marquis de La Fayette (1825), British artist and writer Basil Hall (1828). British actor William Grattan Tyrone Power (1834). showman P.T. Barnum (1837), the father of geology Charles Lyell (1846), plus thousands of Native Americans as a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, soldiers. farmers, tradesmen, adventurers, herdsmen, peddlers, vagrants, gamblers, and speculators of every kind imaginable. Now. nearly two centuries later, sections of the Old Federal Road are evident and remain passable. , In 1802, the United States acquired 828,000 square miles of land through the Louisiana Purchase, doubling its size. The Federal Road provided a shorter route from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans and the new territory. In 1805, the United States government signed the First Treaty of Washington, also called the Treaty with the Creeks 1805, authorizing settlers to traverse their homelands. In Alabama, the road ran westward from Fort Mitchell to Uchee, continuing through Fort Bainbridge to Montgomery, and finally on to St. Stephens, near Mobile. The 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson made much of the fertile Creek and Yuchi lands available to settlers for producing cotton and other crops. The lure of “Alabama Fever” brought many thousands of settlers to Alabama. Looking east and west of this very spot. one can see and travel traces of the Old Federal Road.