GA 2 is an original state route, master planned in 1919 to extend from LaFayette to the South Carolina line. Considering that GA 2 does not go to LaFayette, much has changed on the highway itself, and in many ways was not entirely practical. GA 2 predates the creation of its major overlapping route, U.S. 76, by at least 15 years. While U.S. 76 was commissioned in Georgia in the mid-1930's, GA 2 remained, but saw much improvement prior to that. Peach State Roads will attempt to address all of this. It should be noted that while the description of GA 2 was oriented from west to east, the history of the highway will be described from east to west, and instead of describing the route as a whole, different portions will be described in detail.

Narrow, winding and treacherous, early GA 2 along this stretch struck a bit of horror into the locals. Sparsely traveled, the original highway along this stretch was an unpaved road extending over mountains with plenty of drop-offs along the way. Needless to say, travel between Clayton and Hiawassee was rare in that time, so the culture of the two areas is quite far removed, and the condition of the roads over the mountains contributed to geographic isolation in the area from Hiawassee westward.

The original plan for GA 2 in this area had a unique glitch in that Warwoman Road was indeed originally proposed as part of GA 2. The 1921 map had the road ending at GA 65 (present-day GA 28) in the Pine Mountain community. In 1929, GA 2 over Dicks Gap was mostly under construction with some of the road completec west of Clayton. However, the extension east of Clayton was dropped and GA 2 terminated in Clayton at GA 15, which was yet to receive any U.S. designation.

GA 2 in 1921 with projected mileage on Warwoman Road. This alignment was soon after abandoned for a route to Westminster, SC.

By the early 1930's, GA 2 was extended east along its present alignment into South Carolina. This extension started out as an unimproved road, and nothing at this point is known about what the highway did at the Chattooga River. Historically there were several fords over the river, but these were generally north of where the highway today crosses. What is known for sure is that 17-mile Warwoman Road was completely dropped for consideration as part of GA 2.

By the late 1930's, GA 2 west of Clayton had become a maintained gravel road, while the portion east of Clayton remained unimproved. By this time, U.S. 76 was designated along the length of this portion, and most of the overall highway had been paved by that time. This section was not included in that.

Even in the late 1940's, work was still not completed on this very mountainous stretch. An unpaved section remained from east of GA 197 to the Towns County line, and work had only begun on improving the stretch east of Clayton. By this time, however, modern highway bridges were in place and progress was being made. In 1950, only the Dicks Gap section was still gravel surfaced and by 1953, the work was complete.

While a modern road was complete from Clayton to Hiawassee, the result was an engineering nightmare. GA 2 along that stretch was designed by primitive methods for slower moving cars. The resulting roadway featured extremely sharp curves, drop-offs and an altogether uncomfortable ride that tested even experienced drivers. This remained unchanged for years with the exception of a bridge replacement over Lake Burton, which was completed in 1979.

The real effort to fix the white knuckled configuration began in earnest in the late 1980's. Work began around 1988 to fix the most dangerous of the curves and turns and continued until 1993. Passing lanes were added and most of the dangerous curves were corrected along what was ironically the last portion to be paved prior to 1953. When completed, significant realignment was completed from the Towns County line to Lake Burton.

Around 1998, work began to remove the 1940's Timpson Creek Bridge, which was replaced with a culvert. This break in the pause in improvements was broken again in 2004 when work commenced once more to correct the dangerous road that remained east of Lake Burton. Work on that stretch, extending from Lake Burton to Charley Mountain Road is now substantially complete and will be fully open to traffic in early 2006.

Further east, the improvements have been fewer, but around 1993, passing lanes were added along part of U.S. 76/GA 2 east of Clayton. As if that was not enough, bridge replacements are still scheduled over Hightower Creek near Hiawassee and over the Chattooga River. Another bridge replacement of one of the classic TVA bridges over the backflow along Hiawassee River on Lake Chatuge was completed in late 2004.

The route of GA 2 from Hiawassee west to Blairsville has proven to be the most static portion of the highway. In all, very little relocation has taken place on it aside from the elevating of the highway for Lake Chatuge in 1942 and minor realignment west of Young Harris.

The Hiawassee to Blairsville section is distinct in that it turns significantly northward to avoid the high mountains to the south, including Brasstown Bald. Paving and reconstruction on this stretch began in the mid-1920's and was substantially completed in the early 1930's.

The consistency of the route does not mean improvements were not made. Reconstruction with passing lanes was completed in the 1970's east of Young Harris and all of this section is four lanes now from Young Harris to Hiawassee, including the widening and reconstruction of three bridges. Most of this was completed in 1989 with a small section over Swanson Mountain widened in 2003. The Swanson Mountain section had tremendous problems with slides with the road moved around the slide until this was corrected in the widening project.

GA 2 further east has largely remained on its original alignment, but west of Blairsville, much has changed. The original highway in Union County west of Blairsville was mostly a primitive dirt road with stream fords and lots of mud. In Fannin County, the highway became particularly winding between the county line and Blue Ridge.

On this section, the first portion to be paved was on the Fannin County side. The Fannin County side featured numerous curves and turns which proved hazardous until later years. In contrast, the Union County side of this route was completed later and was significantly improved in the 1930's. Much of this was relocated with a new gravel road by 1933 and completed paving later in the decade. This road replaced an older alignment, which followed what is today part or all of Jones Creek Road, Jones Creek Lane, Pearl Wright Road, Young Cane Creek Road and Philadelphia Church Road before rejoining the route of today. Part of the driving force of this relocation was the addition of U.S. 76 to the highway around 1937.

In the early 1940's, the TVA had a major impact on GA 2, now also U.S. 76. The flooding of Lake Nottely in 1942 resulted in an additional bridge replacement where the highway crosses the Nottely River in Union County. Even more significant was the relocation of the road in Fannin County to the top of Blue Ridge Dam, holding back Blue Ridge Lake. These two lakes made a significant impact on the region, enough to even affect the main highways as well.

While improvements were made all along, nothing very significant happened again until 1973. It was in that year that the Union County side of the route saw substantial improvements including the replacement of three of the four bridges and relocation of part of the highway with new passing lanes east of Coosa Creek. It would only be a few more years before this entire stretch of highway would be deemed too antiquated to retain as the main highway.

GA 2/U.S. 76 between Blairsville and Blue Ridge were highlighted for major improvments starting in the late 1970's. The Appalachian Developmental Highway program began in that time, and the route of GA 2 through here was designated Corridor A. This designation meant that a new four-lane highway would replace the entire two lane highway in order to bring progress to an economically depressed area. Unfortunately, this later proved to work all too well.

GA 2 in 1981 showing GA 715, which would replace the winding route through Morganton, Blue Ridge, and Hemptown. note how far south U.S. 76 dips between Hemptown and Blairsville.

Work began in 1980 on the first section of the new highway, designated GA 715, from Blue Ridge to Hemptown. The new alignment in Fannin County extended east from the end of the previously constructed GA 5 By-Pass and by-passed Morganton before rejoining the two-lane route in eastern Fannin County. This was one of the first sections of the highway to be completed and replaced the most winding portion of the highway. The entire route in Fannin County was relocated to the new four-lane in 1982 with the only state maintanance retained on the old route along the portion where it overlapped GA 60. The Fannin County portion, unfortunately, fell into significant neglect after this change, which remains a problem to this day.

While work was underway on GA 715, a small five-lane by-pass was also completed in Blairsville, creating a better route through the city with a grade separation at Pat Haralson Memorial Drive. The old route overlapped with part of U.S. 19/129 and required two turns to get to the eastbound highway. The new highway, in contrast, made a quick way through the city. GA 715 would later tie into this road with some of the former road decommissioned and even turned into a park and ride.

Note in this 1986 map the completed four-lane and GA 2, which has disappeared from the map on the old alignment through Morganton, though GA 60 still follows it in part. Note here that GA 715 straightens the kink in the highway between Blairsville and Hemptown. Also note U.S. 76 Business, which was decommissioned in 1989.

The temporary terminus in Hemptown lasted six years and work began in 1985 on the second phase of GA 715. Traffic was heavy on the old two lane road, which had originally been planned to carry the four-lane through there as it was better built and the only level terrain to build such a road. Right of way was even acquired for expansion, but by the 1980's, the decision to build the road on a more direct alignment was favored instead, perhaps due to the amount of displacement the other route would require.

GA 715 was completed in 1988 and all U.S. 76 and GA 2 traffic was shifted to the new route. The new alignment was paved with concrete instead of asphalt and spelled the end of not only the entire former highway from Blairsville to Blue Ridge, but also GA 325. While GA 325 north of GA 515 was restored as a state route by local demand in 1989, Blue Ridge Highway and the southern end of GA 325 remained under local control ever since. Like on the Fannin County side, the Union County side also fell into neglect until recently when the county began making significant improvements in the upkeep of the road. Also in 1989, the new four lane highway took on a new secondary designation, GA 515.

This 1993 map shows GA 2, now joined by GA 515, entirely on the new route. Note Old GA 325 and Old U.S. 76 shown as one local route west of Blairsville.

Work since 1988 has been minor on the modern GA 2. Turn lanes were improved on the Fannin County side and work on Blue Ridge Dam resulted in some changes to the old roadway in Fannin County. The area has seen much increased traffic since the late 1980's, mostly due to tourist-oriented growth and retirees that both had an effect on the two counties. The push by some for Atlanta to grow to the mountains has created a lot of friction, and the new road was the gateway for it.

GA 2 today pretty much roughly follows its original alignment from Blue Ridge to Chatsworth aside from significant relocation between Blue Ridge and Ellijay. The route of today, however, came along a steep, bumpy and rocky road that ultimately did not go as planned. The description of this section has many twists and turns over several periods before the highway ultimately straightened out in 1986.

Originally, the Cohutta Mountains presented a total obstacle to the highway. GA 2 extended south all the way to Talking Rock where it then turned west along present-day GA 136, 136 Connector and 53. There were likely several ways across the mountains, but all were primitive roads at best, further isolating the region. The area west of Talking Rock is the first area of low enough elevation not to pose as great of difficulty, but even then this route entered a small gorge before intersecting with GA 61/U.S. 411 in Fairmount, which initially was the intersection of GA 2 and GA 4.

In 1921, GA 2 made a pretty significant dip south to get from Blue Ridge to Chatsworth originally. While the routes in this map have changed much, GA 2 and 5 still share mileage between Ellijay and Blue Ridge.

By 1929, GA 2 was curiously labeled on the present-day route over Fort Mountain, but no road was shown, suggesting this was still projected mileage. That route itself has problems, because it cuts across a very steep descent at Fort Mountain where the elevation suddenly drops sharply around 1,500 feet in a few miles. The rugged terrain east of that made the road winding and dangerous as well.

By 1929, GA 2 was moved to the Fort Mountain route even though the road had not yet even been started. Note the "2" by itself in the map. Also note the extension of GA 61.

Meanwhile, the more level GA 2, overlapped with GA 5, was also under construction at that time. By the early 1930's, it was fully paved north of Cherry Log and was completed by the end of the decade. In the meantime, the Fort Mountain route was under construction, promising a direct alignment between Ellijay and Chatsworth to Dalton and beyond. While open to traffic in the late 1930's, the Fot Mountain route was not completely paved until around 1950.

The completion of the Fort Mountain route eventually became part of U.S. 76 in the late 1930's like the eastern section. In addition, Fort Mountain State Park was also commissioned there immediately after the highway opened. When looking at the highway today, it looks like the chapter for GA 2 across the Cohutta Mountains was complete, but the late 1940's had a surprise in store.

Around a decade after GA 2 was completed between Blue Ridge and Chatsworth, a whole new route for GA 2 was created. The new route shifted the entire highway closer to the Tennessee border, including a new route over the Cohutta Mountains. The rest of the affected route will be described later, but this new route was a substantial shift, taking the highway from Blue Ridge up GA 5 in the opposite direction and out an unpaved highway through a steep mountain wilderness that eventually joined GA 61/U.S. 411 in the Cisco community instead of Chatsworth. This extremely lengthy and fascinating new route began four miles northwest of Blue Ridge and continued west for 36 miles over Cowpen Mountain, the highest peak in the Cohutta range.

The problem with the new route for GA 2 was that the road was unpaved and would be very expensive to reconstruct into a paved route. Money for roads in the region was less plentiful by the 1950's as the state was overwhelmed with massive amounts of money going into rebuilding the substandard highways and completing paving on the rest of the state highway system, which grew substantially during the 1950's and 1960's.

While GA 52 took over the old route of GA 2 across Fort Mountain to Dalton, work began on improving the new route of GA 2. In that time period, just one section was paved, and that was on the east end: a five mile portion from GA 5 west to the Higdon community. Completed in 1957, no work would begin again on the road for awhile. About a mile on the west end was paved in 1969, and no work began again on the highway until the 1970's.

Click on the map to view a larger image. GA 2 here is on a completely different location over the Cohutta Mountains than originally or today. Note that GA 52 follows what was GA 2 over Fort Mountain. Today, the two routes overlap on that same road (1968 GHD Map).

The early 1970's proved to be a precarious time for incomplete state highway projects. By then, the Highway Department was focused more on building new freeways and less on improving rural state highways that were already suffering from lack of funding. Several projects were canceled, and other highways were being turned over to local control as fast as the projects were complete. In 1974, GDOT ceased maintenance on GA 2 between Higdon and the paved portion in Cisco, but the highway remained on the map as projected mileage. The map that year lists the road as "Impassable Due to Rock Slides" and later as just "Impassable".

The future for GA 2 over Cowpen Mountain was looking more and more unlikely throughout the 70's and into the 80's. Part of the Cohutta Mountains, which was already part of the Chattahoochee National Forest by then, was designated a wilderness area. GA 2 cuts right through that area, and was promptly closed on a section from Three Forks Mountain west to a point east of the Alaculsy Valley in the area designated wilderness.

It is not known if there was conflict over the completion of this road, but what is known is that paving of the road was again commenced in the mid-1970's, extending the road further west. Much better constructed than that portion east of Higdon, the extension from Higdon into the Colwell community proved to be basically a road to nowhere. This was the last time any work was done on GA 2 as a state route, and the road was proving to be a cost burden on GDOT. Regardless, regular maintenance was restored to the unpaved section on each side of the closure through the Cohutta Wilderness in 1982, but was short lived. The highway was decommissioned completely in 1986 and GA 2 was rerouted back on its old route to Chatsworth.

Click on the map to view a larger image. By 1984, GA 2 is still in place, but the road is severed in the middle by the permanent closure. Note the alternate route offered by Lake Conasauga. Also note GA 52 to the south, which no longer carries U.S. 76. Around two years after this map was made, GA 2 returns to GA 5 and GA 52, at least to Chatsworth.

Even though GA 2 was decommissioned, both Murray and Fannin Counties have continued to pave their portions of the highway. Fannin County extended paving to the National Forest boundary and Murray County did likewise. While Fannin County's portion was built in the 1980's, the Murray County side was completed recently. While not to state standards, the two paved sections roughly accomplished some of what the state did not.

Click on map to view larger image. This 1997 map shows GA 2 today on permanent detour through Ellijay and Chatsworth. GA 2 on its old alignment is shown in part as well, but not the part that was closed in the 1970's. In essense, if not for the overlap with U.S. 411 up to Cisco, all of GA 2 here would be on its original 1940's alignment.

The late 1940's shift affected all of GA 2 west of Blue Ridge, but the changed from the Dalton area to the Ringgold area was more permanent. The early GA 2 in the area was a highway of much greater importance than the present route, extending along parts of what is today GA 52, 201 and 136. The old route will be decribed further, but first the development of the present-day route from Ringgold to Cisco will be described here.

When GA 2 was moved northward, the new highway was designed to link directly with the Cowpen Mountain section of GA 2. That is why there is such a long overlap today with U.S. 411 from Chatworth to Cisco. This new section was commissioned as the same time as the Cohutta section, extending initially from U.S. 411 to U.S. 27/GA 1 in Fort Oglethorpe. Between Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe, the highway had already been a state route, previously commissioned as GA 148 and was thus already paved.

East of Ringgold, most was new alignment and all unpaved even though some of the highway overtook the northern portion of GA 201 from Varnell to GA 71. It does appear, however, that less than a mile was paved west of GA 71 into Varnell. This extension also included the same overlap with U.S. 41/76 that exists today. Another section from U.S. 41/76 to Keith Road was also paved soon after the highway was commissioned.

This 1968 map shows the entire length of GA 2 from Ringgold to Cisco prior to the completion of paving in 1970. Note that GA 2 goes into Varnell instead of south of it. The paved portion from Varnell to GA 71 was originally part of GA 201.

Work began again in 1958 on a section in Whitfield County west of the county line to the road that later became part of GA 225 the following year. Paving was finally completed much later in 1970 along the remaining unpaved portions from Ringgold to GA 225. GA 2 was also relocated around Varnell, taking over the northern end of GA 201 that year. The relocation was largely to create a grade separation over the railroad that passes through the center of town. The last portion from Gregory (GA 225) to Cisco was not completely paved until 1979 or 1980.

The original master planned GA 2 made more sense than the peculiar route of today, and the relocation of GA 2 away from Dalton, LaFayette and Trenton in all good reason should be restored. As stated before, but in more detail, the former route followed GA 52 and GA 52 Alt from Chatsworth to Dalton, U.S. 41/76/GA 3 from Dalton to Rocky Face (part of this now by-passed), GA 201 from Rocky Face to Villanow and GA 143 (present-day GA 136) from Villanow to Trenton where the highway terminated at U.S. 11. The histories of each section of the Dalton to Trenton classic route of GA 2 are detailed on their respective route pages.

Shown here in this 1946 map, GA 2 originally followed a far different course west of Chatsworth than the road does today. All of the roads shown here are today parts of GA 52, 201 and 136.

As stated previously, GA 2 took over what was GA 148 from Ringgold to Fort Oglethorpe. Known originally as Fort Oglethorpe Road and later as Post Road, the original route today is known by the names Boynton Road and Reeds Bridge Road. One of the major problems with this route is that part of the highway was unsigned within Chickamauga Battlefield, meaning that no signage was ever present where GA 2 joined U.S. 27.

What later became GA 2 was originally an unnumbered state route that was finally assigned the designation GA 148. This was an original 1921 highway (1946 GHD Map).

While this route was later relocated to Battlefield Parkway in 1972, GA 2 was initially extended on a loop back to Rossville. This 1964 extension to Rossville may have been partially attributed to the lack of signage for the route in the national park. The roads that GA 2 was extended along included McFarland Gap Road and McFarland Avenue, ending in downtown Rossville within feet of the Tennessee State Line, forming a by-pass of Fort Oglethorpe.

This 1968 map shows GA 2 through Boynton along Old GA 148 and the extension to Rossville. Note the connection to I-75, which was indicated to be a state route from 1964-1966. That may have been the only banner route of GA 2. Also note the portion of the old highway within the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.

The old alignment of GA 2 east of Fort Oglethorpe was winding, narrow and dangerous and the need for a new route was very much present in the early 1970's. In addition, the old route also had no interchange with I-75, making access to it more difficult. However, the interchange that later carried Battlefield Parkway was opened in 1964, providing access to the existing GA 2 along an existing county road, Akins Road (C.R. 168). The map indicates the road as a state route, but does not indicate the designation, which was possibly the only banner route in the history of GA 2. Also interesting to note on the old route through Boynton is that it very strongly appears to have continued to be state maintained into the late 1970's, and evidence along the route strongly suggests this.

By 1973, GA 2 is relocated to Battlefield Parkway east of Fort Oglethorpe, creating new suburban growth on the Georgia side of Chattanooga, but also creating a confusing dogleg back to the McFarland Gap Road portion of the highway.

The new Battlefield Parkway, when completed, created a fast and direct alignment, but also sprawled quickly with suburban development. Better routes routinely create such sprawl and much of the development on the highway dates to the early 1970's. Battlefield Parkway also ended at U.S. 27, creating a confusing and partially unsigned overlap along U.S. 27 to go back to McFarland Gap Road. With no signage for the intersection of GA 2 west within the park, the overlap must have caused great difficulty over the next several years.

Battlefield Parkway was not intended to remain stopped at U.S. 27, and work began in 1984 to extend the highway west to GA 193. This extension, designated GA 731, cut across Mission Ridge and was completed on August 15, 1986. Along with GA 218 and 349, GA 2 was removed from its former alignment along McFarland Gap Road and McFarland Avenue. The new route, an east-west highway, resulted in GA 2 ending at GA 193 on a new five lane road in the Flintstone community instead of Rossville, making the westernmost part of GA 2 a modern highway.

Note the tremendous change in the highways around Rossville from 1986 to 1987 when Battlefield Parkway (GA 731) was extended west to Flintstone (formerly Eagle Cliff). Note that not only was GA 2 was relocated but also GA 218 and 349 were both decommissioned.

Since that time, one major project has affected Battlefield Parkway: the relocation of U.S. 27 to a new by-pass around the national park. At GA 2, a trumpet interchange was constructed in lieu of a regular signalized intersection, upgrading a small portion of the highway to a full freeway. Work on this new interchange was completed in the spring of 2003.

Compare the 1998 and 2005 GDOT maps. Note the relocation of GA 1/U.S. 27 along part of Battlefield Parkway.

All that is above is an attempt ot make a complete historical account of GA 2, but some information was deliberately reserved for other pages where GA 2 shares mileage with other highways. In all, GA 2 is a complicated highway that proves that a nearly 90 year old highway in a mountainous area is going to be adjusted often. This account attempts to be a complete history but not all things are known. If you have anything interesting or useful to add to this account, including specific dates, e-mail me.