Robert Sparks Walker is rightly praised for pulling the
history of Brainerd Mission to the Cherokee out of the shadows and for leading
the effort to preserve what remained.
Likewise, he deserves credit for the name of the community cobbled
together from Olde Towne, Sunnyside, Dutchtown, Belvoir, and The Mission in
1926, as well as the renaming of what was then known as Bird’s Mill Road to
Brainerd Road and East Brainerd Road.
But he may not have realized how close to history he came.
The road we now know by the above names was initially a branch
of what the Long Knives called the Great Indian Warpath, one of several in the
area. Ultimately, this system (rather
than a single route) ran from Mobile Bay in the south to Nova Scotia in the
north. The Great Indian Warpath is why John
McDonald, trader and assistant to British Deputy Commissioner for Southern
Indian Affairs Alexander Cameron, set up shop on the left bank of the river we
now know as South Chickamauga Creek.
Just two years after John Ross and Timothy Meigs established
Ross’ Landing in 1815, Brainerd Mission and the Church of Christ at Chickamauga
opened their doors. Because of its
importance and interest in it nationally (Pres. James Monroe came to see it in
person) and internationally, Brainerd became one of the main destinies for passengers
and cargo dismembarking at the landing on the Tennessee River. It likewise had an access route to the nearby
Georgia, or Federal, Road between Athens, Georgia, and Nashville.
From 1817, when Brainerd opened, until 1838, when it closed
and most of its personnel went west with the ethnically-cleansed Cherokee, the
road between Ross’ Landing and the Federal Road by way of Brainerd was called
Brainerd’s Road. West of Missionary
Ridge, the path followed roughly the route of McCallie Avenue, then, like the
avenue once did, it turned left at the foot of the ridge to ascend its
side. This was more or less the same
route as the ancient pathway. About
two-thirds of the way to the top, it divided, one branch headed toward the
Shallow Ford, the other toward Brainerd over what’s now Bird’s Mill Road.
After going along the crest for a bit, it followed what is
now Rosemont, then Brainerd Road, until Talley Road goes over the hill where
the Confederate rearguard attempted to hold off Sheridan’s division the night
of 25 November 1863. Where Talley Road
makes a sharp left, turning north, however, Brainerd’s Road continued straight
until meeting what is now Old Mission Road, which it followed until reaching
Brainerd Mission.
Crossing the South Chickamauga Creek, Brainerd’s Road passed
through Old Chickamauga Town along Old Bird’s Mill Road onto what is now East
Brainerd Road, then continued on towards the southeastern end of the village of
Opelika (the modern Graysville, Georgia), which took in much of what is now
southern East Brainerd. Here, Brainerd’s
Road ran to the east side of town, fording the creek at about the same place as
the railroad bridge, and continued on to meet the Federal Road, going through
Ross Hollow between Peavine Ridge on the west and The Backbone on the
east. From there, turning left would
take you to Spring Place then Athens, turning right would take you to Ross’ Gap
and down Chattanooga Valley to go over the bench of Lookout Mountain to Running
Water, Nickajack, and ultimately Nashville.
From the Removal until after the Civil War, most of the
route became known simply as the Missionary Road. In 1849, John D. Gray dammed the South
Chickamauga Creek to create a reservoir for his mill, and the road between
Graysville and the Federal Road moved to the west side of Peavine Ridge. That same year, the Western & Atlantic
Railroad was completed from Chattanooga to Tunnel Hill, Georgia, on the west
side of Cheetooga Mountain, and Graysville and Chattanooga became two of the
most important centers of transportation in the area.
After the war, the entire length of the road between the two
towns became known as the Chattanooga-Graysville Pike. Most locals, however, called the route Bird’s
Mill Road because of its importance, which was such that farmers came from as
far away as what is now North Chattanooga to grind their grain. Likewise, the section between the town and
the large McCallie farm at the foot of the ridge became better known as the
McCallie Road.
The advent of automobiles brought changes to the road. In Concord, as East Brainerd was then still
known, Bird’s Mill Road was altered to dead end into Jenkins Road, which
continued straight across along what is now called Mackey Avenue, which used to
connect to Davidson Road. Ryall Springs,
or Parker’s Gap, Road intersected with Jenkins Road, and Graysville Pike
branched off of that.
On the “main” Bird’s Mill Road, the completion of the
Missionary Ridge Tunnels significantly altered the course of the roads, with no
more need to ascend and descend the ridge.
The building of a bridge over South Chickamauga Creek somewhat
downstream from the old ford between the former mission and what was known at
the time as Whorley changed the route of the road.
The building of Lee Highway in the 1920s changed the route
even more, for the road then bypassed that first leg of Talley Road, and
subsequently the Old Mission Road, to follow its current path. East of South Chickamauga Creek, Lee Highway
bypassed where Bird’s Mill Road now turned toward Concord headed to
Chattanooga-Cleveland Pike, now Bonny Oaks Drive.
Brainerd, as a community, organized itself in 1926 with the
aim of being annexed into the City of Chattanooga, and for the length the two
coexisted Bird’s Mill Road-Lee Highway became Brainerd Road. From where Bird’s Mill Road had branched off
toward Concord, the road now became East Brainerd Road, only now extending all
the way to Apison. The same year, the
community’s school across the road from the donor of the land it sat upon
changed its name from Walnut Grove to East Brainerd along with its community,
though the byroad beside it officially remained Walnut Grove Road until 1968.
1 comment:
I am looking for photos of old Glendon Place, from 1925-1950. I am also interested if it was indeed built as a refuge for those excluded from Ridgeside.
Post a Comment