The Tennessee Wagon Road was a heavily traveled route that
passed through the Allatoona Mountain Range. It traversed
north to Chattanooga and south to Sandtown, which was
located on the Chattahoochee River just west of Atlanta. As it
ran south out of Allatoona, it was known as the Sandtown Road.
The Allatoona community was established at the
crossroads of the Tennessee Wagon Road
(north/south) and the Old Alabama Road or
Cartersville Road (east/west). The tiny village
consisted of six or seven buildings including the
John Clayton house, several stores, a railroad
depot and other railroad structures.
Roads during this time were not direct
routes but were a connection of byways
that followed the contours of the land,
frequently building upon or using
existing Native American trails.
Years of wagon wheels and horses
hooves wearing into the dirt surface
created the "sunken road" effect still
visible today.
Photo captions
Map detail: Map of rails, town and roads. from Chattanooga (north) through Allatoona down to Sandtown (south).
Left middle: Southeasterly view of Allatoona
Right bottom: Northwesterly view along tracks showing, depot and the
John Clayton house, currently known as the Mooney House.
The home looks much the same as it did in 1862-63 when
George N. Barnard took the
photo—Barnard was a
well-known Civil War photographer.
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