The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, established in 1917, which preserves an important battlefield of the Atlanta campaign, is located outside of Marietta GA on the old Dixie Highway. It would have been a fascinating stop for travelers coming from MI to FL along the "Battlefield Route" division of the Dixie Highway.
To reach the park, take Old US 41 (the Dixie Highway) to Kennesaw Mountain Park Road, which leads into the park.
From the Encyclopedia of Georgia: (
visit link)
"The Dixie Highway, a network of roads connecting Canada to Florida in the early decades of the twentieth century, was an ambitious undertaking to build the nation's first north–south paved interstate highway. As the largest state in terms of area east of the Mississippi River, Georgia proved critical to the project's success, mainly because the state's size and location controlled access to Florida for anyone driving by car.
Signs marked "Dixie Highway" still exist on roadways throughout Georgia, particularly on old U.S. Highway 41. . .
. . .
Launching of the Dixie Highway
On April 3, 1915, Georgia governor John M. Slaton and his counterparts (or their representatives) from five other states met in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the inaugural meeting of the Dixie Highway Association (DHA). While the new highway generated enthusiasm, selecting its route became a highly politicized task. . . . Macon Telegraph editor and owner William T. Anderson proposed that the DHA approve western and eastern divisions of the Dixie Highway where dual routes were warranted. . .
As a result, the Dixie Highway became a network with Sault Ste. Marie on the Canadian border as the northern terminus. From there, the highway extended southward through upper Michigan and then via ferry to Mackinaw, where the highway split into a Western Division that included Chicago and an Eastern Division that included Detroit. Following roughly parallel paths southward, the two divisions reunited at Chattanooga.
Envisioning an influx of tourists, different cities and counties competed to be part of the Dixie Highway. In Georgia, rivalries became intense—especially between Rome and Dalton, each sending hundreds of supporters to the DHA's initial meeting to argue the merits for including their city on the route. Dalton not only offered the shortest route from Chattanooga to Atlanta but also boasted that it was the "Battlefield Route" associated with Union general William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, which would attract Civil War tourism. Rome made a persuasive case that it had a larger population base and could build its portion more quickly than Dalton.
As a compromise, the DHA approved two routes south from Chattanooga—one through Dalton and one through Rome—with both routes converging near Cartersville, where they rejoined the Dixie Highway's Western Division. This division then followed a route south in Georgia to Atlanta, Macon, Americus, Albany, and then on to Tallahassee, Florida. In 1916 the DHA approved a new Eastern Division running southeast from Atlanta to Waynesboro to Savannah, before continuing on to Jacksonville, Florida. That same year, a new Central Dixie Highway was added linking the Georgia towns Perry, Waycross, and Folkston, and then heading southward to Jacksonville. . . .
Driving the Dixie Highway
The development of affordable automobiles and the Dixie Highway meant that anyone with a car could head south for a summer or winter vacation. . . .
The Dixie Highway ceased to exist by that name in 1926, when federal and state highway officials replaced named trails across America with numbered highways. Because the Dixie Highway was not a single highway, its various divisions became parts of the new U.S. numbered highway system (most notably U.S. 1, 17, 19, 25, 27, 41, and 129), plus a variety of state-numbered highways."
From Wikipedia: (
visit link)
"Kennesaw Battlefield Park preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign, and also contains Kennesaw Mountain. It is located at 905 Kennesaw Mountain Drive, between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia. The name "Kennesaw" derives from the Cherokee Indian "Gah-nee-sah" meaning "cemetery" or burial ground. The area was designated as a U.S. historic district on October 15, 1966.. . .
History
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, fought here between General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union army and Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederate army, took place between June 18, 1864, and July 2, 1864. Sherman's army consisted of 100,000 men, 254 cannons and 35,000 horses, while Johnston's army had only 50,000 men and 187 cannons. Much of the battle took place not on Kennesaw Mountain itself, but on a spur of Little Kennesaw Mountain known now as Pigeon Hill, and the area to its south around Cheatham Hill. A total of 5,350 soldiers died during the battle, which resulted in a Confederate victory.
Park
Established as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Site on February 18, 1917, it was transferred from the War Department on August 10, 1933, and redesignated a national battlefield park on June 26, 1935. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park is a 2,923-acre (11.8 km2) National Battlefield that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. There are three battlefield areas: In front of the Visitor Center, off Burnt Hickory Road and a major site at Cheatham Hill (commonly known as the Dead Angle). At the southern tip of the park, Peter Valentine Kolb's farm house, where a minor battle was fought, has been restored to its original condition. The Visitor Center contains an information desk, museum, and a theater which screens movies about the battle fought there. While walking some of the 17.3 miles (27.8 km) of interpretive hiking trails, historic earthworks, cannon emplacements, and various interpretive signs can be seen. There are three monuments representing some of the states who fought here - Illinois, Texas, and Georgia. Kennesaw Mountain is 1,808 feet (551.1 m) above sea level. It is approximately a 664-foot (202 m) gain in elevation from the Visitor Center to the mountain's summit. The hike up is approximately 1.4 miles (2.3 km) on the road and 1.1-mile (1.8 km) on the trail.
Mission
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield was authorized for protection by the U.S. War Department in 1917 and was transferred to the Department of the Interior as a unit of the National Park System in 1933. The 2,923-acre (11.8 km2) battlefield includes the site of some of the heaviest fighting of the Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War. The battlefield was set aside as an important cultural property dedicated to public inspiration and interpretation of the significant historic events that occurred here.
With the expansion of urban sprawl from nearby Atlanta, Georgia, concerns have been raised that the preserved areas of the park may be in danger from overuse and/or misuse."