Q: When I moved to Cobb County over 30 years ago, there was a marble marker that looked like a headstone at the intersection of Sandy Plains and Shallowford roads. It stood on the southwest corner, where the First Citizens Bank now sits. I wonder what happened to this marker.
—David McCain, Marietta
A: The marker's new home isn't far from its original spot, although it was missing for several years.
You’re right, the marker – called the Hightower Indian Trail marker – could be mistaken for a granite headstone, but it was created to commemorate a path Native Americans carved through the area.
It states: “This stone marks the Hightower Indian Trail used by the Cherokees and by trading parties of other tribes.”
A Georgia historical marker in Stone Mountain provides more information about the Hightower Trail.
“Hightower (Etowah) Trail, one of the best marked Indian Trails in Georgia, was a much used crossover between two of the noted Trading Paths radiating from Augusta. Recognized as a former boundary between Cherokee and Creek lands, a part of it became, by Act of General Assembly 1822, the boundary line between Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties.”
The trail continued through what became Fulton and Cobb counties, and another marker on Shallowford states the trail crossed the Chattahoochee River at a shallow ford (interesting how that works) and then became a wagon trail as settlers moved into the area.
Anyway, back to the marker.
The Fielding Lewis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution originally placed it on a farm across Sandy Plains Road from Mountain View Elementary School on Sunday, Oct. 18, 1931, the Marietta Daily Journal reported last year.
DAR members took care of the marker and cleaned up the surrounding area for years until they noticed it missing.
Nobody knew where it went until the marker was located in the lobby of nearby Hightower Trail Middle School.
“I think they were trying to keep it from any more damage,” former Fielding Lewis Chapter regent Elaine Baker Cross said last week. “But the marker belongs to the Fielding Lewis Chapter. We wanted to put it out so everybody could see it.”
The marker was relocated to its present location near the entrance of the Harrison Tennis Center on Shallowford Road, about one-half mile from its original spot.
There was a rededication ceremony last October and a landscaped area now surrounds the marker.
“We owe many, many, many thanks to the Cobb County Parks and Recreation Department,” she said. “They helped us with the heavy-duty work. They did a wonderful job.”
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