The 'original' Peachtree Road started in Gwinnett
Atlanta is famous (infamous?) for its penchant for using "Peachtree" in street names — but the origin of the commuting peculiarity probably has its roots in the present day suburbs.
The original Peachtree Road, as it were, started in Gwinnett County.
As the story goes, it was October of 1813 when a man named Allen Daniel — a major general with the Georgia militia — wrote a letter to underlings deploring the poor condition of "the fort at Hog Mountain." The Hog Mountain area, near present day Dacula, was still considered frontier — and, to quote the historical marker at what became known as Fort Daniel, needed protection from "Indians aroused by the British during the War of 1812."
The fort was rebuilt and, around the same time, a militia lieutenant (and future Georgia governor) named George R. Gilmer got orders to build his own fort "at the Indian town of Standing Peachtree." That was at the confluence of the Chattahoochee River and Peachtree Creek, in modern day Buckhead.
The military types soon decided to build a road between the two new forts so they could easier get supplies to the Chattahoochee.
Work began at Fort Daniel but, having been conceived as a path to Standing Peachtree, the road naturally assumed part of that name.
The more Atlanta-centric stretch grew to become the "world famous Peachtree Road" — but, under the new moniker of Old Peachtree Road, the original still runs several miles through Gwinnett County, too.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
