U.S. Route 27 in Georgia

U.S. Highway 27
Martha Berry Highway
Route information
Maintained by GDOT
Length:	356.088 mi[1] (573.068 km)
Existed:	November 11, 1926[2] – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 27 at Florida state line
	US 84 in Bainbridge US 82 in Cuthbert US 280 in Cusseta I‑185 in Columbus I‑85 near LaGrange I‑20 near Bremen US 78 in Bremen US 278 in Cedartown US 411 in Rome
North end:	US 27 at Tennessee state line
Location
Counties:	Decatur, Miller, Early, Clay, Randolph, Stewart, Chattahoochee, Muscogee, Harris, Troup, Heard, Carroll, Haralson, Polk, Floyd, Chattooga, Walker, Catoosa
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced Georgia State Routes Interstate U.S. State Former ← SR 26 SR 27 → ← SR 754 SR 1 SR 2 →

U.S. Route 27 (US 27) runs south-to-north through the U.S. state of Georgia near its western border with Alabama. The whole route is Governor's Road Improvement Program (GRIP) corridor EDS-27, providing the bulk of the Tallahassee, Florida - Chattanooga, Tennessee corridor. All of US 27 in Georgia is designated State Route 1 (SR 1) and is also designated as the Martha Berry Highway.

Route description

The route starts at the Florida-Georgia state line, where Decatur and Grady counties meet, and where US 27 continues south into Florida. US 27 heads northwest through rural southwestern Georgia, crossing into Decatur County as a 4-lane divided highway, and skirts Attapulgus to the east on its way to Bainbridge. South of Bainbridge, US 27 meets with and overlaps US 84, and forms a controlled-access perimeter highway around the southern and western portion of the city, before splitting from US 84 and heading northwest into Miller County and through Colquitt into Early County and Blakely, which it skirts to the east.

Now heading north, the route passes through Bluffton in Clay County, then reaches Cuthbert in Randolph County, again skirting the town to its east. US 27 reaches Lumpkin in Stewart County as its next destination, which it skirts to the west. Still heading north, the route reaches Cusseta in Chattahoochee County, where it overlaps and is co-signed with US 280 and SR 520 into Columbus in Muscogee County. The routes head northwest into Columbus, cross I-185, and US 27 splits from US 280 just before reaching the Alabama state line, and heads north through downtown Columbus, crossing I-185 once again, just before also crossing US 80 on its way into Harris County.

US 27 roughly parallels I-185 on its trek north through Harris County, and crosses I-185 once more shortly after crossing into Troup County, where it also crosses I-85 just south of LaGrange. The route continues north, passes through Heard County, and heads through the heart of Carrollton in Carroll County. Angling northwest, the route crosses I-20 south of Bremen, and makes its way in a northerly direction through Haralson County into Polk County, where it skirts Cedartown to its east. Entering Floyd County, US 27 makes its way through the center of Rome, then angles west into Chattooga County and Summerville. Turning sharply north again in Summerville, the route passes through LaFayette in Walker County. At this point, US 27 becomes LaFayette Road and then passes back and forth twice between Walker County and Catoosa County, before meeting its northern terminus at the Tennessee state line in Fort Oglethorpe.

History

Main route

During the American Civil War, the dirt LaFayette Road was fought over by the Confederate Army of Tennessee (under Braxton Bragg) and the Federal Army of the Cumberland (under William S. Rosecrans) during the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19 and 20, 1863. The Federal troops defended the road from the west while the Confederates attacked from the east. In early 1864, Gen. James B. McPherson's Federal troops marched southward on the road from Rossville to Rock Spring during the Atlanta Campaign.

The designation of US 27 in Georgia does not appear on Georgia state highway maps until early in 1935;^[3] prior to 1935, the route as it runs today is signed as just SR 1,^[4] and appears to have been largely unchanged since around 1920.^[5] Available maps prior to 1920 show only the railroad line running roughly parallel to US 27, which is still extant and marked today as a CSX Transportation line.^[6]

In 1926, a majority of the route did not yet feature completed hard road surface, but was either unimproved but maintained, or consisted of sand, clay, or top soil road surface. Exceptions in 1926 included the immediate areas around Blakely, Columbus, Rome, and north of Fort Oglethorpe.^[7] By late in 1932, hard surface improvements had been made to include an additional portion of the route north of Blakely, a short stretch north of Lumpkin, the entire stretch of US 27 from Cussetta, through Columbus, to Chipley, a short portion south of LaGrange, a larger section north of Rome, and the entire stretch of the route from south of LaFayette to the Tennessee state line.^[8]

By late in 1936, only two longer stretches of the route, from north of Blakely through Cuthbert to Lumpkin, and between LaGrange and Bremen, plus several shorter sections (Bainbridge to Colquitt; south of Cusseta; north of Buchanan; north of Cedartown) remained either unimproved, or were graded and surfaced with sand, clay, or top soil only; more than one-third of US 27 featured hard road surface conditions.^[9] Between 1936 and 1940 saw more significant improvements made, to where more than 90% of US 27 was covered by hard road surface material by October 1940. Only a portion of US 27 south of Lumpkin, a short stretch just south of Cusseta, and a portion north of Carrollton did not yet feature hard surface.^[10] By July 1941, only a few miles of US 27, south of and into Cusseta, remained to be covered by hard surface;^[11] however, it was 1944 when the hard-surfacing of the entirety of US 27 was completed.^[12]

In 1950, Georgia highway maps first show a portion of US 27 as a divided highway, where a stretch of the route from north of Cusseta to Columbus is marked as such.^[13] In 1963 and 1966, the next small portions of US 27 appear as divided highway: north of Fort Oglethorpe to Tennessee, and south of and into Carrollton; in addition, the existing stretch south of Columbus was extended to reach Cusseta.^[14][15]

Rome

As US 27 approaches Rome, the current route meets with Cave Spring Road (via Walker Mountain Road), which then runs parallel to and north along with US 27 to just south of the Etowah River in Rome. On 1966 Georgia highway maps, US 27 was concurrent with Cave Spring Road to the current terminus of Cave Spring Road at East 12th Street. US 27 then curved northwest, then north, on what is today East Main Street and became concurrent with what is today East Broad Street, to East 2nd Avenue, which it was concurrent with on its way northwest to the intersection with SR 20, north of which it picks up its present path north out of Rome.^[15] Starting in 1967, the current route is shown as being under construction,^[16] and by 1969 the current route was in operation.^[17]

Bannered routes

The designation of US 27 Alt does not appear until 1950; at that time, the entirety of the route as it is signed today appears on Georgia highway maps, running from Columbus to Carrollton.^[13]

From 1948, maps of the Columbus area show a spur of SR 1 running parallel to US 27/SR 1 on Cusseta Road, south of Buena Vista Road, which was signed as SR 103 at the time; that designation is not longer in place.^[18] In 1950, that spur was redirected to split from Cusseta Road and run north on Brown Avenue, to terminate into SR 103/Buena Vista Road.^[13] In 1966, the SR 1 Spur designation is replaced by a designation of SR 103 Spur for the same road portion.^[15] By 1984-1985, the entire designation of this route had been removed.^[19]

The designation of US 27 Bus/SR 1 Bus, and the loop of the main route of US 27 to the west of Bainbridge, first appears in 1966.^[15]

The bypass of US 27 to the east around LaFayette, and the designation of the former main route of US 27 as US 27 Bus, appears around 1992-1993 on Georgia highway maps^[20]

The bypass of US 27 to the east around Cedartown, and to the west around Bremen, and the designation of the former main route of US 27 as US 27 Bus, appears in both cases around 1992-1993.^[21]

The bypass of US 27 to the east around Blakely and Cuthbert, and the designation of the former main route of US 27 as US 27 Bus, appears in both cases around 1996-1997.^[22]

Georgia Road Designations

In 1935, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the portion of US 27/SR 1 from Columbus to its northern terminus as "Tennessee-Columbus Military Highway".^[23]

In 1941, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the portion of US 27/SR 1 from its southern terminus to Colquitt as "De Soto Trail Highway".^[24]

In 1952, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the entirety of US 27 Bus/SR 1 as "Martha Berry Highway", honoring a pioneer in education.^[25]

In 1992, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the portion of US 27 Bus/SR 1 from the Chattahoochee-Muscogee county line to its intersection with I-185 as "Robert B. Nett Medal of Honor Highway", honoring a hero of World War II.^[26]

In 1993, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the US 27 Bus/SR 1 Bus bypass through Cedartown as "Syble W. Brannan Parkway", honoring a prominent Cedartown resident.^[27]

In 1994, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the portion of the US 27 Bus/SR 1 between Summerville and Trion in Chattooga County as "Ralph 'Country' Brown Highway Designation", honoring a prominent Chattooga resident and baseball player.^[28]

In 2000, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the US 27 Bus/SR 1 Bus bypass through Cuthbert as "Gerald Green Bypass", honoring a prominent resident of Georgia and member of the Georgia Legislature.^[29]

In 2011, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia designated the entirety of US 27 Bus/SR 1 as "Scenic Hometown Highway", for 'tourism enhancement purposes'.^[30] Also in 2011, with the same designation, the portion of US 27/SR 1 between Shields Crossing (near Chickamauga) was designated as "Roy Parrish Parkway", honoring a prominent resident of Walker County.^[30]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Decatur	​	0.000	0.000	US 27 south (SR 63) – Tallahassee	Southern terminus of SR 1; US 27 continues into Florida concurrent with SR 63
	​	1.226	1.973	SR 262 north – Climax
	​	6.349	10.218	US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north to SR 241 – Attapulgus
	​	9.225	14.846	US 27 Bus. south / SR 1 Bus. south to SR 241 – Attapulgus
	Bainbridge	18.627	29.977	US 84 east / SR 38 east / US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north (South Tallahassee Road) – Cairo, Bainbridge, Bainbridge College, Historical District	interchange; south end of US 84 / SR 38 overlap
		19.239– 19.436	30.962– 31.279	SR 97 (Faceville Highway) / SR 309 – Fowlstown, Faceville	interchange
		20.409	32.845	SR 97 Conn. / Shotwell Street (US 84 Bus. east / SR 38 Bus. east) – Bainbridge	interchange
		21.079	33.923	SR 253 (Spring Creek Road)	interchange
		21.767	35.031	US 84 west (SR 38 west) / US 27 Bus. south (SR 1 Bus. south) to SR 253 Spur – Bainbridge, Donalsonville, Dothan, AL	interchange; north end of US 84 / SR 38 overlap
Miller	Colquitt	40.396	65.011	SR 310 south (Grow Street) – Brinson
		40.602	65.343	SR 91 Spur north / SR 45 Truck north / SR 91 Truck north (Fourth Street)	south end of SR 45 Truck / SR 91 Truck overlap
		41.123	66.181	SR 45 Conn. north (First Street)
		41.330	66.514	SR 45 north / SR 91 north (College Street) – Arlington, Newton	north end of SR 45 Truck / SR 91 Truck overlap; south end of SR 45 / SR 91 overlap
		42.539	68.460	SR 45 south / SR 91 south – Iron City, Donalsonville	north end of SR 45 / SR 91 overlap
Early	Blakely	59.038	95.012	US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north (South Main Street) – Blakely
		60.297	97.039	SR 200 (Damascus Street) – Blakely, Damascus
		60.658	97.620	SR 62 (Magnolia Street) – Columbia, Arlington, Blakely
		61.434	98.868	SR 62 Byp. (Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) to SR 39 north – Blakely
		62.699	100.904	US 27 Bus. south / SR 1 Bus. south (North Main Street) – Blakely, Kolomoki Mounds State Park
Clay	Suttons Corner	77.177	124.204	SR 37 – Fort Gaines, Edison
Randolph	Cuthbert	88.205	141.952	US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north – Cuthbert, Andrew College, Historic District
	​	88.568	142.536	SR 216 south – Carnegie, Edison, Arlington
	​	90.398	145.481	US 82 / SR 50 – Cuthbert, Shellman, Dawson, Andrew College
	​	92.326	148.584	US 27 Bus. south / SR 1 Bus. south – Cuthbert
Stewart	Lumpkin	110.740	178.219	SR 27 – Georgetown, Richland, Lumpkin
	​	111.063	178.739	SR 39 Conn.
	​	118.320	190.418	SR 39 west – Omaha
	​			SR 1 Conn. south
Chattahoochee	Cusseta	129.748	208.809	US 280 east / SR 520 east – Richland, Albany	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 280 / SR 520
		130.732	210.393	Broad Street	former SR 520 Bus. east
	Fort Benning	131.261	211.244	SR 26 east – Buena Vista, Camp Darby, Andersonville National Historic Site
				8th Division Road Access Point	interchange
Muscogee				Custer Road - Sand Hill, 192nd & 198th	interchange
		141.314	227.423	I‑185 north (SR 411) – Fort Benning, LaGrange, Airport	I-185 exit 1
	Columbus	146.742	236.158	US 280 west / SR 520 west (4th Street) – Phenix City, AL	Northern terminus of concurrency with US 280 / SR 520
		147.908	238.035	SR 22 Spur east (13th Street) – Phenix City, Talbotton
				SR 85 north (14th Street)
		149.713	240.940	SR 219 north (River Road)
		150.650	242.448	SR 85 / US 27 Alt. north (Manchester Expressway) to I‑185 – Waverly Hall, Columbus Tech
		153.829	247.564	US 80 / SR 22 (J.R. Allen Parkway) to I‑185 – Phenix City, Macon	Allen Parkway exit 4
Harris	Cataula	163.347	262.882	SR 315 east – Ellerslie	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 315
		163.457	263.059	SR 315 west to I‑185	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 315
	Kingsboro	166.944	268.670	SR 208 east – Waverly Hall
	Hamilton	171.294	275.671	SR 116 west – West Point	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 116
		171.425	275.882	SR 116 east – Shiloh	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 116
	​	175.309	282.132	SR 190 east – Warm Springs, Manchester
	Pine Mountain	178.406	287.117	SR 354 / SR 18 Truck west to I‑185 – West Point, FDR State Park, Liberty Bell Pool	south end of SR 18 Truck overlap
		179.388	288.697	SR 18 west (Harris Street) – West Point	north end of SR 18 Truck overlap; south end of SR 18 overlap
		179.701	289.201	SR 18 east – Greenville, Warm Springs	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 18
Troup	​	188.959	304.100	I‑185 (SR 411) – Columbus, Atlanta	I-185 exit 42
	LaGrange	193.644	311.640	I‑85 (SR 403) – Montgomery, Atlanta	I-85 exit 14.
		194.430	312.905	SR 14 Spur (Davis Road) – Whitesville, Hogansville
		196.251	315.835	SR 219 south (Whitesville Road) – Whitesville	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 219
		196.668	316.506	US 29 south / SR 14 south / SR 109 (LaFayette Parkway) to I‑85 – West Point Lake, Greenville	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 29 / SR 14
		196.720	316.590	SR 219 north / SR 14 Conn. south (Greenville Street) – West Point	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 219
		197.419	317.715	US 29 north / SR 14 north (Commerce Avenue) – Hogansville	Northern terminus of concurrency with US 29 / SR 14
	​	207.489	333.921	SR 54 east – Hogansville
Heard	​	211.871	340.973	SR 100 south – Hogansville	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 100
	​	214.278	344.847	SR 100 north – Franklin, Bowdon	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 100
	Franklin	216.143	347.848	SR 34 – Franklin, Bowdon, Newnan	interchange
Carroll	Roopville	228.946	368.453	SR 5 – Roopville, Tyus, Whitesburg
	Carrollton	236.695	380.924	US 27 Alt. south / SR 16 east / SR 166 – Bowdon, Atlanta, Newnan, University of West Georgia, West Georgia Technical College	interchange; southern terminus of concurrency with SR 16
				South Street - Historic Downtown	interchange
		238.363	383.608	SR 16 west (Alabama Street) – Mount Zion	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 16
		239.826	385.963	SR 113 north to I‑20 – Temple
		239.826	385.963	SR 166 Conn. east (Linda Lane)
	Bremen	247.305	397.999	I‑20 (SR 402) – Birmingham, Atlanta	I-20 exit 11
		247.635	398.530	US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north – Bremen, Bremen Business District
Haralson		249.189	401.031	US 78 / SR 8 – Tallapoosa, Waco, Bremen
	​	252.195	405.869	US 27 Bus. south / SR 1 Bus. south – Bremen
	​	254.833	410.114	US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north (Cedartown Street) – Buchanan, Buchanan Business District
	​	255.973	411.949	SR 120 – Buchanan, Dallas
	​	257.285	414.060	US 27 Bus. south / SR 1 Bus. south – Buchanan, Buchanan Business District
Polk	​	269.089	433.057	SR 100 south – Tallapoosa	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 100
	Cedartown	271.122	436.329	US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north (South Main Street) – Cave Spring, Cedartown Business District
		272.330	438.273	US 278 west / SR 6 west / SR 100 north (MLK Jr. Boulevard) – Cedartown	north end of SR 100 overlap; south end of US 278 / SR 6 overlap
		274.077	441.084	US 278 east / SR 6 east – Rockmart	interchange; northern terminus of concurrency with US 278 / SR 6
		276.346	444.736	US 27 Bus. south / SR 1 Bus. south (North Main Street) – Cedartown, Cedartown Business District
Floyd	​	285.227	459.028	SR 1 Loop west	interchange
	Six Mile	286.004	460.279	US 411 south / SR 53 west – Cave Spring, Centre, AL, Gadsden, AL, Georgia School for the Deaf	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 411 / SR 53
	Rome			Darlington Drive / Old Lindale Road	interchange
				Maple Road	interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		290.595	467.667	US 411 north / SR 20 east to SR 101 (Dean Avenue) – Cartersville, Atlanta, Rockmart	interchange; northern terminus of concurrency with US 411; southern terminus of concurrency with SR 20
		291.539	469.187	SR 101 (East 2nd Avenue) / East 12th Street – Rockmart	interchange
		292.872	471.332	SR 53 east (MLK Boulevard) – Calhoun, Shannon	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 53
				SR 293 south (Broad Street) – Kingston
		293.994	473.137	SR 20 west (Turner McCall Boulevard) / SR 101 south (Martha Berry Boulevard) – Coosa, Centre, AL, Rockmart, Shorter University	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 20
		295.345	475.312	SR 1 Loop (Veterans Memorial Highway) to SR 20 – Baseball Stadium, Chieftains Museum Major Ridge Home
	Armuchee	302.796	487.303	SR 140 east – Adairsville
	​	303.603	488.602	SR 156 east – Calhoun
Chattooga	Summerville	316.608	509.531	SR 100 south / SR 114 west (Lyerly Highway) – Lyerly
		316.695	509.671	SR 48 west – Menlo
Walker	​	325.904	524.492	SR 151 north
	​	331.061	532.791	SR 337 south (Shattuck Industrial Boulevard)
	LaFayette	332.808	535.603	US 27 Bus. north / SR 1 Bus. north – LaFayette, Airport
		333.578	536.842	SR 136 east / SR 193 north – LaFayette, Calhoun	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 136
		336.053	540.825	US 27 Bus. south / SR 1 Bus. south
		336.507	541.556	SR 136 west – Trenton, Cloudland Canyon State Park	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 136
	Rock Spring	342.097	550.552	SR 95 south
Catoosa	No major junctions
Walker	Fairview	352.348	567.049	SR 2 west – Lookout Mountain	interchange; western terminus of concurrency with SR 2
Catoosa	Fort Oglethorpe	353.136	568.317	SR 2 east (Battlefield Parkway) to I‑75 – Ringgold	Eastern terminus of concurrency with SR 2
		353.723	569.262	SR 146 east (Cloud Springs Road) – Ringgold
Walker	Rossville	356.088	573.068	US 27 north (Rossville Boulevard / SR-27) – Chattanooga	Northern terminus of SR 1, US 27 continues into Tennessee concurrent with SR-27
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

Georgia (U.S. state) portal

U.S. Roads portal

• U.S. Route 27 Alternate (Georgia)
• Bannered routes of U.S. Route 27

References

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• "Fact Sheet - US 27" (PDF). 

U.S. Route 27
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