Colonial Trading Path or "Lower Path" joined the heart of the Creek Nation on the Chattahoochee River to the English Trading Post in Ocmulgee Old Fields, now Ocmulgee National Monument. Here the chief towns of the ancient Creek Confederacy stretched fifteen miles on the east side of the Ocmulgee River. This path was originally the old Sand Hill Path, across west Georgia from the Chattahoochee River, across the Flint River, and across the Ocmulgee River, eastward. The Indians followed this path from the west to Ocmulgee Old Fields, following Hydrangea Branch (so called by William Bartram), in this neighborhood using it to come to the Trading Post established by the English, 1686-1700. Benjamin Hawkins established "The Agency" at the Flint River crossing, where he had his home. It was the route to Fort Hawkins in East Macon, erected in 1806. This was long known as the Federal Road, authorized by Thomas Jefferson. Federal Highway 80 is the "Lower Path" from Fort Mitchell on the Chattahoochee. This path is a relic of the 100-year rule of the Georgia area by the Lords Proprietors before Oglethorpe (1629-1729).
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