Walker County, in northwest Georgia, is the state's ninetieth
county and comprises 447 square miles. Its northern border is
shared with Tennessee. The county was created in 1833 from
Murray County and named after Major Freeman Walker, an Augusta
lawyer and U.S. senator. In later years Dade (1837), Chattooga
(1838), and Catoosa (1853) counties were each formed from parts
of Walker County. In 1859 land from Walker was transferred to
Whitfield County. The county seat is LaFayette, incorporated in
1835 as Chattooga. A year later the name was changed to honor
the Marquis de Lafayette. An early courthouse may have been the
Cherokee-built former council house in Crawfish Spring (later
named Chickamauga). Another courthouse, built in 1838, burned
down in 1883 and was Walker County was the scene of battle
during several major American conflicts. In 1778, during the
Revolutionary War (1775-83), colonial troops fought successfully
against the local Chickamauga Indians, who were allied with the
British. During the War of