Cherokee Indians originally inhabited the land that would become
Jasper. In 1805 the U.S. government, looking to create greater
unity among the new nation's citizens and to facilitate trade,
authorized the creation of the Federal Road, which connected
Georgia with Tennessee and Alabama and passed through the future
town of Jasper. The creation of the road, however, did not spur
growth in the region, which remained populated largely by
Cherokees. Even after the forced removal of the Cherokees in
1838, whites ignored the Jasper area in favor of the state's
gold regions to the south and east. The Civil War (1861-65)
bitterly divided Jasper's residents. Town leaders voted against
secession, and in 1860 several residents protested Georgia's
decision to leave the Union by raising and guarding a U.S. flag
in front of the county courthouse. Citizens from the town served
in both the Confederate and Union armies, and during the war
troops from both sides occupied the town at different times,
often with bloody results.