Today, I visited the Currahee Military Museum in Toccoa, Georgia. In addition to the military memorabilia dating from when Toccoa was the birthplace of the “Band of Brothers”, there was this classic US 123 shield on display.
This got my roadgeek senses tingling, so I did a little quick research on US 123’s evolution in Georgia.
U.S. Highway 123 runs from Habersham County, Georgia, to Greenville, South Carolina.
FUN FACT #1: The original US 123 was in Kentucky, running from Pineville to Jenkins from 1930 to 1934. That route is now part of U.S. Highway 119.
As of November 7, 1946, the State Highway Department of Georgia, now known as the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), shows the route between Cornelia and the South Carolina state line as Georgia Highway 13, continuing into South Carolina with the same state route number.
Two years later (February 28, 1948), US 123 makes its first appearance on the official Georgia highway map. As you can see below, it runs along the route of GA 13 from Cornelia to the South Carolina state line.
According to the Wikipedia article on US 123, the route replaced all of South Carolina State Highway 13 in 1946 and SC 13 Alternate in 1950. I can only assume Georgia signed its portion of US 123 at the same time South Carolina did on their portion of State Route 13.
Fast forward to 1989, when the Georgia State Route 365 extension from Cornelia to Toccoa was under construction. At that time, US 23 and GA 13 had long since been rerouted onto GA 365 from Gainesville to Cornelia. Just outside Baldwin, GA 13 apparently split off and went back to its original routing through Cornelia.
As of 1992, the GA 365 extension was completed to Toccoa and US 123 was rerouted onto it soon afterward. GA 13 was truncated in Gainesville at its current end at GA 369.
FUN FACT #2: Everyone in Georgia refers to the section of U.S. Highway 23 between Gainesville and Cornelia as “Highway 365”. IMHO, US 23 in Northeast Georgia is the Rodney Dangerfield of Roads as “it gets no respect”.
US 123’s current western/southern end is at an interchange where GA 365 splits off from US 23/441/GA 15 in Habersham County. (Photos below are screenshots from Google Maps.)
And finally, here’s today’s US 123 on the 2025-2026 official Georgia highway map.
As of 2008, there was a proposed Toccoa Bypass Extension (Project ID 132440) that would “allow northbound traffic on the SR 17 G.R.I.P. Corridor efficient access to eastbound SR 365/US 123 and South Carolina” and rerouted US 123/GA 365 south and east of downtown Toccoa.
Here’s a screenshot from that particular GDOT 2008 document:
According to the GDOT project search (GeoPL) website, there is no updated information on this proposed bypass extension, which leads me to believe that this project has either been scrapped or tabled. If you know anything about this project and its fate, please let us know in the comments or by e-mailing georgiaroadgeek at gmail dot com.
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