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Georgia Tries To Expand Into Tennessee

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The Associated Press

Published: February 9, 2008

COLE CITY HOLLOW, Tenn. - Nearly two centuries after a flawed survey placed Georgia's northern line just short of the Tennessee River, some legislators are suddenly thirsting to set the record straight.

A historic drought has added urgency to Georgia's generations-old claim that its territory ought to extend about a mile farther north and reach into the Tennessee - a river with about 15 times greater flow than the one Atlanta depends on for its water.

"It's never too late to right a wrong," said Georgia state Sen. David Shafer, whose bill would create a boundary line commission that aims to resolve the dispute.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's reaction: "This is a joke, right?"

If Tennessee's southern border were the 35th parallel, as Congress designated in 1796, Georgia would have a share of the Tennessee River. However, a survey team sent by Georgia to chart the line in 1818 was a bit off the mark.

Surveyors now know that the Georgia-Tennessee border was placed about 1.1 miles south of where it should be. That, surveyor Bart Crattle said, is history.

"Just because you have more accurate equipment, you can't start moving border lines," said Crattle, a Georgian.

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