The Cherokee County Historical Museum in conjunction with the Cherokee County Historical and Preservation Society held a dedication ceremony on Saturday morning to celebrate the completion of 15.5 miles of Trail of Tears signs placed across Cherokee County with grant funds provided by the Tillotson-Menlo Foundation.

Cherokee County Historian Jim Lewis explains –

A ribbon cutting was also held for the Trail of Tears exhibit which features a model of Fort Likens, where Native Americans forced to leave the area were taken before their march to Oklahoma; signs with family names of Cherokee and Creek natives who were forced to leave the area; photographs and paintings of national leaders who promoted the relocation; and a video presentation that provides details of Northeast Alabama before, during and after the relocation.

The exhibit is primarily the research and display work of historians Jim Lewis and Martha Haney, longtime volunteers at the museum.

Much of the funding was provided by grants from the Tillotson-Menlo Charitable Foundation, which supports educational and improvement projects in communities and counties contiguous to Chattooga County, Georgia.