Through much of the 19th century, Pace's Ferry was an important ferry across the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta. Started in the early 1830s near Peachtree Creek, it was run by Hardy Pace, one of the city's founders. It was an important transportation link to northwestern Georgia, especially prior to the construction of the State Road (the Western & Atlantic Railroad) to Chattanooga.
In Vinings (formerly Paces), Pace's Mill was a gristmill begun by Hardy Pace, founded to diversify his holdings after the railroad was built. The short Paces Mill Road still exists today. Just across the river is Paces, the northwestern-most neighborhood of Atlanta.
During the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War, the Battle of Pace's Ferry was fought July 5, 1864.
The original Pace's Ferry Road was begun during the Georgia Gold Rush as a stage coach bringing people from Decatur to Vinings, where they could continue on to gold country. The road went southeast from the river to Irbyville (later Irby, now Buckhead), then following what is now called "Old Decatur Road", then Cheshire Bridge Road, through what is now Emory University on Clifton Road, along Haygood Drive then North Decatur Road until that hits Clairmont Road, which was then known as the Shallowford Road.