Georgia State Route 143

State Route 143 (SR 143) was a state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It traversed through Dade, Walker, Gordon, and Pickens counties and barely missed Whitfield County. SR 143 traversed along modern-day SR 136, SR 136 Connector (SR 136 Conn.), SR 53, Henderson Mountain Road, and SR 108. Major cities along the former route include Trenton, LaFayette, Calhoun, and Fairmount.

SR 143 began at the Alabama state line where the roadway continued as SR 71 in that state. It then had an intersection with SR 301 in Gass in Dade County, which is located in the extreme northwest corner of the state of Georgia. After passing the unincorporated community of Gass, the route descended from about 1,600 feet (500 m) feet down to under 1,000 feet (300 m) feet above sea level via two switchback turns as it approached Trenton, the county seat of Dade County. In Trenton, the highway then met Interstate 59 (I-59) and U.S. Route 11/SR 58 (US 11/SR 58). As it passed through Trenton, SR 136 then ascended Lookout Mountain via switchbacks outside of Trenton in a southerly direction up to an elevation of about 2,000 feet (600 m) near the western border of Cloudland Canyon State Park, and cut around the state park and across the mountain into Walker County.

Just after crossing into Walker County, the route made a sharp turn to the north and descended yet again down to an elevation of about 1,000 feet (300 m), then headed back east. This section of the road is also called the Lookout Mountain Scenic Highway. SR 143 meandered in a southeasterly direction, then intersected US 27/SR 1 in LaFayette was co-signed with these two routes south through LaFayette, then split off from off and ran east in the direction of the unincorporated community of Villanow, briefly turning north and forming part of the western border of the Chattahoochee National Forest, then heading south to find passable valleys, before cutting east through the national forest area. Just west of the county line with Whitfield County, the route turned sharply south through the Johns Mountain Wildlife Management Area, then entered Gordon County in its extreme northwestern corner.

After entering Gordon County, SR 143 met the western terminus of its only special route northwest of Sugar Valley. The route then passed through the town of Sugar Valley. SR 143 crossed the Oostanaula River into Calhoun.

SR 136 entered the city of Calhoun after crossing the Oostanaula River. After entering the city, it then had an intersection with SR 156 (W Line Street). It then briefly ran concurrently with SR 53 Spur (Court Street). It then turned right onto US 41 (SR 3, Wall Street). In southern Calhoun, SR 136 ended its concurrency with US 41 and began its very long concurrency with SR 53 (Fairmount Highway) to southwest of Ludville.

After leaving SR 156 west-southwest of Cagle, it crossed Cagle Branch and turned north toward Cagle. After turning north, it passed through the unincorporated community of Cagle. After Cagle, it turned to the northeast an had an intersection wit SR 108 west of Tate. After SR 108, it turned east toward Tate. After turning east, it then met its eastern terminus at an intersection with SR 5 and SR 53 at Tate.

The roadway that would eventually become SR 143 was established at least as early as 1919 as part of SR 1 from LaFayette to Trenton. By the end of 1921, SR 1 west of LaFayette was shifted to the east and off its former alignment. SR 53 was indicated to be a "contingent road" from LaFayette to Calhoun, with a concurrency with SR 1 in LaFayette. By the end of 1926, a portion of SR 53 northwest of Calhoun had a "completed semi hard surface". The decade ended with SR 53's path west of Calhoun being shifted farther to the south. The segment of SR 53 that had existed from LaFayette to Villanow was redesignated as part of SR 2.

In 1930, the portion of SR 2 from approximately Naomi to Villanow had a completed semi hard surface. In February 1932, this segment's eastern end was shifted slightly to the north. In 1934, SR 2 was extended to an undetermined point northwest of LaFayette. A few years later, SR 143 was established on SR 53's former path from Vilanow to Calhoun. Later that year, SR 2 was extended farther to the northwest. Its southeast part (northwest of LaFayette) was under construction, while its northwest part had completed grading, but was not surfaced. By the middle of 1939, SR 2 was extended northwest to its intersection with SR 157. The western two-thirds of its length in this area had completed grading, but was not surfaced. Near the end of the year, SR 2 was extended north-northwest to an intersection with US 11/SR 58 in Trenton. The eastern part of this extension was under construction.