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Cornell University Library 
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The turnpikes of New England and ev^^^^^ 




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JV- 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



"When the Indian trail gets widened, graded, and bridged to a good road, there is a benefac- 
tor, there is a missionary, a pacificator, a wealth bringer, a maker of markets, a vent for industry." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

" So, if there is any kind of advancement going on, if new ideas are abroad and new hopes 
arising, then you will see it by the roads that are building." 

Horace Bushnell. 




"Dipping into the valley and then rising over successive hills'' 

Plate I — Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in Wrentham, Massachusetts 



THE TURNPIKES 
OF NEW ENGLAND 

AND 

EVOLUTION OF THE SAME THROUGH ENGLAND, 
VIRGINIA, AND MARYLAND 



BY 

FREDERIC J. WOOD 

MEMBER AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS 

MEMBER BOSTON SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS 

MEMBER NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY 

AND LATELY MAJOR OF ENGINEERS, UNITED STATES ARMY 




BOSTON 

MARSHALL JONES COMPANY 

MDCCCCXIX 






COPYRIGHT, I 9 19, 
BY MARSHALL JONES COMPANY 



All rights reserved 



First printing, 19 19 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. 




iV 



SDebicateZi 

TO 

CHARLES A. STONE, EDWIN S. WEBSTER 
AND RUSSELL ROBB 

M. I. T. '88 

IN APPRECIATION OF THE CONTINUANCE 

OF THE FRIENDSHIP OF 

COLLEGE DAYS 



PREFACE 

MAJOR WOOD, who labors under the impression that I have 
some general knowledge regarding turnpikes and toll bridges, 
has asked me to write a brief introduction to the present 
work. The task is an agreeable one, though I am fully conscious of 
my limitations. 

Turnpikes and toll bridges are hardly more than names to the pres- 
ent generation, more especially as the economic mstorians have had 
neither the time nor, apparently, the Inclination to make a careful in- 
vestigation of the subject. The task of compiling the data necessary 
for such an investigation was an exceptionally arduous one. Here and 
there an effort was made to do the subject some sort of justice, as, for 
example, in the chapter on toll bridges and turnpike companies In Mr. 
Joseph Stancliff Davis' valuable " Essays in the Earlier History of 
American Corporations." 

Personally I am convinced that no real understanding of the trans- 
portation problem now exercising the people of the United States is 
possible without an understanding of the facts attending the origin and 
development of our earlier and practically forgotten transportation 
facilities. 

Our public utilities, as we now construe that term, have no past to 
speak of. The telephone, electric light, and electric traction are all the 
product of the last half-century. The telegraph antedates this period 
by a few years. The railroads date back to 1829 and gas to 18 16. 
Back of that was the period of turnpikes and toll bridges. The last 
mentioned, with the waterworks dating from about the same period, 
were our earliest public utilities. 

Many persons now alive can recall the toll bridges, and some have 
had experience with the toll road, though the latter saw its palmy days 
around 1830, and the former almost immediately after. Within a 
few years of the close of the Civil War both were virtually things of 
the past, though traces of them can still be found in rural communities. 
These facts remind us that we are still a new country with limited 
economic experience. The private corporation is but a thing of yester- 
day. This country had practically no knowledge of it before the Revo- 
lutionary War. Its beginning was purely tentative and its early methods 
were largely fortuitous. It was created to meet real needs, for the 
satisfaction of which there were only limited supplies of capital. 

The attitude of the public toward private corporations furnishing 

[vii] 



PREFACE 



public utilities is highly critical to-day, but it was not less so a century 
ago. The capital supplying the turnpikes and toll bridges, like that 
supplying railroads, telegraph, and telephone, was, in fact, subjected 
to two risks : first, the ordinary business risk ; and secondly, a risk inci- 
dental to the fear of arbitrary interference by a public whose precon- 
ceptions were of an unfriendly nature. It is quite possible that if the 
experience of the turnpikes and toll bridges had been a matter of 
common knowledge in the last half-century, many of the problems aris- 
ing in connection with our transportation facilities would have been 
avoided. 

The present work is exceptional among productions of its class, 
Inasmuch as the author approaches his subject from at least three very 
different points of view, and with equal success. There is a fine balance 
in the treatment of the engineering, the economic and the archaeological 
aspects of the turn'pikes and toll bridges, and for this reason the work 
may be safely commended to the general reader, who may be assured 
that in this case at least an interesting narrative does not imply super- 
ficial knowledge. So far as my own knowledge of the subject goes. 
Major Wood has compiled the first exhaustive and authoritative work 
on American turnpikes. The title he has chosen would seem to limit 
his discussion to the turnpikes of New England, yet in reality he affords 
us a general survey of the entire country. 

Major Wood has devoted ten years to his task. As a civil engineer, 
with his long experience in railroad field work, he has possessed excep- 
tional facilities for investigating his subject in its geographical, its 
engineering, and its economic aspects. But the turnpike is more than 
an engineering or an economic concept to Major Wood. His interest 
in far-off forgotten days impregnates every part of the present work, 
vitahzing the conclusions arising from a study of the engineering and 
economic data. 

Frederic J. Whiting. 



[viii] 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

IN 1908, In connection with a report on certain transportation facili- 
ties which I was preparing, I ventured into the historical side of 
the question, and soon ran into references to this and that turnpike. 
My efforts to gather data on that subject were fruitless; the extensive 
public library to which I had access yielding nothing but a work of fiction 
under the word " turnpike," and our most comprehensive index giving 
only five references, three of which were purely local. Gradually the 
search became a habit, no opportunity to learn more on the subject being 
neglected, and, as the data accumulated, the idea grew : first to prepare a 
brief magazine article, next a full story of some special road, then to 
cover Massachusetts, and finally all New England. Here and there in 
local histories brief articles were found; but in the main the facts pre- 
se;(ited in the following pages were gleaned from old records, in the 
perusal of which I soon acquired the habit of blowing the dust from 
each volume top as I took it from its long-undisturbed resting place. 
The labor has been long but full of interest. May its presentation prove 
interesting as well. 

My employment in civil life taking me well over New England, and 
my subsequent two years in army service requiring travel over the entire 
eastern section of the United States, I was enabled to secure most of the 
pictures which are reproduced herein myself; but acknowledgment Is 
due to George R. Groesbeck, official photographer at the Hog Island 
Shipyard, for the more than professional Interest which he took in devel- 
oping the same. Others to whom I am Indebted for photographs are 
Miss Cora S. Cobb of Newton, Mass., for the artistic picture of the old 
Cook Tavern; A. Hutton VignoUes of Newton, for the views in Craw- 
ford Notch; Miss Ellen A. Webster of Cambridge, Mass., for the pic- 
tures of the Webster Tavern; I. Chester Horton of Canton, Mass., for 
the snow scene on the Stoughton Turnpike; Martin Baker of Marshfield, 
Mass.; William H. Blood, Jr., of Wellesley, Mass.; Professor Frederic 
W. Brown of Bowdoin College; Mrs. Irwin C. Cromack, Dorchester, 
Mass. ; Allan W. Crowell, Washington, D. C. ; Howard P. Fessenden, 
Newton, Mass. ; C. Elmer Gane, Allston, Mass. ; Jerome F. Hale, Wells 
River, Vt.; Miss Martha E. Knight, Camden, Maine; Arthur J. Shea, 
Dorchester, Mass.; Dana M. Wood, Belmont, Mass.; Walter S. Wood, 
Concord, Mass.; A. Stuart Pratt, manager of the Blue Hill Street Rail- 
way; Fairbanks Museum of Natural Science, St. Johnsbury, Vt. ; Na- 
tional Museum, Washington, D. C; Shorey Studio, Gorham, N. H.; 
and the Stone and Webster Engineering Department, Boston. 

[ix] 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



To Messrs. Edward W. Baird of Roslindale, Mass., William H. 
Blood, Jr., Wellesley, Mass., William A. Buck, Willimantic, Conn., 
George A. Carter, Jr., Brockton, Mass., Nelson H. Daniels, Bedford, 
Mass., Arthur W. Gates, Willimantic, Conn., Dr. Byron G. Ingalls and 
Francis M. Perry, Foxboro, Mass., George H. Wetherbee, Jr., Brain- 
tree, Mass., and Walter S. Wood, Concord, Mass., is due my personal 
acquaintance with many old turnpikes which I was enabled to acquire 
by the kind contribution of their time and automobiles. 

Valued assistance has been had from Philip H. Borden, city engineer 
of Fall River, George A. Carpenter, M. Am. Soc. C. E., city engineer of 
Pawtucket, Samuel Hartshorn, town clerk of Franklin, Conn., William 
J. McClellan, historian, Baltimore, Howard G. Philbrook, Boston, Her- 
bert E. Sherman, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Providence, Arthur C. Sprague, 
Wollaston, Mass., Irwin C. Cromack of the Boston Street Department, 
and a host of others, among whom I must include the officials of the 
many state, county, and town offices, especially the present clerk of Nor- 
folk courts, Robert B. Worthington, whose patience was always proof 
against my attacks. 

And, lastly, to my own home surroundings, to the two whose faith 
and confidence in my ability to pilot unknown fields always upheld me, 
whose sympathy and encouragement ever spurred me, is due the greatest 
debt of all. 

Frederic J. Wood. 
Brookline, Mass., October 15, 1919. 



[x] 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preliminary and General 3 

The Lancaster Turnpike 1 1 

Gallatin's Report 14 

Efforts of the United States Government 18 

The Cumberland or Old National Road 19 

The Maysville Pike 23 

i^ New England Roads of the Colonial Period 24 

^^The First Public-Service Corporations 31 

^Yiow THE Work v^^as done 37 

i^^^LAT<!K Roads . . . . 38 

i^The Vehicles that used the Turnpikes 43 

The Turnpikes of Massachusetts 57 

The Turnpikes of Maine 211 

The Turnpikes of New Hampshire 215 

The Turnpikes of Vermont 249 

The Turnpikes of Rhode Island 287 

The Turnpikes of Connecticut 331 

Ending as it began 411 

Bibliography 4^5 

Index 427 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate 

XXVI 

XXVII 

XXVIII 

XXIX 

XXX 

XXXI 

XXXII 

XXXIII 

XXXIV 

XXXV 

XXXVI 

XXXVII 

XXXVIII 

XXXIX 

XL 

XLI 

XLII 

XLIII 

XLIV 

XLV 

XLVI 

XLVII 
XLVIII 

XLIX 
L 

LI 

LII 
LIII 
LIV 



LV 



[xiv] 



Facing Page 

Views of Newburyport Turnpike 122 

Views of Essex Turnpike 123 

Views of Essex Turnpike 130 

Views of Essex Turnpike 131 

Old Church, Bridge, and View of New Bedford and 

Bridgewater Turnpike 132 

Views of Union Turnpike 133 

Views of Union Turnpike 140 

Views of Blue Hill Turnpike 141 

Views of Hartford and Dedham Turnpike .... 142 

Views of Brush Hill and Plum Island Turnpikes . . . 143 

Views of Andover and Medford Turnpike .... 146 

Views of Andover and Medford Turnpike .... 147 

Views of Middlesex Turnpike 150 

Views of Middlesex Turnpike 151 

Views of Middlesex Turnpike 154 

Views of Worcester and Stafford Turnpike 155 

Views of Worcester Turnpike 158 

Views of Worcester Turnpike 159 

Views of Worcester Turnpike 162 

Northerly end, Stoughton Turnpike 163 

Views of Stoughton Turnpike and Douglas, Sutton, 

and Oxford Turnpike . . . 174 

Views of Taunton and South Boston Turnpike ... 175 

A. Hingham and Quincy Bridge and Turnpike ... 178 

B. Projected Route of the Boston Neck Turnpike . . 178 
Map of Boston at the Beginning of the Turnpike Era, 

1795 179 

Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation 190 

A. Beacon Street, Boston igo 

B. Boston Back Bay in 1858, from the State House 

Dome igo 

Views of Watertown Turnpike and Cambridge to 

Watertown Turnpike igi 

Views of Taunton and Providence Turnpike 202 

Granite Bridge and Granite Railway, Milton .... 206 
Views of Camden Turnpike and First Cumberland 

Turnpike 2jo 

Views of Bath Turnpike and Camden Turnpike . . . 211 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate Facing Page 

LVI Views of the New Hampshire Turnpike 218 

LVII Views of Second and Third New Hampshire Turn- 
pikes 219 

LVIII Through the Crawford Notch, Tenth New Hamp- 
shire Turnpike 222 

LIX Scenes in the Crawford Notch, Tenth New Hamp- 
shire Turnpike 223 

LX Webster Tavern, Bridgewater, N. H 226 

LXI Lyman Toll Bridge, Mclndoe Falls, N. H., and 

Vt 227 

LXII A. Dalton Ferry, Dalton, N. H 230 

B. First Littleton Toll Bridge, Upper Waterford, 

Vt 230 

LXIII Views of Londonderry and Mount Washington Turn- 
pike ., 231 

LXIV Views of Mount Washington Summit Road .... 238 

LXV Tollhouse at the Foot of Mount Washington . . . . 239 
LXVI Views of Bayley-Hazen Military Road and Wells 

River Bridge 250 

LXVII Bellows Falls Bridge 260 

LXVIII Taverns and River Scene in Waterford, Vt 261 

LXIX Views of Passumpsic Turnpike 268 

LXX Views of Passumpsic Turnpike 269 

LXXI Views of Passumpsic Turnpike 274 

LXXII Scenes along Stratton Turnpike 275 

LXXIII Scenes along Peru Turnpike 276 

LXXIV Map. Turnpikes of Greater Providence 290 

LXXV Views of West Glocester Turnpike 291 

LXXVI Views of Rhode Island Turnpikes 292 

LXXVII Views of Glocester Turnpike 293 

LXXVIII Views of Providence and Douglas Turnpike .... 300 

LXXIX Views of Powder Mill Turnpike 302 

LXXX Anthony's Map of Providence, 1803 303 

LXXXI Views of Rhode Island Turnpikes 311 

LXXXII Views of Mohegan Road in Montville, Conn. . . . 334 

LXXXIII Views of Hartford to Norwich Turnpike 338 

LXXXI V A. Views of Windham and Brooklyn Turnpike . . . 339' 

B. Views of Hartford to Norwich Turnpike .... 339 

LXXXV Views of Boston Turnpike 342 

[xv] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate Facing Page 

LXXXVI Views of Boston Turnpike 343 

LXXXVII A. Tollgate in Norfolk, Conn., on Greenwoods 

Turnpike 346 

B. Views of Hartford and New Haven Turnpike . 346 

LXXXVIII Views of Windham Turnpike 347 

LXXXIX Views of Windham Turnpike 354 

XC Views of Windham and Mansfield Turnpike . . . 355 
XCI Views of Hartford and New London Turnpike . . 358 
XCII Views of Norwich and Woodstock Turnpike ... 362 
XCIII Views of Hartford and Tolland Turnpike . . . . 2^^ 
XCIV Views of Colchester and Norwich and Warren Turn- 
pikes 367 

XCV Views of Columbia Turnpike 406 

XCVI Views of Hop River Turnpike 407 

XCVII Views of Spotsylvania County Turnpike, Va. . . . 410 

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 

Page 

Norfolk and Bristol Corporation Stock Certificate 60 

Third Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation financial chart ... 68 

Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation financial chart ... 72 

Ninth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation financial chart . . 77 

Salem Turnpike financial chart 82 

Chelsea Bridge financial chart 83 

Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike Corporation financial chart ... 93 

Neponset Bridge financial chart 102 

First Cumberland Turnpike Corporation financial chart 107 

Page from the treasurer's book. First Cumberland Turnpike Cor- 
poration J 08 

Page from the treasurer's book. First Cumberland Turnpike Cor- 
poration J on 

Belchertown and Greenwich Turnpike Corporation financial chart 1 1 2 

Braintree and Weymouth Turnpike Corporation financial chart . 116 

Blue Hill Turnpike Corporation financial chart 139 

Dorchester Turnpike Corporation financial chart 143 

The Arch in Brookline jg^ 

Taunton and South Boston Turnpike Corporation financial chart . 174 
.Hingham and Quincy Bridge and Turnpike Corporation financial 

^hart . j8o 

Granite Bridge financial chart 210 

[xvi] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



MAPS 

Facing Page 

Turnpikes of Massachusetts 57 

Boston in 1795 (Plate xlix) 179 

Turnpikes of New Hampshire and Vei'mont 215 

Turnpikes of Rhode Island 287 

Turnpikes of Greater Providence (Plate Ixxiv) 290 

Providence in 1803 (Plate Ixxx) 303 

Turnpikes of Connecticut 331 



[xvii] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

IN many New England towns will be found an old road locally 
known as " the turnpike," or the " old turnpike," over which are 
hovering romantic traditions of the glory of stage-coach days, while 
perhaps a dilapidated old building, standing close beside its now grass- 
grown pathway, is reverently pointed out as having occasionally been 
the temporary resting place of men great in our country's annals. But 
aside from the charm of such old stories the inquirer will be able to 
learn but little for, strange to say, those old roads have not found their 
place in history, and what little is known about them seems to be fast 
departing with an older generation. 

In the hope of saving some of this information an effort has been 
made to compile such as is still available, and the result appears in the 
following pages. 

Turnpikes, as distinguished from the ordinary roads of the same 
time, were those on which gates barred the progress of the traveler, 
at which payments were demanded for the privilege of using the road. 
Such payment was called " toll " and the gates were known as " toll- 
gates." The privilege of building such " turnpikes " and of collecting 
toll thereon was conferred by the legislatures of the several states upon 
various individuals under the form of turnpike corporations, and the 
roads were constructed by private capital, were privately owned, and 
were operated for the revenue derived from the collection of the tolls. 

In the eighteenth century the name " pike " seems to have been ap- 
plied to anything terminating in a point and the form of gate now called 
a " turnstile," being made of four crossed bars sharpened at their outer 
ends and turning on a center, was called a " turnpike." As this was 
about the only form of gate in use the name was readily applied to the 
tollgates when they first appeared.^ A reversion to ancient form Is thus 
found in the entrances to our elevated and subway systems and many 
places of amusement where we enter through such " turnpikes " or 
" turnstiles " paying our toll as we pass. The dictionaries still define 
" turnpike " as a gate, and the early charters allowed the building of 
" turnpike-roads " and the erection of " turnpikes " across them. But 
the longer word soon became shortened and as " turnpikes " the roads 
themselves were commonly known. 

The earliest form of tolls was that levied by organized bands of 
robbers, which often took the form of stated sums for various circum- 

1 Skeat's " Etymological Dictionary of the English Language." 

[3] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

stances. Strabo, the ancient geographer, tells that the Scenitae, a tribe 
of robbers and shepherds occupying the desert region between Babylon 
and Syria, exacted a moderate tribute from the merchants traveling over 
the road through their territory but did not further molest them. As 
the boldness of robber bands increased the expense of protection against 
their assaults grew heavier and the earliest form of legal tolls was im- 
posed for that purpose. As Mary Bateson recites in " Mediajval Eng- 
land " murage grants by which towns were allowed to collect toll from 
those passing in and out, to provide funds for the building of protecting 
walls, were of great antiquity. For example, in 1235 Oxford was 
granted by Henry III the right to levy toll, once a week for three years, 
on all entering the city. Every cart from the same county loaded with 
vendibles paid J^d., or id. if from out of the county. Each horse load, 
except brushwood, paid }id., and y^d. was assessed on every horse, 
mare, ox, or cow brought to sell, while every ten sheep, goats, or pigs 
cost the owner id. and proportionally for five. 

The first turnpike of which we have record dates from 1346, when 
Edward III granted the privilege of levying toll on all passing from 
St. Giles's to Temple Bar, and toward Portpool, now Gray's Inn Lane, 
London, the roads in those places having become impassable for want 
of other provision for their maintenance.^ In 1364 William Philippe, 
a hermit at St. Anthony's Chapel on Highgate Hill, having means, 
devoted himself and his fortune to improving the road between " Hegh- 
gate and Smethfelde," for which he was allowed to establish a tollgate.^ 

In the early days in England the local obligation resting on the 
parishes to maintain the roads within their limits was not felt to be a 
heavy burden, as proper roads were wanted for the convenience of the 
inhabitants themselves, and the rare occasions on which members of the 
royal family journeyed over them did not add noticeably to the wear 
and tear. But as trade developed and travel increased, in consequence, 
the effect was seen in the frequent need of repairs and a demand arose 
that those responsible for the injury to the roads should bear the burden, 
and that the parishes should not be obliged to maintain roads for the 
use of outsiders. 

As a result of this feeling the " Great North Road to York and 
Scotland," which was " an ancient highway and post road " and which 
had fallen into very bad order in consequence of the great amount of 
alien travel over it, was the subject of the first English turnpike act in 
1663 in the reign of Charles II. Under this act the justices of each of 
the counties traversed were to appoint surveyors, who were to provide 
road material and call for labor under the highway laws for the purpose 
of putting the road into complete repair. That accomplished, the sur- 
veyors were further authorized to erect toUgates and appoint toll 
gatherers for the collection of tolls from which the road was thence- 
forth to be kept in repair. For a quarter of a century this was the only 

1 Chambers' " Cyclopsdia." 2 Cornhill Magazine, 1864. 

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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

road thus maintained, but later a few acts at a time were passed until 
about 1760. Practically all of the gates at that date were within one 
hundred miles of London. 

In the fourteen years following 1760 four hundred and fifty-three acts 
creating turnpikes were passed by Parliament, but a departure from the 
principle of Charles II was made. Instead of requiring that the desig- 
nated road should first be put in thorough repair by the parish in which 
it lay, a turnpike trust was created with jurisdiction over such road and 
having authority to borrow money on the security of the tolls which it 
was thereafter to collect. Edwin A. Pratt has written:^ 

Under the conditions actually brought about it was left for any group of land- 
owners and others in any particular district where better roads were needed to apply 
to Parliament for an act authorizing them to raise a loan in order to meet the 
initial cost of making or repairing a road, and to set up gates or bars where they 
could enforce payment of tolls out of which to recoup themselves for their ex- 
penditure and meet the cost of maintenance. Theoretically these were temporary 
expedients, and the turnpike trustees, having once provided a good road and got 
their money back, would take down the tollgates and leave the road for the free 
use of the public. Hence every turnpike act was granted only for a limited period, 
generally about twenty years, and had to be renewed at the end of that term if, 
as invariably happened, the debt on the road had not been cleared off and the need 
for toll collecting still remained. 

There was no general arrangement or comprehensive scheme in the 
allotment of these trusts, but they were granted indiscriminately, form- 
ing separate units not part of a connected plan. Many abuses grew up 
in their operation, as there was no check on their financial operations 
and the trustees were too carelessly selected. One responsible officer 
was required, the surveyor, but no trusts were in receipt of sufficient 
revenue to enable them to employ a competent man for the position. 
The receipts were never sufficient to pay the interest on the loans and 
meet the extravagant costs of mismanagement, and when the railroads 
began to reduce the incomes the situation became desperate. 

By 1838 Parliament had passed thirty-eight hundred private and local 
turnpike acts, and had created in England and Wales eleven hundred 
and sixteen trusts controlling twenty-two thousand miles of roads. The 
money borrowed under authority of these acts amounted, in 1839, to 
over nine million pounds with unpaid interest of more than a million 
pounds additional. In their frantic efforts to meet the increasing ex- 
penses the trustees not only sought authority to collect an increased rate 
of tolls but, of their own accord, erected additional gates to the maxi- 
mum allowance. Thus, In 1864, a traveler over the twenty-one miles 
between Ledbury and Kingston was halted at eight gates : four barred 
the way on the eight miles from Ledbury to Newent; and Ledbury to 
Worcester, thirteen miles, had six Interruptions. On the Middlesex 
side of London there were one hundred gates within a radius of four 
miles. 

1 "A History of Inland Transport and Communication in England." 

[5] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



Although the fundamental principle on which the turnpike trust sys- 
tem was based, was that of transferring the cost from the parishes to 
the users of the roads, the parishes did not escape their obligations and, 
in addition to their citizens having to pay toll for the use of the roads, 
were obliged to meet the deficiencies and help keep up the repairs. Fur- 
ther the bondholders had a right of foreclosure under which many of 
them actually seized the roads and appropriated all the collections to 
their own use, leaving all the expense of maintenance on the parishes. 
The oppressive burden of paying excessive tolls and the required taxes 
to maintain the roads produced great discontent, and riots resulted in 
many sections. 

The most serious were in Wales In 1843 ^"d 1844, where a band 
of rioters calling themselves " Rebeccaites " (in allusion to Genesis 
xxiv. 60) carried on the systematic demolition of toUgates and houses 
for nearly a year. The inquiry resulting from these disturbances showed 
that a real and serious grievance existed, and steps were at once taken 
to relieve the distressing conditions. An appropriation of two hundred 
thousand pounds was made to reduce the turnpike debt in that section, 
by which It was made possible to consolidate many of the trusts and 
reduce the number of the gates. 

In 1864 the systematic reduction of the trusts was commenced in 
England and from one thousand to eighteen hundred miles of turnpikes 
were made free each year. Parliament making appropriations to help 
In the maintenance and authorizing local borrowings to pay off the debts 
of the trusts. 

From the annual reports of the local government board it is seen 
that at the close of 1864 there were In existence ten hundred and forty- 
eight trusts controlling 20,589 miles of turnpikes. By 1886 the number 
of trusts had been reduced to twenty with seven hundred miles of roads, 
and in 1890 seventy-seven miles were controlled by five trusts. By the 
end of 1896 the lact turnpike had vanished from English soil. 

To the evils of the English turnpike system, however, the world owes 
the greatest improvements in road making, as both Telford and 
Macadam developed their systems in efforts to improve the English 
roads. It is said that many of the trusts which were benefited by 
Macadam's personal services never even paid his expenses, for which 
he was subsequently partially reimbursed by Parliament. 

Originally the maintenance of roads was an obligation entirely on 
the local community. Later It was sought to collect the cost of the neces- 
sary repairs from those using the roads, from which effort the turnpikes 
resulted. In their turn the turnpikes fell from popular favor and again 
the entire burden of maintenance came upon the communities. Now we 
are once more approaching the principles of 1663, when, with the 
imposition of license fees upon automobile operators and the applica- 
tion of the proceeds to the maintenance of state highways, in accordance 
with the laws of Massachusetts and several other states, we are seek- 
[6] 







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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Ing, and with as little success as in ancient days, to place the burden 
upon those responsible for the destruction of the roads. 

The first American turnpike efforts in Virginia, Maryland, and Con- 
necticut followed the precedent established by Charles II and sought 
to provide for the needed repairs of roads already built by local com- 
munities, by collecting tolls from those using them. 

Virginia led the way by the enactment of chapter xxx of the Acts 
of 1785. Because of the great amount of travel over the roads lead- 
ing from the town of Alexandria to the northwestern parts of the 
state, extensive repairs had been found necessary for which the re- 
sources of the territory traversed were inadequate. Hence nine com- 
missioners were appointed and instructed 

to erect, or cause to be set up and erected, one or more gates or turnpikes across the 
roads, or any of them, leading into the town of Alexandria from Snigger's and 
Vesta's Gaps. 

The receipts from tolls were to be applied in clearing and repairing 
the roads described and the road between Georgetown and Alexandria. 
A special tax was levied on the counties through which the roads passed 
in addition to the usual obligations to work on the roads, which still 
remained in force. 

Snigger's or Snicker's Gap is one of the passes through the Blue Ridge 
Mountains, by which travelers can go from eastern Virginia to the 
valley of the Shenandoah River, over which passage was formerly had 
by means of Castleman's Ferry. At its eastern end lies the little village 
of Bluemont, about twenty miles southerly from the Potomac. 

As an existing road was thus taken and made subject to toll, the only 
construction required being the erection of the gates, it is safe to say 
that the Virginia turnpike, or turnpikes, were in operation by the begin- 
ning of the year 1786. January i, 1793, the following appeared in 
the Baltimore newspaper. 

A MILL FOR SALE. A valuable mill, built within the last year, situated on 
Tide Water, within one mile of Alexandria by land, and less than two by water, 
and within call of the Turnpike Road, down which all the wheat, from an extensive 
and fertile Country, intended for the Alexandria Market, is conveyed. 

A heavy travel passed over this road for several years and the lenient 
tolls which the legislature saw fit to impose were insufficient to properly 
maintain the surface. In 1795 certain parties represented to the legis- 
lature that the heavy traffic had worn out the old turnpike and that it 
was necessary to provide " an artificial bed of pounded or broken stone," 
the expense of which was too great to be met by the usual methods and 
should only be assumed by private enterprise. So the " Fairfax and 
Loudon turnpike-road company " was incorporated on the twenty-sixth 
of December, 1795, and given the privilege of reconstructing the old 

[7] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



turnpike from " Little River, where the present turnpike crosses it, to 
Alexandria," along a route which should " combine shortness of dis- 
tance with the most convenient and practicable ground.'/ This most 
satisfactory specification for a location first appeared in the incorpora- 
tion of the Lancaster company in Pennsylvania and was later copied in 
the acts of New Hampshire and Kentucky. But the Fairfax and 
Loudon company found the task too great and nothing was accom- 
plished under that charter. January 28, 1802, a charter was granted to 
the " President, Directors, and Company of the Little River Turnpike 
Company" to build from "the intersection of Duke Street, in Alexan- 
dria, with the District of Columbia line, to the ford of Little River where 
the turnpike road now crosses it." Under this charter, with the help of 
the state of Virginia, which appropriated the " muster fines " in 1805 to 
the purchase of one hundred shares of stock, the old road was rebuilt 
and operated as a toll road for over ninety years. 

Little River crossed the old turnpike in the very center of the village 
of Aldie, and there the new company ended its labors. From Aldie 
to Fairfax the new road was laid out in almost a single straight stretch 
and there are but few and slight angles between Fairfax and Alexandria. 
To-day it is known as the " Little River Turnpike." Commencing in 
Alexandria it follows the present Duke Street and its extension, until, 
approaching Fairfax, it has degenerated into a road poorly maintained 
and only for the use of residents along its borders. Through Fairfax 
it is the main street and passes between the old brick tavern and the 
courthouse. In which is kept the will of George Washington. Westerly 
from the courthouse, the Washington trolley cars follow Its edge for 
three quarters of a mile, after which the old turnpike again becomes 
the neglected country road. At the foot of the hill it splashes In a 
ford across the brook where ducks swim peacefully within the limits of 
the road. At different places where the road passes over steep hlUs, 
narrow cuts sufficient for only one vehicle have been dug in the side, 
often fifteen feet deep. 

Collection of tolls ceased on this first American turnpike May 11, 
1896, on which date the board of supervisors of Fairfax County ac- 
cepted the deed of the road. 

In April, 1787, the general assembly of Maryland, by chapter xxili, 
appointed various commissioners to lay out and make roads from 
Baltimore to Reisters-town, from Reisters-town to Winchester-town, 
from Reisters-town toward Hanover-town as far as the line of Balti- 
more County, and from Baltimore to York-town. This procedure 
was entitled " An Act for Laying-out Several Turnpike-roads in Balti- 
more County " and was a most voluminous document, providing in all 
details for procedure and protection of the road when finished. Within 
certain limits the commissioners were to be allowed to fix the rates of 
toll to be collected at the gates authorized in the act, but a peculiar 
provision appeared that no one should be liable, more than once in 
[8] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

twenty-four hours, to toll at the Baltimore gate, nor oftener than once 
in twelve hours at the others. Very little seems to have been done under 
this act, and in November, 1790, a new board of commissioners was 
appointed by legislative act. The new men went to work with more 
vigor and, under date of March 18, 1791, pubHshed their first ac- 
count, as required under the act of 1787, in the Maryland Journal. 
They showed the collection of £4467 7s. i id., none of which came from 
tollgates, and the expenditure of over £4570. In March, 1793, their 
account showed the expenditure of £4682 12s. 6d., more than £1286 in 
excess of the collections from the counties. Still no report appeared 
of collections at tollgates. But September 25, 1793, the following 
advertisement was prepared for publication and duly appeared in the 
Maryland Journal: 

Notice 

The Commissioners of Review of the Turnpike-Roads of Baltimore County give 
this public notice, that, in virtue of the powers vested in them by an Act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Maryland, passed at Spring Session, 1787, entitled "An Act to 
layout several Turnpike Roads in Baltimore County," they have ordered to be 
erected and set up, at the intersection (nearly opposite Mr. Lawson's seat) of the 
road leading from Ridgely's-Cove and the Turnpike Road from Baltimore and 
Reisters-town, the second Monday in October next, one turnpike-gate, for the pur- 
poses in said Act mentioned, under the rules and regulations following: 

For every Coach, Chariot, or Phaeton 2 Pence 

Every Wagon, Stage Wagon or Stage Coach 5!/^ " 

Every two-wheeled Carriage 3 " 

Every horse or horse and rider i " 

Every score of hogs or sheep (and at the same rate for a greater 

or less number) 11% " 

Every score of cattle (and at the same rate for a greater or less 

number) 221^ " 

Every Wagon with wheels of the breadth of nine inches . . . . o 00 

Baltimore, September 25, 1793- 

After this the published accounts showed collections at the gate or gates, 
the one appearing in 1801 naming the "Middle Gate," the "York 
Gate," and the " Frederick Gate." 

The foregoing plainly shows that the first tollgate in Maryland was 
put in operation in October, 1793, by which time Connecticut had had 
two gates in operation for a year and more. 

In 1795, 1796, 1797, and 1798 efforts were made to stimulate the 
work of the commissioners but with indifferent success, and in 1804 
the state abandoned all efforts to follow the lead of Charles II and 
gave over the building of turnpikes to private capital. A previous 
unsuccessful effort to do this had been made in 1797, when corporations 
were formed to build the Reisters-town and Frederick roads. 

Three corporations for turnpike building were formed by an act 
passed in November, 1804, the preamble of which said: 

[9] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Whereas it is represented to this General Assembly that by the several laws here- 
tofore passed, on this subject, the desirable object contemplated by the legislature has 
not been obtained, and the public expectation almost entirely frustrated : There- 
fore, etc. 

The routes allowed were : ( i ) from Baltimore to Boonsboro, through 
Frederick-town; (2) Baltimore through Reisters-town to the Pennsyl- 
vania line in the direction of Hanover, or through Westminster to the 
Pennsylvania line In the direction of Petersburg; and (3) from Balti- 
more to the Pennsylvania line In the direction of York-town. By these 
corporations the road-bullding program was carried to completion 
although several years were required to do It. The Relsters-town Turn- 
pike was completed January 8, 18 10, at a cost of " the enormous sum 
of $638,000," or nearly $11,000 a mile. According to an executive 
communication from Governor Goldsborough to the legislature In 
December, 1818, its business had been as follows: 

Year . . . 1813 1814 1815 i8i6(i4mos.) 1817 

Receipts . . $46,533.91 $27,326.06 $38,486.96 $68,464.81 $60,515.65 
Expenses . . 12,580.96 15,097.52 9,509.67 23,898.36 20,890.29 
Dividends . 3% 2% 6% 6% 6% 

On the construction of the Baltimore and York Turnpike, Baltimore 
County Imposed its convict labor, for which it assessed the corporation 
$25,000 payable in stock. The management advised the governor of 
its belief that It derived less than one fifth of that value. 

The turnpike from Baltimore to Frederick-town Is to be noted as it 
later formed the easterly end of the Great National Turnpike from 
Baltimore to Ohio, of which more will appear in subsequent pages. 

An extensive turnpike development followed all over Maryland and 
many gates are collecting In this year, 1919. Within the city limits of 
Baltimore, gates existed as late as 191 2, about which time the last one 
in the city was abolished. 

The second and third turnpikes In America were In Connecticut, 
where the Mohegan Road, between New London and Norwich, was 
made subject to toll In the early part of 1792, and the Old Post Road, 
In Greenwich, which was similarly treated in the fall of the same year. 
But the Virginia and Connecticut proceedings just noted were govern- 
ment affairs, as commissioners were appointed to manage them In behalf 
of the counties in which each lay, and the gross receipts were to be 
devoted to the maintenance and repair of the roads. Similar pro- 
cedure has been noted in Tennessee, where, in 1801, a gate was estab- 
lished on the old road through Cumberland Gap. In 1804 North 
Carolina provided for a fourteen-mile road through the Cherokee 
lands, payment for building the same to be made by a fifteen-year privi- 
lege of collecting tolls. Aside from the instances mentioned, the Ameri- 
can practice was to allow the building of turnpikes to be done by private 
capital, which took Its own risks and derived Its own profits, leaving 
[10] 






Govans, Maryland, site of Tollgate 

Just out of Baltimore 

Old York Road in Baltimore 

Plate VI — Baltimore and York Turnpike 







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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

no obligations nor contingencies on the local governments. For the 
first instance of such provision we have to turn to Pennsylvania. 

THE LANCASTER TURNPIKE 

This road is generally and properly mentioned as the first extensive 
turnpike that was completed in the United States. It was built by the 
Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company, which was incorporated 
by the governor of Pennsylvania April 9, 1792. 

A road had existed previous to the year 17 14 by which the early 
settlements in the Conestoga and Susquehanna valleys were reached 
from Philadelphia. This was known as the " Great Canastoga Road " 
and ran considerably south of the present location of the city of Lan- 
caster, which had not, at that early date, been settled. In the old days 
a distinction seems to have been drawn between certain classes of roads, 
the higher grade being known as " King's Highways." These were roads 
which were laid out by the governor and provincial council Instead of 
by the county authorities, to whom was left the layout of the more 
common roads. On January 29, 1730-31, a petition was made for 
a king's highway from Philadelphia to the new town of Lancaster. 
After many delays and much legal proceedings this road was completed 
about 1 74 1. In 1767 an attempt was made to straighten this road on 
the true turnpike principles of later days. A survey of the old road 
was made and then an absolutely straight line was run from one end 
to the other, and studies were made as to the feasibility of constructing 
a new road on that direct alignment. The committee to whom this 
question was submitted concluded that it was not practicable to build 
on an absolutely straight line, on account of the steep grades which 
would be met on the various hills, but they recommended the location 
of a new road with but little variation from It. Nothing appears to 
have been done in consequence of this report and the old king's high- 
way remained a very poor road, for we have records that in 1773 it 
was dangerous on account of the stumps still in it. Agitation was re- 
newed soon after the close' of the Revolutionary War and a resolution 
was introduced in the assembly of Pennsylvania about 1786 looking 
to the opening of the new and improved road. The first result of 
the agitation was authority granted September 22, 1787, to Albert 
Witmer to build a toll bridge over Canastoga Creek on the old king's 
highway. This bridge, promptly erected, was of wood. It later be- 
came part of the turnpike and soon proved inadequate. A stone bridge 
540 feet long and 19 feet wide was erected In 1800. This bridge, con- 
sisting of nine semicircular arches with the roadway rising to the middle 
of the stream, is still standing. The early travel was very heavy, the 
tolls frequently reaching twenty-five to thirty dollars a day, while the 
collections from July, 18 18, to August, 1827, when the bridge became 
free, amounted to $22,o6o.98>^. 

[II] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Financing the construction of the road was the puzzle, but it was 
finally solved by leaving the matter for private investment by a business 
corporation. As will be found in a subsequent page, business corpora- 
tions were unknown at that time and in the newly formed national 
and state governments no power existed possessing the prerogatives of 
the Crown for issuing charters for such purposes. It is interesting to 
note in the case of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company 
that an act of the assembly gave the governor power to incorporate 
the company. As already stated, the charter was issued April 9, 1792. 
The corporation was formally organized on July 24 of the same year 
and subscriptions for the stock were called for from the public. The 
stock was largely oversubscribed. One witness writing at the close of 
the day said that he had " never seen men so wet with sweat in the 
harvest field as some were in the crowd to-day who subscribed to the 
turnpike road." Great enthusiasm was recorded by other people, one 
of whom wrote that his office had been deserted all day, as all his clerks 
and apprentices had absented themselves to subscribe for stock and 
watch the later developments. 

The road was practically finished in 1794 and open for travel, al- 
though work continued through 1796, in which year it was necessary 
to raise additional capital. 

An advertisement appeared In the Lancaster Journal February 5, 
17961 giving notice for subscriptions for one hundred additional shares 
of stock at $300 each. Payment of $100 down was to be made, and 
%66y3 at thirty, sixty, and ninety days with Interest. No one was to 
be allowed to subscribe for more than one share on the same day.^ 

The road occupied, when completed, sections of the old highway 
rich in colonial history, the rest of which still runs parallel to the turn- 
pike for quite a distance but loses Its identity at the terminal points. 

Nine tollgates were erected from three to ten miles apart at which 
tolls were assessed by the mile. The last gate was on Witmer's Bridge, 
in Lancaster, at which the toll allowed for sixty-one miles of road 
was collected from all but through travelers. The list of tolls was very 
complete, containing forty-six Items, empty wagons passing at one half 
the rate of loaded ones of the same size. Disputes were evidently 
anticipated, as the toll list went into detail regarding mixed teams and 
provided that two oxen should be considered as equivalent to one horse 
and that a mule and a horse should pay equal toll. A percentage was 
added to all tolls during the winter months. The rates of toll are 
especially Interesting for the scientific graduation established for the 
various widths of wagon tires, and consideration given to cases In which 
the wheels did not track. This Is shown In the table on the following 
page. 

. ' "The Old Turnpike," paper read before the Lancaster County Historical Society by A. E. 

Witmer, November 5, 1897. 

[12] 









Old Tollhouse 

Big Conococheague Bridge 

Plate VIII — Hagerstown and Conococheague Turnpike 










Lock and Feeder above Chain Bridge 
Lock near Georgetown, D. C. 
Lock near Sharpesburg, Maryland 

Plate IX — Chesapeake and Ohio Canal 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike 
Rates of Toll in Cents j>er Mile for Different Widths of Tires 

Every Cart or Wagon other than 

Market Cart or wagon with wheels: Number of Horses 

I 23456 

1. Not exceeding four inches 2I4 4% 6% 9 11 1/4 13I/2 

2. Exceeding four inches and not exceeding 

seven, or which being four shall roll 

seven inches 1 2 3 4 5 6 

3. Exceeding seven inches and not exceed- 

ing ten or which being seven shall 

roll ten inches il^ 2^4 3 3% 4V2 

4. Exceeding ten inches and not exceeding 

twelve, or which being ten shall roll 

twelve inches I 1 1/2 2 2I/2 3 

5. Exceeding twelve inches or which being 

twelve shall roll fifteen inches . . . 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 

In a letter written by the president of the corporation in 1797 it was 
stated that the road had then cost $444,753.72, to which should be 
added certain unliquidated contracts estimated at $8000 and the cost 
of the bridge over Brandywine Creek. The final cost of the road ap- 
pears to have been as follows: 

Original issue of stock looo shares @ $300.00 $300,000.00 

Second " " " 200 " " 300.00 60,000.00 

Third " " " 100 " " 300.00 30,000.00 

Tolls collected and applied to construction 75,000.00 

$465,000.00 

or about $7450 a mile, the length of the turnpike being 62 miles, 135.95 
perches. 

The road originally was more direct than it is at the present day. 
The Pennsylvania Railroad closely parallels it and near Philadelphia 
occupies its site in one or two places. It was macadamized for its whole 
length with stones broken to pass through a two-inch ring. 

It seems that paving was given a practical test on this road, for at 
a point six miles east of Lancaster the turnpike was paved for its entire 
width for a length of one hundred feet, but such construction proved 
too expensive and was not continued.^ 

On October i, 1867, the first three miles of the Lancaster Turnpike, 
being the present Market Street, west of the Schuylkill River, in Phila- 
delphia, was given to that city. An act of 1871 is interesting, as it 
provides the usual list of exemptions found in the early New England 
turnpike acts. It seems incredible, but apparently no free list had ex- 
isted up to that date. In 1872, under authority of an act passed in 
1866, the corporation divided its road into three sections for the pur- 
pose of selling the same, and in March, 1873, the section between 

1 "The Old Turnpike," Witmer. 

[13] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Lancaster and Newport was sold for $10,000 to parties who later 
formed the Lancaster and Williamsburg Turnpike Company to con- 
tinue turnpike operations. This company seems to have operated but 
a short time. In 1876 all of the turnpike within the limits of Coates- 
ville was sold to that borough for one dollar. In March, 1880, all east 
of Paoli was bought by the Lancaster Improvement Company for $8000 
and in November of the same year a considerable portion east from the 
twenty-sixth milestone was abandoned. The last section of the old road 
remaining subject to toll and under control of the corporation was that 
between Coatesville and Exton, and that was sold to the Philadelphia 
and Chester Valley Street Railway Company by whom it was made free 
about 1901. Having no more road to operate and no further reason 
for its existence the corporation, upon its own petition dated February 
25, 1902, was dissolved.^ 

In 1905 York Road, in Philadelphia, was still a turnpike with three 
tollgates within the city limits, but at the close of that year the gates 
were abolished and the road became free. In the latter part of 1909 
seven hundred and eighteen miles of turnpike were in operation in 
twenty-one of Pennsylvania's sixty-seven counties, the same being owned 
by one hundred and seven different corporations. 

In response to a resolution of the United States senate, adopted 
March 2, 1807, Albert Gallatin, secretary of the treasury, caused to 
be made a thorough investigation of the works of internal improvement, 
contemplated and completed, throughout the country. His report,^ 
transmitted on the fourth of April, 1808, contained much interesting 
data on the turnpikes which were then serving the public needs. The 
section is here reproduced. 

Turnpike, or Artificial Roads 

A great number of artificial roads have been completed in the eastern and middle 
States, at an expense varying from less than $1,000 to $14,000 a mile. The labor 
bestowed on the least expensive species consists in shortening the distance, diminish- 
ing the ascent of hills, removing rocks, levelling, raising, and giving a proper shape 
to the bed of the roads, draining them by ditches, and erecting bridges over the inter- 
vening streams. But the natural soil of the road is used, instead of covering it with 
a stratum of gravel or pounded stones. 

It appears, by one of the papers marked D., under which letter will be found all 
the information which has been obtained respecting roads, that fifty turnpike com- 
panies have been incorporated since the year 1803, in the State of Connecticut alone; 
and that the roads undertaken by those companies are all of that description. 
Thirty-nine of those roads, extending together 770 miles, are completed. The most 
expensive is that from New Haven to Hartford, which has cost $79,261 ; or, the dis- 
tance being 34% miles, at the rate of $2,280 a mile ; but about $18,000 of the capital 
have been expended in the purchase of the land through w^hich the road is carried. 
The nett income on this road, deducting the annual repairs and expenses, from the 
annual tolls, does not exceed $3,000. Of six of the roads which, together, extend 
120 miles, no account has been received. The other thirty- two extend, together, 615 

' "The First Long Turnpike in the United States," Landis. 

2 State Paper No. 250, loth Congress, 1st Session, reprinted as Document No. 499, 6ist Con- 
gress, 2d Session. 

[14] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

miles, and have cost only $340,000; or, on an average, at the rate of $550 a mile; 
and it seems that the aggregate of annual tolls on the wrhole is $86,000; from which, 
deducting the annual repairs and expenses, amounting to $48,000, leaves a nett in- 
come of $38,000, or of about 11 per cent, on the capital expended. 

No particular account has been received of the roads in the other eastern States, 
but it is known that besides some of a similar description with those of the State of 
Connecticut, several of a more expensive kind have been completed, particularly in 
Massachusetts. The cost has varied from $3,000 to $14,000 a mile, and amongst 
artificial roads of the first grade may be mentioned those from Boston to Providence, 
to Salem and to Newburyport. These are all covered with an artificial stratum of 
gravel or pounded stones, and finished in the most substantial manner. Great ex- 
pense has also been incurred, in order to shorten the distance without exceeding the 
angle of ascent, which is fixed at five degrees ; and it is stated that the road to New- 
buryport, thirty-two miles in length, and in which marshes and rocks presented con- 
siderable obstacles, has cost $400,000, or at the rate of $12,500 a mile. Those 
expensive roads, however useful and permanent, appear to be much less profitable 
than those of Connecticut. The Salem road is said to yield six per cent. ; another 
road has been stated as yielding eight per cent. The income of all the others in the 
State of Massachusetts is said not to exceed on an average three per cent. ; and that 
of the road from Boston to Newburyport amounts to no more than two per cent. 

A greater capital has been vested in turnpike roads in the State of New York 
than in any other. In less than seven years sixty-seven companies have been incor- 
porated, with a nominal capital of near $5,000,000, for the purpose of making more 
than three thousand miles of artificial roads; and twenty-one other companies have 
also been incorporated with a capital of $400,000, for the purpose of erecting twenty- 
one toll bridges. Although no particular account has been received either of the 
capital actually expended or of the annual amount of tolls, or of the materi- 
als of the roads, it is known that great progress has been made; and it has been 
stated that nine hundred miles of road were already completed by twenty-eight com- 
panies, whose capital amounted to $1,800,000, and who had two hundred miles more 
of road to finish. 

Those roads extend in every direction, but particularly from every town or vil- 
lage on the North river, westwardly and northwestwardly towards the waters of the 
Susquehannah and those of the great lakes. The most expensive is that from Albany 
to Schenectady, fourteen miles long, and which has cost at the rate of $10,000 a mile. 
Near one hundred and forty miles of roads extending westwardly from Albany and 
Schenectady, appear to have cost at the rate of $2,500 or $3,000 a mile. The ex- 
pense of all the others does not seem, on an average, to exceed $1,250 a mile. 

More detailed information has been obtained respecting the roads in New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and Maryland. 

In New Jersey a turnpike road has lately been completed from Trenton to 
Brunswick. The distance is twenty-five miles; the greatest angle of ascent, three 
degrees; and the road is nearly in a straight line, the only considerable obstruction 
being the " sand hills," through which it was necessary to dig at the depth of thirty 
feet, in order not to exceed the angle of ascent. The road is thirty-six feet wide, 
fifteen feet of which are covered with about six inches of gravel. A few wooden 
bridges, with stone abutments, and piers have been erected across the intervening 
streams. The whole expense is stated at $2,500 a mile. From Brunswick the road 
will be extended to Elizabethtown, and the work is now progressing. Another road 
has been undertaken in the same State from Brunswick to Easton on the river Dela- 
ware. The distance is forty-three miles, of which eleven have been completed at an 
expense of $40,000. This road will be more expensive than the preceding, both on 
account of the ground, the bridges being more numerous, and the Blue Ridge (Mus- 
conekong mountain) intervening, and because a more substantial facing or greater 
thickness of gravel is requisite. The funds of the company are exhausted. 

[15] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

In Pennsylvania artificial roads of the most substantial kind have been completed 
or are progressing from Philadelphia in sundry directions. 

The principal are to Bristol and Trenton, tvi^lve miles of wrhich are completed ; 
to Germantown and Perkioman, vrith two branches to Willow Grove and to Chest- 
nut Hill ; and to Lancaster and Columbia, with a branch to Harrisburg. 

The distance from Philadelphia to Perkioman is twenty-five miles and a quarter ; 
the two branches extend one ten miles, and the other seven miles and a half ; making 
together near forty-three miles. The angle of ascent is four degrees ; the breadth of 
the road fifty feet, of which twenty-eight feet, having a convexity of fifteen inches, 
are covered with a stratum either of gravel eighteen inches thick, or of pounded 
stones twelve inches thick. One-half of the stones forming the lower part of the 
stratum are broken into pieces not more than five inches in diameter ; the other half, 
or upper part of the stratum consists of stones broken into pieces not more than two 
inches and a half in diameter, and this difference in the size of the stones is repre- 
sented as a considerable defect. Side or summer roads extend on each side of the 
gravel or stone road. The five miles next to Philadelphia have cost at the rate of 
$14,517 a mile; the other twenty miles and a half at the rate of $10,490 a mile. Yet 
there were no natural impediments, and only small bridges or culverts were neces- 
sary. The capital expended on these twenty-five miles and a half is $285,000; the 
tolls amount to $19,000; the annual repairs and expenses to $10,000; the nett income 
to about $9,000, or little more than three per cent, on the capital expended. 

The distance from the Schuylkill at Philadelphia to Lancaster is sixty-two miles 
and a quarter; exclusively of the side or summer roads. Twenty- four feet of the bed 
of the road are covered with a stratum of pounded stones, eighteen inches thick in 
the middle of the road, and decreasing each way to twelve inches. The valley hills 
are the most elevated and steep on the road ; but the angle of ascent nowhere exceeds 
four degrees. Stone bridges have been erected across all the intervening streams. 
That across the river Conestogo, consisting of nine arches, is private property ; and 
the most expensive built by the company is that across the Brandywine, consisting of 
three arches of solid masonry, and which cost $12,000. The capital of the company 
amounted to $360,000; but this being insufficient, it became necessary to apply a con- 
siderable portion of the tolls to the completion of the work. The whole expense 
amounts to $465,000, or at the rate of about $7,500 a mile. The annual tolls have 
not yet exceeded $25,000, and the annual repairs and expenses are estimated at 
$13,000, leaving a net income of about $12,000. The prospect of an increased 
profit, derived from the proposed extension of the road has, however, raised the price 
of that stock nearly to par. 

The Lancaster road, the first extensive turnpike that was completed in the United 
States, is the first link of the great Western communication from Philadelphia. 
It has been extended ten miles westwardly to Columbia on the Susquehannah and 
another branch is now progressing northwestwardly to Harrisburg, also on the' Sws- 
quehannah, and thirty-six miles from Lancaster. The State of Pennsylvania has also 
mcorporated two companies in order to extend the road by two different routes as 
far as Pittsburg on the Ohio, and near three hundred miles from Philadelphia. The 
southern route following the main post road passes by Bedford and Somerset The 
northern route passes by Huntingdon and Frankstown, the highest point to which 
the Juniata branch of the Susquehannah is navigable. To this route the State has 
authorized a subscription of $100,000. 

Other roads in a northwest direction from Philadelphia towards the Genesee 
and Presque Isle on Lake Erie, are also progressing, and have been encouraged bv 
the subscriptions or donations of the Legislature. They are generally on a much less 
expensive plan than those in the direction of Pittsburg. A section of thirty miles 
from Lausanne on the Lehigh to Nescopeck on the Susquehannah has been com- 
pleted at the expense of $36,000 by a company; and it is intended to extend it sev- 
enty miles further to Newton on the Tioga branch of the Susquehannah 
[i6] 



THE TURNPIKES. OF NEW ENGLAND 

In Maryland, roads extending from Baltimore in various directions have lately 
been undertaken by several companies, and are rapidly progressing. On the Falls 
Turnpike, which extends, in a northerly direction, about four miles of a road twenty- 
two feet wide, covered with a stratum of pounded stones ten inches thick, and having 
an ascent not exceeding four degrees, have been completed at the rate of $7,500 a 
mile. 

The " Reistertown " turnpike, in a northwestwardly direction, extends sixteen 
miles to that village, whence two branches, extending one nineteen and the other 
twenty-nine miles further, will enter Pennsylvania at two different places. The 
road, twenty-four feet wide, is covered with a stratum twelve inches thick of 
pounded stones not more than three inches in diameter. The angle of ascent does 
not exceed three degrees and a half. Ten miles have been completed at the expense 
of $10,000 a mile, and the work is progressing. The capital of the company amounts 
to $420,000. 

The capital of the " Fredericktown " turnpike company amounts to $500,000, 
and the company is authorized to open the great western road as far as Boons- 
borough, beyond the Blue Ridge, and sixty-two miles from Baltimore. The angle 
of ascent will not exceed four degrees ; the road has a convexity of nine inches ; and 
on a breadth of twenty-two feet is covered with a stratum ten inches thick of 
pounded stones not exceeding three inches in diameter, over which are spread two 
inches of gravel or coarse sand. The first twenty miles next to Baltimore have cost 
at the rate of $9,000, and the next seventeen miles are contracted for at the rate of 
$7,000 a mile. 

The distance from Boonsborough to Cumberland, at the foot of the Allegheny 
mountains, following the present road, is seventy-three miles; and, although the 
company is not yet authorized to extend the turnpike to that place, the ground has 
been surveyed, and it is ascertained that the road may be continued with an angle 
of ascent not exceeding four degrees. The ascent of the road laid out by the United 
States from Cumberland to Brownsville on the Monongahela does not exceed five 
degrees, and the distance is seventy-two miles ; making the whole distance of a turn- 
pike road from Baltimore to the navigable waters of the Ohio two hundred and 
seven miles. 

The distance from the city of Washington to the same spot on the Monongahela 
is some miles shorter, being, as has already been stated, the shortest communication 
between tide water and the navigable Western waters. 

South of the Potomac, few artificial roads have been undertaken. From Alex- 
andria one is now progressing, in a northwestwardly direction, towards Middleburg. 
Another has lately been commenced from Richmond to Ross's coal mine; but the 
only one which, so far as any accounts have been received, is completed, extends 
twelve miles from Manchester, opposite to Richmond, in a westwardly direction, to 
the coal mines of Falling creek. This road, thirty-six feet wide, is gravelled, and 
has cost $50,000; but the last four miles did not cost more than at the rate of 
$3,000 a mile. Yet it is sufficiently substantial, the route being very level, to admit 
wagons carrying four tons. 

The greater progress made in the improvement of roads in the northern parts of 
the Union must be principally ascribed to a more compact population, which renders 
those improvements more necessary, and at the same time supplies with greater 
facility the means of effecting them. The same difference is perceptible in the num- 
ber of bridges erected in the several States. 

In the Eastern States, and particularly Massachusetts, wooden bridges, uniting 
boldness to elegance, and having no defect but want of durability, have been erected 
over the broadest and deepest rivers. In the lower counties of Pennsylvania, stone 
bridges are generally found across all the small streams. Both in that State and at 
some distance eastwardly, bridges with stone piers and abutments, and a wooden 
superstructure, are common over wide rivers. Of these, the most expensive, and 

[17] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

which may be considered as the first in the United States, is the permanent Schuyl- 
kill bridge near Philadelphia, erected by a company at an expense of $300,000. Its 
length, including the abutments, does not exceed 750 feet, and it is supported only 
by two piers and the abutments; but those piers, 195 feet apart, are of the most solid 
workmanship, and one of them was sunk at a depth of more than 24 feet below low 
water. The bridge is 42 feet wide, and the wooden superstructure is enclosed and 
covered with a single roof. 

The want of bridges south of Pennsylvania, even on the main post road, is sen- 
sibly felt. One lately thrown across the Potomac, three miles above the city of 
Washington, and which, without any intervening piers, is wholly suspended to iron 
chains, extending from bank to bank, deserves notice on account of the boldness of 
its construction, and of its comparative cheapness. The principle of this new plan, 
derived from the tenacity of iron, seems applicable to all rapid streams of a moderate 
breadth. 

The movement continued long after the date of the above-quoted 
report, four hundred and one companies in all being incorporated in 
New York State alone, and nearly the entire territory east of the 
Mississippi became subject to some demands for toll before the rail- 
roads took up the burden of meeting the transportation requirements. 
On many Civil War maps, and in the accounts of many battles, will be 
found references to this or that turnpike, so the lone road, south of the 
Potomac, soon had company. 

EFFORTS OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 

As the early settlers penetrated farther into the western wilds, leav- 
ing friends and relatives in the older districts, the government of the 
new republic found itself under obligations to maintain postal service 
with the new regions, and in that connection, faced the problem of 
providing sufficient roads In the districts where there was no state or 
county authority, nor Inhabitants enough to provide the routes. So 
early in the nineteenth century we find the congressional records full 
of references to post routes and means of supplying the same. 

The road cut out by the army under General Braddock to the site 
of Pittsburgh, in 1755, for sixty years remained the only route through 
southwestern Pennsylvania, and continuations of It through south- 
eastern Ohio and Kentucky reached as far as New Orleans. Brad- 
dock's Road was indeed a spacious avenue of twelve feet in width, but 
farther west the routes were but Indian trails, and at the most, the few 
residents of the regions traversed could only keep the same clear of 
fallen trees. And as travel increased, the road cut by the Ill-fated ex- 
pedition grew worse and worse each year, until it could no longer be 
considered a road at all. 

Before the admission of Ohio as a state the need of better roads 
from the coast to the western region was keenly realized, and, in the 
act of Congress conferring statehood on that territory, a proposition 
was submitted to the people for their acceptance, which provided for 
the application of a certain portion of the money received from the sale 
[18] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

of public lands In that state to the construction of roads connecting the 
navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic with the Ohio River, and 
for further roads through the new state. 



THE CUMBERLAND OR OLD NATIONAL ROAD 

The Cumberland Road first appears in the national senate in 1806, 
when Senator Uriah Tracy of Connecticut reported that the proceeds 
of land sales in Ohio had amounted to over six hundred and thirty 
thousand dollars, and recommended an appropriation of fifty thousand 
dollars for the building of a road from Cumberland, on the north bank 
of the Potomac, to the Ohio River, a little below Wheeling. The 
measure at once secured the hearty support of Henry Clay, then just 
admitted to the senate to fill out an unexpired term, who, from 
that time on, was known as the warmest friend of the Cumberland 
Road. For the full consideration of the subject Mr. Clay introduced 
a resolution, which was adopted, calling on the secretary of the treasury 
for a full report of all works of internal improvement in contemplation, 
under construction, or completed within the United States. In compli- 
ance Secretary Gallatin submitted to the senate under date of April 4, 
1808, the report from which we have already quoted at length. An 
appropriation of thirty thousand dollars for the purpose of having a 
sur\'ey and layout of the route made received President Jefferson's 
signature on the twenty-ninth of March, 1806. By the provisions of 
the bill the President was to appoint a commission of three to lay out the 
road, which was to be four rods wide ; was to have a raised carriage-way 
in the middle of stone, earth, gravel, or sand, with ditches along the 
sides; while the inclinations of grade were in no case to exceed five 
degrees. Nothing more than the work of these commissioners was 
accomplished at this time, and for a few years the matter languished. 

A bitter controversy raged meanwhile over the constitutional right 
of the United States to build roads within the jurisdiction of any of its 
subordinate states, those finally in the minority claiming that such pro- 
cedure was a violation of states' rights. But for a time, at least, it 
became settled that the general government had a constitutional right 
to build and maintain roads where such were needed for the carrying 
of the mails. 

So, commencing in 18 10, a series of appropriations totaling 
$5,794,919.33 was commended, and construction of the road was soon 
under way. A contract covering the first ten miles was let in the spring 
of 181 1, at an average price of $7500 a mile,'- and the further portions 
followed as fast as the successive appropriations would allow, until the 
road was finally completed to Wheeling In December, 1820, and to the 
Mississippi River in the early thirties. With the eastern terminus of 

■ Richmond Stone, United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 17. 

[19] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

this road at Cumberland, on the Potomac River, the traffic was left 
to find its own way to the seacoast, which it naturally did down the 
river. With the growth of business over the road Baltimore awoke to 
the desirability of securing the trade for itself. Already the Baltimore 
and Frederick Turnpike offered its services as far west as Boones- 
boro, and its owners were willing to extend a little farther, but the 
rough unopened country west of the Big Conococheague Creek pre- 
sented too many difficulties. 

The opportunity came in 1812 when the charters of many of the 
Maryland state banks expired and renewal was sought. Opposition to 
the renewal was made until a compromise was effected, by which the 
banks of Baltimore, the Hagerstown Bank, the Conococheague, and 
the Cumberland Bank of Allegany secured their charter extensions to 
November i, 1835, provided that they should form a corporation under 
the name of the " President, Managers, and Company of the Cumber- 
land Turnpike Road," and should build a turnpike from Cumberland 
to the west bank of Big Conococheague. The corporation was finally 
formed and a contract was made with John Davis to build the road for 
$460,000, or about $7930 a mile. In 18 17 the road was under con- 
struction and it was believed that the contractor was losing money. 

This left a gap between Big Conococheague Creek and Boonesboro 
and several efforts were made to provide the desired improved road 
across the interval. The Baltimore Liberty and Hagerstown Turnpike- 
Road Company which was incorporated in January, 1816, to build from 
the Reisters-town Turnpike, at Liberty, to Hagerstown, secured an ex- 
tension of its charter during the same month by which it was allowed to 
make its road from Hagerstown to the eastern terminus of proposed 
road of the Cumberland Company, but all this company was able to do 
in the next three years was to open about six and a half miles of road 
adjacent to Liberty, on which it was allowed to set up one gate. 

Although the Baltimore and Frederick Company secured authority, 
in 1816, to extend its road to Big Conococheague, it is clear that it did 
not do so, as the heavy expense of the bridge over Monocasy Creek, 
for which bridge tolls had been refused by the assembly, had exhausted 
the company funds. 

At the December session of 1816 a corporation was created under 
the name of Hagerstown and Conococheague Turnpike Company with 
power to build from " The Market Space in Hagerstown to the west 
bank of Conococheague." This was the corporation which Governor 
Goldsborough reported in 181 8 had built a bridge over Big Conoco- 
cheague and a turnpike thence to Hagerstown, but the governor evi- 
dently anticipated the completion of the bridge, for according to a tablet 
inserted in the parapet wall, it was built by Silas Harry in 1819. 

The Big Conococheague bridge is crossed about halfway from 
Hagerstown to Clear Spring and is an imposing structure of five arches, 
which must have cost at least seventy-five thousand dollars by compari- 
[20] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

son with that over the Monocasy, which was built at an expense of 
fifty-six thousand. At its westerly end the road makes a most abrupt 
turn, almost square, to the left, and many serious accidents have oc- 
curred there since the old road has seen the high speed of automobiles. 

But improved through roads from Hagerstown to Baltimore were 
still incomplete, and it remained most desirable to connect with the 
Baltimore and Frederick at Boonesboro. All other efforts failing, the 
holdup of the banks was again perpetrated. 

January 30, 1822, the Boonesboro Turnpike Company was incor- 
porated to be composed of the banks of Hagerstown and all the Balti- 
more banks except the City Bank, in return for which the bank charters 
were extended to January i, 1845. Not content with loading all this 
on the banks, a tax of two tenths of one per cent was levied on the 
paid-in capital of the turnpike corporation for school purposes. The 
road of this company was to extend from Boonesboro to Hagerstown, 
and was completed within two or three years. 

So the great Cumberland Road as finally built consisted first of the 
turnpike of the Baltimore and Frederick Corporation, reaching from 
Baltimore to Boonesboro, second of the bank-owned section from 
Boonesboro to Hagerstown, third of the turnpike and bridge of the 
Hagerstown and Conococheague Corporation from Hagerstown to Big 
Conococheague, fourth of the portion built by the banks to Cumber- 
land, and last of the great National Road Itself. The portion east of 
Cumberland remained subject to toll until about 19 12. 

The enormous traffic which passed over the road from Cumberland 
to Wheeling, almost from the day of its opening, soon wore out the 
original surface, and heavy repairs became necessary. Congress, tiring 
of the large appropriations required for that purpose, sought to make 
the road self-sustaining and. In 1822, passed a bill by which tolls were 
established. This was promptly vetoed by President Monroe as being 
unconstitutional. The central government might build and maintain 
roads, but the Imposition of tolls, involving the power to enforce collec- 
tion of the same, with various necessary protecting laws, he conceived 
as clearly illegal, although the several states concerned had previously 
passed acts ceding such rights to Congress. 

By 1834 the road was in dire need of repair, and the act of Congress 
of that year, which appropriated $300,000 to put it in order, also pro- 
vided that, when in good condition, the ownership of that portion east 
of the Ohio River should be transferred to the states of Virginia, Penn- 
sylvania, and Maryland, each having previously agreed to accept the 
same. It was later provided that as fast as the western extension was 
completed and put in good order it too should be surrendered to the 
respective states through which It lay. Each of the states, as it came 
Into possession of the road, erected gates and enacted rates of toll to 
be collected, and tolls were collected in Ohio during the early years of 
the twentieth century. The last tolls on the eastern section were gath- 

[21 J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

ered in Maryland in 1878, after which the counties of Allegany and 
Garrett acquired that portion of the road and made it free. The last 
section under United States control was surrendered to the state of 
Illinois in 1856. 

The mail stages frequently covered the distance of twenty-six miles 
between Frederick and Hagerstown in two hours, and the through 
freight wagons from Baltimore to WheeHng made nearly as good time. 
The largest of the latter were mammoth affairs, capable of carrying 
ten tons, and drawn by twelve horses ; the rear wheels, ten feet high, 
had tires a foot broad. The traffic was like a frieze, with an endless 
procession of figures. There were sometimes sixteen gaily painted 
coaches each way a day, and one could never look along the road with- 
out seeing a drove of cattle or sheep, while the canvas-covered wagons, 
with bows of bells over their horses' collars, traveled in groups which 
were seldom out of sight of each other. 

Some of the passes through the Alleghanies were as precipitous as any in the 
Sierra Nevada, and the mountains were as wild. Within a mile of the road the 
country was a wilderness, but on the highway the traffic was as dense and as con- 
tinuous as in the main street of a large town.^ 

With the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway to Cumber- 
land, the section of the old road east of that point lost most of its 
business, but the increased travel over the new railroad gave a great 
additional traffic over the portion to the west, which for four years, or 
until the railroad reached Wheeling in 1853, did an enormous business. 

The assistance which the Cumberland Road gave in opening the 
western territories for settlement is beyond computation, and it is fur- 
ther notable as the first recipient of government assistance to enter- 
prises of transportation. In Hulbert's " Historic Highways of Amer- 
ica " one entire volume is devoted to this road, its history being given 
in detail in most interesting manner. 

Many other roads were built, wholly or in large part, by the United 
States government, $3,200,000 being spent in this way prior to the 
Civil War. Among such were roads in Florida, one between Chicago 
and Detroit, and one leading into Arkansas from Memphis, all of 
which were of mihtary necessity or needed for post routes, and from 
none of which was any profit derived. Only from canal companies' 
stocks did the national government ever seek to derive any dividends. 
Between 1825 and 1829, $1,800,000 was appropriated by Congress for 
the purchase of stock in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Com- 
pany; $1,000,000 for Investment in that of the Chesapeake and Ohio 
Canal Company; $200,000 for the Dismal Swamp, and $233,500 for 
the Louisville, and Portland, Canal companies; and the United States 
seemed definitely committed to the policy of encouraging internal de- 
velopment in that manner. But $1,683,500 of the above-named ap- 

' "The Old National Pike," Harper'' s Monthly for November, 1879. 
[22] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

proprlatlons were passed on the second of March, 1829, two days 
before John Quincy Adams gave up the seat of the President to Andrew 
Jackson and a reversal of many national policies occurred. 

The Baltimore and Ohio Railway was then under construction and 
meeting many difficulties In securing the needed money; and its pro- 
moters were fondly reciting the list of canal investments and hoping 
for equally good luck for themselves. But to the " Maysville Pike " 
in Kentucky was given the honor of making the test case under the new 
administration, by which it was settled that no more government money 
should be placed in private enterprises. 

THE MAYSVILLE PIKE 

In the effort to maintain communications with the infant settlements 
in Kentucky, Congress, in 1 796, authorized Ebenezer Zane to cut out, 
and develop into a passable path, an old buffalo trail which passed from 
Wheeling through the sites of Zanesville, Lancaster, and Chilllcothe to 
Aberdeen on the Ohio, opposite the little town of Maysville in Ken- 
tucky. From that place a pioneer road, also developed from buffalo 
trails, led through Kentucky and Tennessee to the lower Mississippi 
valley and to New Orleans. This path had never been a road, and 
with the earliest increase of passage over it. Its condition soon became 
almost impassable. The Kentucky legislature sought in vain to have 
the general government improve its condition and made all the appro- 
priations it could afford itself for that purpose. 

In 1828 a bill was introduced in Congress to provide for the build- 
ing of a branch of the Cumberland Road from Zanesville through 
Maysville, to New Orleans, but it was defeated in the senate. 

In 1830 Kentucky created the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and 
Lexington Turnpike Road Company for the purpose of building a turn- 
pike through those towns, along the old route to New Orleans. As 
this was a route of much more than state importance, and was to serve 
the southern territory as the Cumberland Road had the western, its 
advocates did not easily abandon the hope of assistance from the na- 
tional treasury. The capital stock of the corporation was fixed at 
$300,000, of which the United States was to be allowed to subscribe 
for $150,000, while Kentucky pledged itself to take $25,000 of the 
same, An appropriation of $150,000 by the house of representa- 
tives, with which the secretary of the treasury was to subscribe for 
such stock for the benefit of the United States, was concurred in 
by the senate on May 15, 1830, but twelve days later was returned 
with an emphatic veto by President Jackson. He was opposed, he 
wrote, to any such expenditures until after the payment of the national 
debt, and even then he would have doubts of the constitutionality of the 
proceeding. The road was objected to as a local affair and not a mat- 
ter of national concern, but, since we have found it to be a part of a great 

[23] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

thoroughfare to the south and southwest, that objection does not seem 
to have been well founded. But the veto held and ended all hopes of 
government aid for such improvements, and the Maysville Pike became 
a household word throughout the United States if it did not derive the 
financial benefit which it had sought. 

But the Kentuckians were not to be entirely put down. If the United 
States would not help they would build their road anyway, so the turn- 
pike was built for the entire sixty-four miles from Maysville to Lexing- 
ton, with six covered bridges and thirteen tollhouses, and opened for 
travel in 1835. The cost per mile is said to have been $6662.50. 
Towns, counties, and state contributed each their part, Fayette County 
taking one hundred shares. 

The- Maysville Pike again became famous through litigation and 
for settling a much-vexed question. One Dickey, a contractor for carry- 
ing the mails, conceived that he was entitled to travel free wheresoever 
his contract required and, being obliged to pay the regular tolls upon 
this road, brought suit against the corporation. The decision very 
properly held that the tolls were a part of his proper expense and that 
he was not entitled to wear out private property without compensating 
therefor. Especially did the court take such ai view as the United States 
had refused to bear any part of the expense of building the road. On 
the Cumberland Road, under state operation, the mail stages were 
passed free, although payment was required for passengers riding on 
them, but that road was built in whole by the government which main- 
tained the postal routes, and it was but equitable to allow such a 
discrimination.^ 

Zane's Trace, as the path opened by Ebenezer Zane from Wheeling 
to Maysville was called, became a turnpike for much of its length. 
From Wheeling to Zanesville it was Incorporated into the Cumberland 
Road, and other turnpike corporations improved the balance of the 
route. Turnpike extensions were also provided beyond Lexington, 
reaching well down into Tennessee, but the railroads came before the 
entire route had been thus improved, and the day of the turnpike was 
over. 



NEW ENGLAND ROADS OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD 

For generations untold before the settlements at Plymouth and Bos- 
ton, the Indians followed certain trails which were later adopted by 
the white men for their early roads. Many predecessors of Mas- 
sasolt and King Philip had led their tribes along these trails on warlike 
expeditions or on annual trips to lakes and ocean to secure their sup- 
plies of fish and game, and consequently such paths, worn by the feet 
of countless braves and their Indian ponies, were well defined, often 

' Acknowledgment is due for much of the foregoing to an article, "The Maysville Pike," 
by Samuel M. Wilson, in the Ohio Arch^ological and Historical Society's pubHcations for 1909. 

[24] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

being depressed a foot or two below the adjoining ground. Many may 
be followed to-day, sometimes in comfort by automobile, but more 
often with jolting and shaking over little used country roads. 

The " Coast Path " between Boston and Plymouth; the " Kennebunk 
Road" following the coast northerly; the " Bay Road" from Boston 
through Stoughton to Taunton; the "Old Connecticut Path," through 
Wayland, Marlboro, Worcester, Oxford, and Springfield, to Albany 
and thence over the " Iriquois Trail" to Lake Erie; and the "Old 
Roebuck Road" through Dedham, East Walpole, Foxboro, North 
Attleboro, and Pawtucket, to Providence, were the principal routes 
of through travel which centered in Boston. The last, connecting with 
the " Pequot Path " which connected Providence with Westerly, formed 
a link in the chain of paths which reached from Boston to New York, 
over which a monthly post was established about 1690. That it 
was a rough and narrow road we know from Madam Knight who, in 
1704, made the trip overland from Boston to New York, and recorded 
all her trials and discomforts for future generations to read. At the 
site of South Attleboro Village, on the " Old Roebuck Road," an- 
other trail branched off, following down the easterly shore of the See- 
konk and Providence rivers to the point where Bristol Is now situated. 
This trail, with the " Old Roebuck Road," was one of the early colonial 
roads, a primitive ferry from Bristol completing the journey from Bos- 
ton to Newport. 

The restrictive policy of Great Britain toward her American colo- 
nies, by which she sought to prevent all intercolonial trade, reserving 
for her merchants at home the profits of such intercourse, almost en- 
tirely prevented the improvement and development of those early 
routes, and down to the outbreak of the American Revolution facilities 
for travel parallel to the seacoast were sadly lacking. 

The early settlements were naturally on the coast, and water com- 
munication, being most convenient, was generally used. As the fertile 
fields of the inland districts gradually drew settlers away from the ocean 
it obviously became necessary to have roads or paths connecting the 
new homes with the older settlements, and a " hit or miss " arrange- 
ment of rough roads, radiating from central points on the coast, 
resulted. Until well into the nineteenth century each village was an 
independent community, having its own church, blacksmith, shoemaker, 
gristmill, and country store. The farmer's clothing for the day and 
his bedding for the night were spun and woven by the women of his 
own family from the wool of his own sheep. The grain of the fields 
was harvested Into barns on the same premises, or ground Into meal or 
flour at the mill but a few miles distant. From the cattle of his own 
raising he laid away his winter's supply of meat, and the hides, dressed 
near-by, were made into shoes by the local artisan, who boarded with 
his patrons as he performed their work. Little need was there then 
for many roads. The one fixed journey was the weekly trip to church, 

[25] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

and the road which provided the facility for that generally led also to 
the gristmill and to the country store, where were kept the few articles 
needed in the farmer's daily life, which his own labor did not produce, 
and where also he could dispose of the surplus which his farm might 
yield. 

Long distance freight movement was absolutely impossible. The charge for 
hauling a cord of wood twenty miles was three dollars. For hauling a barrel of 
flour one hundred and fifty miles it was five dollars. Either of these charges was 
sufficient to double the price of the article and set a practical limit to its conveyance. 
Salt, which cost one cent a pound at the shore, would sometimes cost six cents a 
pound three hundred miles inland, the difference representing the bare cost of trans- 
portation. It was on these cheap articles of common use that the charge bore most 
heavily. It forced every community to live within itself.^ 

Such were the facilities of transportation in the new United States 
of America about the year 1800. Each of the thirteen original colonies 
was still sufficient unto itself and contained within itself, but a new era 
was dawning, and such conditions were fast becoming intolerable. The 
ambitious growth of our country made men realize that duplication of 
labor, whereby each little community did everything that was done in 
all of the others, was wasteful, and that a geographical division, by 
which each section would perform the part assigned to it by nature, was 
inevitable. 

Manufactures were just commencing on a larger scale, and the mills 
and factories were locating in situations convenient for the new methods 
of doing business, and the transportation requirements were far in ex- 
cess of the existing conveniences. Ohio, just freed by " Mad Anthony " 
Wayne from the perils of Indian warfare, was open for settlement, and 
a host of emigrants was hastening westward, bearing with them all their 
worldly possessions with which to furnish and maintain their new 
homes. 

Wha.t facilities were offered to these factories and travelers by the 
older communities, many of which were, by that time, approaching their 
bi-centennlal ? This question can best be answered by a brief recital 
of conditions of traveling and quality of roads previous to that time. 

The Boston News-Letter, in Its issue of April 4, 1720, contained the 
following : 

These are to give notice that the stage coach between Boston and Bristol Ferry, 
for once a fortnight the six ensuing months, Intends to set out the first time from 
Boston at Five o'clock on Tuesday Morning the 12th currant, and be at the said 
Ferry on Wednesday Noon, when those from New Port may then there arrive, and 
be brought hither on Friday Night. Such as have a mind to go for Bristol or Rhode 
Island, may agree with John Blake at his house on Sudbury-street, Boston, for their 
passage to the said Ferry, at 25s. each person, with 14 Pounds weight of carriage 
and 3d. for every pound over. 

The route of that stage was over the " Old Roebuck Road," as 
previously described, as far as South Attleboro, and thence down the 

' " Railroad Transportation," Hadley. 
[26] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

easterly side of the Seekonk and Providence rivers to what is now the 
city of Bristol; and the comfort of the ride and condition of the roads 
may be deduced from the time required : from 5 A. M. Tuesday to 
12 M. Wednesday, for a journey of fifty-five miles. 

That was the route to Newport, at that time the largest town in 
Rhode Island, and destined a few years later to overshadow New York 
as a commercial port. 

The first regular stage between Boston and Providence was es- 
tablished by Thomas Sabin of Providence in 1767. This ran weekly 
through Pawtucket and South Attleboro to North Attleboro, whence 
It followed the route of the present state highway through Wrentham 
and Walpole to Dedham, and on to Boston over the " Neck." The 
section of road between North Attleboro and Wrentham was publicly 
laid out about 1751. Connecting with an old road which led from 
Dedham through Walpole and Wrentham toward Woonsocket, it soon 
replaced the " Old Roebuck Road," held its own against turnpike com- 
petition, and is to-day the favorite automobile route. The time con- 
sumed by Sabin's stage is not known, but an advertisement of a stage 
over the same route in 1800 gives us the running time then as ten hours. 

A weekly stage from Boston to Portsmouth appears to have been 
established in 1761, making the trip in two days. McMasters tells 
us that the first stage between New York and Philadelphia was not 
" set up " until 1756, and made the run then in three days. 

June 25, 1772, this advertisement appeared in the New York 
Journal: 

THE STAGE COACH 

between 
NEW YORK AND BOSTON 

Which for the first time sets out this day from Mr Fowler's Tavern (formerly 
kept by Mr Stout) at Fresh Water in New York will continue to go the course be- 
tween Boston and New York so as to be at each of those places once a fortnight 
coming in on Saturday evening and setting out to return by way of Hartford on 
Monday morning. The price to passengers will be 4d. New York or 3d. lawful 
Money per Mile and Baggage at a reasonable price. Gentlemen and Ladies who 
choose to encourage this useful new and expensive Undertaking, may depend upon 
good Usage, and that the Coach will always put up at Houses on the Road where 
the best Entertainment is provided. If on Trial, the Subscribers find Encourage- 
ment they will perform the Stage once a week, only altering the Day of setting out 
from New York and Boston to Thursday instead of Monday morning. 

Jonathan and Nicholas Brown. 

These dates plainly show us that communication, by land at least, 
between the colonies was very infrequent down to the outbreak of the 
Revolution, and the conclusion is readily reached that neither roads 
nor vehicles were such as to produce comfort. 

The large number of pleasure carriages in use in Boston in 1753 
is accepted by some as evidence of the excellence of American roads at 

[27] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

that time, but the author is inclined to make the deduction as local as the 
reason. Undoubtedly the roads in Boston and immediate vicinity were 
good although, as we realize to this day, very crooked, but the effective 
radius of the horses, handicapped by the crude old-time carriages, must 
have been short, and the evidence is strongly to the effect that the 
interior roads were very bad. The moderate requirement as to width, 
found in the old Lancaster (Massachusetts) records, wherein it is 
stipulated that the proposed road shall be wide enough to make it 
" feasible to carry comfortably four oxen with four barrels of cider 
at once," suggests that it was necessary to spread the money out pretty 
thin. 

In his " Development of Transportation Systems " in the United 
States J. L. Ringwalt wrote : 

The general condition of transportation facilities up to the time of the Revolu- 
tion may be summarized in the statement that over the main portion of the territory 
now belonging to the United States, no improvement whatever had been effected 
except in the addition of the horse to the list of aids that might possibly be obtained ; 
that in all important and thickly settled portions of the country a marked improve- 
ment in available water craft was secured by the use of ships and the gradual or 
partial substitution of batteaux and boats of various descriptions for canoes ; and that 
a few sections had tolerably fair common roads. Permanent bridges over streams of 
\/ considerable size were wholly unknown. The best substitute, at points of greatest 
importance, such as the Schuylkill at Philadelphia, were floating bridges, sustained 
by boats. Land travel was almost universally on horseback. The present century 
[19th] was well advanced before travelling in carriages became at all common, ladies 
as well as gentlemen making all their ordinary journeys on horseback, or in heavy 
farm wagons. 

And A. B. Hulbert, author of " The Historic Highways of America," 
says: 

Up to the time of the Revolutionary War, it can almost be said that nothing had 
been done toward what we to-day know as road building. 

During that war the interior roads were much improved as a matter 
of military necessity, and because the safety of water travel was men- 
aced by the British war vessels, but we have abundant testimony that 
our country started with a deplorable system of highways. Then the 
triweekly postriders between New York and Boston required six days 
in summer and nine in winter for the trip. During Washington's first 
term two stages and twelve horses were all that the business between 
those cities required, and they jogged along, covering forty miles a day 
in summer and twenty-five in winter. There were no bridges over the 
larger streams or many of the smaller ones, and the stage was " set 
over " by ferries propelled by oars or sails. 

In McMasters^ " History of the United States," under the heading 
" The State of America in 1784," we read: 

Much of the delay in land travelling was caused by the wretched condition of 
the highways. On the best lines of communication the ruts were deep, the descents 
[28] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

precipitous. Travellers by coach were often compelled to alight and assist the driver 
to tug the vehicle out of the slough. Nor were such accidents limited to the desolate 
tracts of country. Near the great cities the state of the roads was so bad as to render 
all approach difficult and dangerous. Out of Philadelphia a quagmire of black mud 
covered a long stretch of road near the village of Rising Sun.^ There horses were 
often seen floundering in mud up to their bellies. On the York road long lines of 
wagons were every day to be met with, drawn up near Logan's Hill, while the 
wagoners unhitched their teams to assist each other in pulling through the mire. 

From the files of the New York Daily Advertiser for 1833 we glean 
the following: 

About 1786, a great many of the passengers between Boston and New York took 
sloops at New Haven for New York, and vice versa. Along the shore of the Sound, 
a considerable part of the road between New Haven and New York was extremely 
rough, rocky and uncomfortable, and in fact, in some places impassable for wheeled 
vehicles. 

So we will answer our question by saying that the facilities offered 
to the new factories and to the westward-bound travelers were prac- 
tically none, and that extensive additions, amounting to practically the 
creation of a new system, were demanded. 

But a country which had successfully waged an eight years' war for 
independence against the strongest power in the world, which had over- 
come the difficulties causing the Shay's Rebellion and the Whisky In- 
surrection, and had suppressed an instigated Indian uprising on its 
western frontier, was not to be daunted by any difficulties. 

When Alexander Hamilton made his investigation of the manufac- 
tures of the United States in 1791, he found a small but creditable 
number of industries all eager to expand. Of cotton he found but few 
factories, one of which was at Beverly, for which the first Massachusetts 
act of incorporation for manufacturing was passed on February 3, 1789. 
That industry, however, owing to the then recent inventions of Har- 
greaves and Arkwright, was about to make phenomenal advances. 
Watt's steam engine was invented about seven years prior to Hamilton's 
census, and the tubular boiler was only a year younger than the engine; 
but the mechanic arts had not then sufficiently advanced to render the 
commercial production of either practicable, so the new factories were 
obliged to derive their power from the precipitous rivers such as abound 
in New England. Such powers being found only at suitable falls of the 
rivers, it obviously followed that the mill locations were often remote 
from any of the existing roads or, if near them, accessible by highways 
used previously for neighborhood communication only and utterly 
unsuited for the heavy teaming of raw and finished materials of manu- 
facture. Then, too, the sale of the products demanded outlets to 
more than one of the small centers of that time, and roads of. other 
destinations were required. But who was to pay for all these needed 
improvements ? 

' This was on the main road to New York. 

[29] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Francis H. Kendall, writing in the New England Magazine,'^ says : 

To go back to the year 1 800, we must imagine scattered villages within the terri- 
torial limits of most of the towns of to-day, with but little manufacturing, the in- 
habitants being usually farmers, depending largely on the products of their own 
acres for their sustenance and comforts. Very seldom indeed was a journey of much 
distance undertaken by these rural inhabitants to obtain things of a different sort to 
add to their comforts, and to barter and trade the products of their labor for " wet 
and dry goods," such as molasses, sugar, tea, rum, and cloths other than homespun 
woven. 

And to those of us who have attended the New England country 
town meetings, It is not hard to go further and imagine the difficulty of 
persuading those same " rural inhabitants " to vote appropriations for 
the building of roads to accommodate those " new-fangled factory 
people," for the towns on which fell the burden of providing those pub- 
lic necessities were too poor to stand the necessary expense. All of 
them were impoverished by their contributions of men, money, and sup- 
plies in the war for Independence, and by the struggle of the next decade 
to maintain themselves against the commercial warfare waged by Eng- 
lish merchants. The states were in no better condition, and it was 
simply out of the question for the public funds to provide for the in- 
creased transportation. In this dilemma relief was found by the will- 
ingness of private citizens to invest their funds and energies in the 
construction of the roads, provided the same might be done as a con- 
servative business Investment. How was this to be accomplished? 

As Individuals they possessed no power by which they could lay their 
roads In the best locations; they could not take over or Improve any 
portion of an old road, nor even cross one. Their collection of tolls, 
if they built a road, could not be enforced and, what was of more vital 
importance to them, any one of them would be personally liable for 
injuries or damages consequent upon any defect in the road, or action 
of their servants. Only from the state could they obtain such rights 
and desired Immunity, and under conditions which would assure to the 
public the rights and privileges to it belonging. 

Such undertakings required combinations of capital In excess of any- 
thing then known in private affairs, and a permanent form of organiza- 
tion was necessary for the maintenance of such roads. Out of these 
difficulties grew the turnpike corporations, organized to construct the 
roads and to derive revenue from the collection of tolls. 

" Though the ownership is private the use Is public," said one learned 
judge in deciding a turnpike case, and such public use involved the 
indiscriminate right of all Individuals who paid the toll to travel over 
the roads in comfort and security at all times. On the other hand, in 
return for the tolls collected, the private owners were under obligations 
to maintain their roads constantly In proper and sufficient repair. 

' " Turnpike Roads of Middlesex County," August, 1903. 
[30] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE FIRST PUBLIC-SERVICE CORPORATIONS 

In earliest English law we find special obligations imposed on those 
engaged in occupations on which the welfare of the public depended. 
The surgeon, from the scarcity of men qualified for that position, had 
to serve a large number and enjoyed a monopoly in his territory. The 
consequences, should he discriminate against any individual and refuse 
to attend him, would be far too serious, and hence he was obliged by 
law to serve alike all who stood ready to pay him. In similar relations 
to the public stood the tailor, smith, victualler, baker, innkeeper, miller, 
carrier, ferryman, and wharfinger. By competition and increased num- 
bers engaged in the occupations most of the above trades have been 
removed from the class of public service, but the obligation still rests 
upon the victualler and innkeeper; the carrier has been succeeded by the 
railroads, and the ferryman by the publicly maintained bridges. 

The organization of corporations for business purposes began about 
this time, having been unknown previous to the Revolution, and by far 
the larger part of the first twenty years of such productions were for 
the purposes of turnpikes and toll bridges. In old English law a cor- 
poration could only be formed by charter from the Crown or by a 
special act of Parliament. Upon the severance of the ties to the mother 
country such powers of the monarch ceased and they were never be- 
stowed upon any individual officer of the new government. General 
laws, by which corporations could be organized by complying with 
certain requirements and without a dispensation from some supreme 
authority, originated in New York in 1811, at which time laws for the 
formation of manufacturing companies were enacted, but it was many 
years before such privileges were extended to corporations for other 
purposes. So, at the opening of the turnpike era, there was but one 
power, — the legislature or assembly of the state, — which could grant 
a charter for a corporation; and as long as turnpikes were projected 
this condition continued in New England. 

The charters for turnpike purposes thus granted bore a general 
resemblance to each other; in fact many paragraphs were exactly copied 
and in but few were special features contained. To avoid the weary 
repetition involved in the duplicate recital of routine sections of turn- 
pike charters, the Massachusetts legislature, on March 16, 1805, en- 
acted them all into a general law and provided that such should be the 
rights, powers, and privileges of all turnpike corporations thereafter 
created. By this procedure Massachusetts anticipated by forty years 
the famous " Companies' Clauses Consolidation Act " of Great Britain. 
The other New England states, however, continued the long-drawn-out 
repetition with each company formed, although Vermont, in 1808, 
formed eight corporations in one act with the routine sections enacted 
once for all of them. Otherwise throughout the turnpike history of 

[31J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

New England we find a special act of a legislature creating each 
corporation. 

As the turnpike corporations relieved the local governments of their 
obligations to maintain certain highways, it was but proper that some 
of the governmental powers should be conferred upon them. Hence 
they were granted the rights under the principle of eminent domain, 
that an obstinate landowner could not, by refusing to sell, block the 
great enterprise of such value to the public. They were further allowed 
to take over and incorporate into their roads various sections of what 
had long been public highways, freely open to all classes of travel but 
which, under the control of the turnpike corporation, became subject 
to the interruption of a gate and the demand for toll. Although the 
occasion for the last privilege was provided by the neglect or inability 
of the communities to keep the roads in proper repair, and the com- 
panies, in consideration, were bound to maintain properly such sections 
of road, the diversion from public to private control caused much hos- 
tility on the part of the local population, and was the cause of much 
litigation, and several times, of acts of violence. Many acts of the 
legislatures have been found, usually in behalf of a special corporation, 
providing penalties for damages done to the road or its gates. A popu- 
lar form of road was the " Shunpike," which was a short section leav- 
ing the turnpike on one side of a gate and joining it again on the other. 
Special and general laws were enacted to discourage such enterprises, 
and penalties were provided for evasions of toll by other means. 

What now seem pretty severe restrictions were also imposed upon 
the corporations. They were limited strictly to the building and main- 
taining of a road, and were not allowed to do any other act or thing. 
The Rhode Island acts generally permitted the companies to acquire 
and dispose of a reasonable amount of land, but in the other New 
England states the acquisition of a few acres, that the keeper of a re- 
mote tollhouse might cultivate a garden, was only allowed by special 
legislative act. When the Torrington Turnpike was laid out in Con- 
necticut, it entered the road of the Talcott Mountain Turnpike Corpora- 
tion at a flat angle, and the locating committee saw fit to include the 
little triangle in the layout of the road. But the assembly of 1805 
declared that the road was only authorized to be four rods in width, 
that the taking of such additional land was illegal, and that the land 
was still owned by the party from whom the committee had sought to 
take it. 

Rates of toll were fixed in the charter, and the number of gates which 
the company was to be allowed to erect was also specified. The location 
of the gates was determined by the committee which was appointed 
to inspect the road after completion, and gates once located by such 
committee could only be moved by legislative consent. The location 
of the road was not intrusted to the judgment of those who were in- 
vesting their money and who could best be depended upon to act con- 
[32] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

scientiously, but was delegated to a committee appointed either by the 
legislature or by the judge of the county court. Since the turnpike was 
to be for the public service, the representatives of the public fixed its 
location, as had previously been done in the laying out of public roads. 

Corporations formed in the northern New England states did not 
have a charter provision fixing the amount of their capital stock. As 
the company was to be allowed to do only certain definite things, there 
seemed to be no need of limiting the amount of money which it might 
raise, and considering the difficulty experienced by nearly all the projects 
in getting financed there was no need. The later Vermont companies 
were chartered with a nominal capital which they were at liberty to 
increase to " any necessary amount." 

There were two forms of turnpike franchises in New England. One i 
form, that most commonly found in Connecticut, was that in which an 
existing old road, badly in need of repairs and beyond the resources of 'j 
the local authorities, was declared no longer a public highway and was 
presented to a turnpike corporation organized for the purpose of put-i 
ting it in good order and thereafter maintaining it so. In the early! 
Rhode Island corporations we find the same method, notably in the case 
of the first franchise granted there. In the petition for a charter for 
that company it was recited that the petitioners had raised a certain sum 
which they would expend in specified repairs, if they might have a desig- 
nated highway to be by them maintained as a turnpike. 

The second form of franchise was that in which the intention was 
to have an entirely new road built, cutting across fields and through 
forests hitherto untouched and shortening the distance between the 
terminal points. Naturally such a road often ran into some old road 
and not infrequently followed the course of one for a little way, but it 
was seldom that a deflection to one side was made to secure such a 
result. 

The Connecticut practice in providing for such a road was for the 
assembly to pass an act describing in more or less detail the location, 
or route of the proposed road, to declare that a road was thereby laid 
out along such described route, and to decree that the same should be a 
public highway. Then the newly established public character of the road 
would be stripped from it, and a corporation would be formed for the 
purpose of building the road and operating it as a turnpike. Under this 
method the towns were required to acquire and pay for the land and to 
build the bridges, the corporation merely building the road itself, unless 
a bridge of considerable size was necessary, in which case the franchise 
might require the corporation to build it. Naturally such procedure, 
putting heavy burdens on the towns which they were not willing to 
assume, for conveniences which they themselves had not desired, caused 
much dissatisfaction, and in 1803 New Milford, at a town meeting, 
appointed a committee to confer with other towns in an effort to have 
the granting of such turnpike franchises stopped. But the effort did 

[33] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



not succeed and many more such turnpikes were established. It can 
easily be conceived that after a lapse of several years some confusion 
arose as to the responsibility for different bridges, and a general act 
of the Connecticut assembly was needed to straighten out the difficulty. 

In most of the early Massachusetts charters for roads of this class 
it was directed that the turnpike should be built in as straight a line 
as possible, and this was nearly always done with unfortunate results, 
as the resultant location led up and down hill regardless of grades, and, 
disregarding centers of population, usually rendered the road of little 
practical use. It does not appear, however, that this condition was 
imposed without the consent of the persons incorporated, for the one 
idea pervading the minds of turnpike promoters seemed to be to build 
in a straight line whenever possible. In fact the crookedness of existing 
roads was the chief argument used by petitioners for turnpike fran- 
chises, and hence they were more or less bound to build straight roads. 

A quaint old book, published In 1806, entitled " Rural Economy," 
by S. W. Johnson, contains some ambitious sections on turnpikes. Of 
their layout it says : 

The shortest line is a straight one and can not be rivalled, and as such merits the 
first consideration. 

The author advised laying out the route on the ground by that principle, 
and that it be abandoned only in the face of " innumerable obstruc- 
tions." The maximum angle of ascent should be exceeded if thereby 
the straight line could be maintained. 

Nearly all the Massachusetts turnpikes were of this latter class, of 
which the Newburyport, the Norfolk and Bristol, and the New Bedford 
and Bridgewater furnish striking illustrations. 

Only two tj^es of road were ever specified in the New England 
charters. There was the " turnpike-road," with no attempt to describe 
its character or quality, and the " plank road." In the former case the 
corporation was left free to choose whether it would build a high-grade 
macadam road or just clear away the trees and sod and make a common 
dirt road. Where plank-road franchises were granted some very simple 
specifications were generally included in the charter, requiring that the 
" track of the road " should be laid with plank " or some other hard 
material," and that it should present a smooth and even surface. Only 
about a half-dozen plank roads were ever built in New England, and 
those were in Vermont and Connecticut. 

The modern public-service commissions were anticipated by Con- 
necticut as early as 1803, when an act was passed providing that two 
commissioners should be appointed annually for each turnpike in the 
state, with powers to inspect and compel repairs. Vermont enacted a 
more practical law in 1806 by providing for the appointment of three 
turnpike inspectors for each county, with authority over all roads within 
their territory. In Massachusetts a provision by which a justice of the 
[34] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

court of common pleas could order repairs and enforce his order ap- 
pears in i'8o5, and in 1840 such powers were conferred upon the county 
commissioners. In all the states the turnpikes were liable to indictment 
for being in bad order, which rendered the corporation liable to a fine, 
the same as in the case of the towns. But it would seem that it was 
often cheaper to pay a fine than to make repairs, so the officials men- 
tioned above were given power to throw open the tollgates when their 
orders were not obeyed. 

Rosy hopes were entertained in all the New England states of the 
financial success of turnpikes. No limit to the life of the franchises was 
thought necessary, other than the provision that, when the investors had 
been repaid their original investment plus interest at the rate of twelve 
per cent, the road should revert to the public. With the possible ex- 
ception of the turnpike between Providence and Pawtucket, not one 
New England road ever came within gunshot of realizing such expec- 
tations, the best Massachusetts road, that of the Salem Turnpike 
Corporation, reporting an average net earning of three and one tenth 
per cent over a period of sixty years. 

Under authority of these turnpike charters roads were built all over 
New England, except in Maine, where few obtained a footing. Every 
town of any importance, and many of none, had its turnpike connections, 
often radiating in all directions, while the routes leading from the more 
populous centers were frequently paralleled and but a short distance 
apart. 

The turnpike era began In New England in 1792, when the first 
turnpike was established between New London and Norwich, and It may 
be said to have ended about 1850, although at the opening of the year 
19 17 there were four companies still doing business in New Hampshire, 
and one in Vermont. Contrary to the general impression the railroads 
were not usually responsible for the cessation of turnpike operation. 
In the few cases where favorable conditions had kept the old toll roads 
alive until the invasion of their territory by the locomotive, it was but 
natural that the competition should relegate the old-fashioned methods 
to the past; but in the majority of cases the turnpikes had given up the 
struggle before the appearance of the rival. It was simply a case of 
not enough business to make the investment pay. 

There were three grades of turnpike roads as constructed in America 
but, owing to the rigors of the New England winters, one of them was 
not adapted for this section. Hence we had two grades within the scope 
of this volume : 

First, those where the only improvement consisted in the reduction of 
hills, and in the formation of a convex roadbed with ditches on the 
sides, using the natural soil for making the road. By cutting the hills 
to a determined grade the angle of ascent was made much easier, en- 
abling the horses to draw larger and heavier loads; and by the shaping 
and ditching of the roadway standing water was prevented and the 

[35] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

road kept dry. Such roads cost, in Massachusetts, from six hundred 
to a thousand dollars a mile, but were expensive to maintain, as the 
wheels of passing vehicles made ruts in the soft material, in which 
the water would stand, softening the entire structure. 

The second class, of which there were but few, comprised those roads 
where a substantial surface of gravel was provided, supposedly of suf- 
ficient depth to withstand the action of the frost. Such were known as 
" artificial roads " on account of the material for the surfacing being 
brought from some other place, and in distinction from the " natural 
roads," where the surface was made from the soil on the spot or thrown 
out in digging the ditches. The only roads in Massachusetts surely of 
this class were the Newburyport, the 'Salem, and the Norfolk and 
Bristol, or the Providence Road. 

One of the great points gained by the construction of turnpikes was 
the establishment of easier grades than those previously maintained. 
The advantage thus obtained was thus expressed in the old days : 

It is found that, upon a slope of one in forty-four or one hundred and twenty 
feet to the mile, a horse can draw three quarters as much as he can upon a level. 
On a slope of one in twenty-four or two hundred and twenty feet to the mile, one 
half as much, and on a slope of one in ten or five hundred and twenty-eight feet to 
the mile, one quarter as much. But these proportions vary with the condition of the 
road, the grade being virtually increased by its softness. 

The comparative advantages of different kinds of surfacing was 
expressed in rather a back-handed way, for they said: 

The greatest estimated inclination down which a horse can safely trot is one in 
fifteen on a gravel or dirt road, one in thirty-five or forty on a macadamized road, 
and one in sixty on roads paved with blocks. 

In a report made in 1831 by the canal commissioners of Pennsyl- 
vania, the increased efficiency of teams resulting from turnpike construc- 
tion was stated to be sufficient to enable four horses which would draw 
on a common road. In addition to the weight of the wagon containing 
the load, one ton a distance of twelve miles, to move on a turnpike with 
grades not exceeding five degrees (eight and seven tenths per cent) one 
and one half tons a distance of eighteen miles. In other words, the 
energy which was necessary to move one ton twelve miles on the old 
roads was sufficient to move the same ton twenty-seven miles on a turn- 
pike, — an increased efficiency of one hundred and twenty-five per cent. 

In his efforts to compile all available Information for his report to 
the senate, to which reference was had on our earlier pages. Secretary 
Gallatin sought a report from Robert Fulton, the distinguished inventor. 
In his reply, which was really an extended argument against turnpikes 
and in favor of canals, Fulton gave figures on the cost of transportation 
over turnpikes, from which it Is figured that the toll charges amounted 
to slightly over 1.35 cents per ton per mile, and that the entire cost, 
including wages, feed, tolls, wear and tear, etc., of moving flour from 
[36] 




Wooden plow in Fairbanks Museum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. 
Digging and removing Beacon Hill, Boston 

Plate X — How the Work was done 







X! 

H 
P4 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



Columbia to Philadelphia was 13.51 cents per ton-mile. A load ranged 
from five to seven thousand pounds and traveled about eighteen miles 
per day. The freight rate from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was from 
two to two and a half dollars a hundred pounds; and from Philadelphia 
to Columbia, a distance of seventy-four miles, the rate was from thirty- 
seven and a half to fifty cents. 

In 1794, previous to turnpike improvements, the cost of shipping 
goods to Pittsburgh by wagon ranged from five to ten dollars a hundred 
pounds. The price of salt In that remote frontier town, was five dollars 
a bushel, and Iron and steel sold for fifteen to twenty cents a pound 
owing to the expense of transportation, the source of the iron of the 
country being then near the coast. 



HOW THE WORK WAS DONE 

In these days of labor-saving machinery and devices for performing 
enormous amounts of work, It is difficult to Imagine the difficulties under 
which the turnpike constructors labored. There were no factories In 
which the ordinary tools of daily life were manufactured In quantities, 
and they were not to be found In larger amounts than probably half a 
dozen In the stores. If a man wanted a shovel, a pick, rake, or hoe, 
he might find one in a store, but more likely he would have to wait the 
convenience of the local blacksmith, who would hammer them out one 
at a time on his order. 

From Bishop's " History of Manufacturing " we learn that the great 
shovel factory of the Ames Company, In North Easton, Massachu- 
setts, was founded In the most primitive manner in 1804 by Oliver 
Ames, Sr. Procuring the material for about a dozen shovels, he would 
proceed to fashion them In his shop, after which he would journey to 
the town for the purpose of selling them. With the proceeds, stock for 
another dozen would be bought. So we can see that, during the period 
of turnpike construction, few shovels were to be had at short notice. 
Ozlel Wilkinson, who had the contract for building thirteen miles of 
the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike In 1805—06, was obliged to set up 
a shop of his own In Pawtucket, In which he manufactured the shovels 
and picks needed for his work. 

Carts and wagons were no more easily obtained, each one being 
" custom made " by a local smith, who probably made no more than 
three or four in a prosperous year. Had it not been possible to hire 
as laborers the farmers along the route, with their horses, carts, and 
tools, It Is doubtful If the work could have been accomplished at all. 

The grading of the roadbed was accomplished, as it would be to-day, 
by shoveling the earth into carts and hauHng it to Its destination and 
shaping it to finished form by rakes or hoes. 

Ledges were drilled by hand with locally made drills. The time fuse 
was unknown then, and the old method of laying a train of powder was 

[37] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

used to explode the blasting charges of powder. The hole having been 
drilled and loaded, a long hollow quill was inserted in the powder with 
its upper end above the surface of the rock. The tamping was then 
placed around the quill which, filled with powder and connected with 
the train, carried the fire to the charge. 

The line was staked out by means of a surveyor's compass like those 
in use to-day, or with a circumferentor, an instrument long forgotten. 
For work of the most exacting character there was available an instru- 
ment of greater precision, including a telescope with cross hairs; but 
such instruments were few and only to be had at great expense. The 
engineer's transit did not appear until after 1830. In Robert Gibson's 
"The Theory and Practice of Surveying," published in 181 1, the cir- 
cumferentor is thus described: 

This instrument is composed of a brass circular box, about five or six inches in 
diameter, within which is a brass ring, divided on the top into 360 degrees, and num- 
bered 10, 20, 30, etc. to 360: In the center of the box is fixed a steel pin, finely 
pointed, called a center pin, on which is placed a needle touched by a loadstone, 
which always retains the same situation ; that is, it always points to the North and 
South points of the horizon nearly, when the instrument is horizontal and the needle 
at rest. . . . This box is fixed by screws, to a brass index or ruler, of about 14 or 
15 inches In length, to the ends whereof are fixed brass sights, which are screwed to 
the index, and stand perpendicular thereto; in each sight is a large and small aper- 
ture, or slit, one over the other. . . . Set on ball and socket and on the head of a 
three legged staff, whose legs, when extended, support the instrument whilst it is 
used. 

These instruments were operated by " mearsmen," and anyone who 
has motored over the Newburyport, Salem, Norfolk and Bristol, or 
New Bedford and Bridgewater turnpikes will join in a tribute to the 
skill with which those crude old-time instruments were made to project 
long straight lines. Johnson said, in his " Rural Economy," that when 
the extreme points of a long line cannot be taken at one operation, that 
is, when the straight section is so long that its entire length cannot be 
seen from one position of the instrument, more accuracy than that of 
a quarter compass or circumferentor will be needed. Then would be 
required the use of a " telescope with intersecting hairs." 

An anticipation of the present-day wye level, " a telescope with a 
spirit level," was used in connection with " station staves " in running 
the levels and determining the grades. Horizontal measurements were 
taken with a " Gunter's chain of four poles or perches, which consists 
of one hundred links." Thanks to old deeds any modern surveyor 
knows about Gunter's chain — that it was sixty-six feet long and each 
link, consequently, 7.92 inches. 



PLANK ROADS 

When the pioneer road builders had occasion to cross a swampy 
piece of ground they made a bed of tree trunks set transversely to the 

[38] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

road and closely adjacent to each other. This form of road was called 
" corduroy," and over It the vehicles went in a succession of bumps, 
painful to the traveler and destructive to the running gear. Of such a 
piece of road, encountered between Columbus and Sandusky, Dickens 
wrote : 

A great portion of the way was over what is called a corduroy road which Is 
made by throwing trunks of trees into a marsh, and leaving them to settle there. 
The very slightest of the jolts with which the ponderous carriage fell from log to 
log, was enough it seemed, to have dislocated all the bones in the human body. . . . 
Never, never once that day, was the coach in any position, attitude, or kind of 
motion to which we are accustomed in coaches. 

But crude and pain-productive as those old corduroy roads were, they 
were founded on scientific principles of economy and stable foundation 
in insecure places, and it is but natural that their use should have been 
continued after sawmills had made it possible to lay timbers of uni- 
form thickness. Of the same class were the plank roads so popular 
in the interior states, but refined and made more endurable by the ad- 
vance in mechanic arts. 

From a small book with a large title, — " The History, Structure, 
and Statistics of Plank Roads," — published In 1850 by W. Kingsford, 
much regarding such roads is learned. They were In nearly all cases 
of single track, laid on the right side of the road as one faced the large 
town to which it led. In the prairie regions the planking lay on the 
original surface of the ground, but in some places a small amount of 
grading was needed to avoid short steep ascents. The subgrade once 
established, longitudinal trenches were dug in which sills consisting of 
three-Inch plank four and eight inches wide were placed, and on them 
were laid the planks, three inches thick and eight feet long, at right 
angles to the direction of the road. The sills were set slightly below 
the surface of the ground, and the planks were pounded down to rest 
upon them by means of a large wooden mallet known as a " com- 
mander." No nails or pins were then needed to hold the planks down, 
and it is reported that it was hard work to take one of them up. After 
the planks were laid the earth was packed against their ends and soundly 
tamped into place. The portion of the highway not occupied by the 
plank road was usually maintained as a common dirt road and was 
locally known as the " turn-off," because light loads had to leave the 
planks and follow it when passing a team proceeding the other way. In 
order that a wagon might regain the planked surface without its wheels 
sliding along the edges, the planks were staggered, that is, one half of 
them had their ends in a line straight with each other, while the other 
half were alternately advanced to a line six inches farther out, producing 
a border effect like the battlements of a castle. Ordinarily two stringers 
were used but occasionally three. Over the completed planking a layer 
of sand was spread and maintained, which preserved the road by reduc- 
ing the cutting by the calks of the horseshoes. It was claimed for this 

[39] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

coating that a saving of forty to fifty per cent was secured in the wear 
of the road. Very few double-track roads were ever laid, and in the 
few cases it was preferred to lay two single tracks, apart from each 
other and supposedly on opposite sides of the " turn-out." 

Yellow pine was preferred for the planking in central New York, 
on account of its durability and freedom from knots, but hemlock and 
white pine were extensively used, while beech, maple, and elm were 
employed in some places. 

It can readily be understood that timber laid in such positions was 
subject to early decay unless extra precautions were taken to avoid 
wetting. A ditch was usually required along one side of the road at 
a depth of two feet below the surface of the planking, and the roadbed 
itself was given a side pitch of one inch in all places where the longi- 
tudinal inclination was not sufficient for drainage of the surface. 

The first application of the plank principle in the western continent, 
and probably in the world, occurred in Toronto In 1835, when the north- 
erly extension of Yonge Street was built In that way. The cost of the 
planks and labor of laying them was reported as five hundred and 
twenty-five pounds for one mile, besides which was the cost of ditching 
and the application of a coat of sand. During the next ten years about 
four hundred and forty-two miles of plank roads were laid in Canada. 

Commencing about 1846 that form of construction was begun in 
New York, and In 1850 twenty-one hundred and six miles were either 
completed or in process of construction. They seem to have been built 
in radiating clusters around various important towns. One hundred 
and sixty-three miles centered in Utica, one hundred and forty-eight 
miles in Rome, ninety-nine miles In Syracuse, while Rochester, In 1850, 
had only two roads with a mileage of eleven and one half completed, 
but seven other roads, with a mileage of one hundred and thirty were 
being built. 

Fifty per cent additional tractive efficiency was claimed for plank 
roads over the type of macadam road then in use, and a great saving 
in first cost and maintenance was shown. Of course the planks would 
rapidly decay, and It was considered necessary to figure that a road 
Avould have to be rebuilt at the end of every seven years. 

Nineteen New York roads cost from $1 150 to $2555, or an average 
of $1575 per mile. Some of them are still In existence, and anyone 
having occasion to appraise them at replacement value should note 
that the hemlock plank wac bought at a price of from five to seven 
dollars per thousand, while beech and maple cost as much as nine dol- 
lars and fifty cents. The land had generally been given for the purposes 
of a road, without cost. 

Tolls in New York were limited so as not to exceed one and one- 
half cents a mile for a vehicle drawn by two animals, with other rates 
in proportion. Kingsford stated that there was not a case known of 
plank-road stock selling at a discount, and he noted several companies 
[40] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

which, after setting aside enough to provide for relaying at the end 
of seven years, had declared dividends of from ten to twenty per cent. 

New Jersey had several plank roads, among the most notable of 
which was the one across the marshes between Newark and Jersey City. 

In response to a petition from the inhabitants of the district the 
New Jersey legislature of 1765 provided for the building of a road 

from Newark, in Essex County, to the road from Bergen Point to Paulus Hook, on 
Hudson River, 

with the privilege of maintaining ferries at the crossings of the Hacken- 
sack and Passaic rivers. The act formed nine commissioners into " a 
Body Politick and Corporate In Fact and Name to all Intents and 
Purposes fore-ever " under the name of " The Trustees of the Road 
and Ferries from Newark to the road leading from Bergen Point to 
Paulus Hook." These trustees were to construct the road and estab- 
lish the ferries by means of voluntary contributions up to five thousand 
pounds. No tolls were to be collected for traveling on the road, but 
ferriage was to be exacted from all except the governor and his at- 
tendants, it ^apparently being expected that the proceeds of such collec- 
tions would be sufficient to maintain the road and ferries when once 
established. 

The portion of the road between the two ferries was over the 
marshes sometimes called the Newark marshes, and there the road 
builders were called upon to exercise all their ingenuity to maintain a 
road upon the shaky and insecure soil. The difficulty was solved by 
the primitive corduroy road, and a causeway of that form was laid 
soon after 1765. Over this causeway the brillianC but ill-fated Girondist 
leader, Brissot de Warville, traveled soon after the American Revolu- 
tion, and of it he wrote : 

Built wholly of wood, with much labor and perseverance, in the midst of water, on 
a soil that trembles under j'our -feet, it proves to what point may be carried the 
patience of man, who is determined to conquer nature. 

This old road, with frequent repairs and leveling of Its roughest places, 
served the traveling public for about eighty-five years, at the end of 
which time an up-to-date plank road assumed Its burdens. 

That the rough corduroy was not satisfactory is seen from the In- 
corporation of a turnpike company In 1828, to which was to be given 
the old road with the privilege of tolls upon It, if a new macadam 
roadbed was built in place of the bed of logs. This venture, the Pas- 
saic and Hackensack Road and Ferry Company, was too far in advance 
of the times. No means being then known of constructing a firm road 
on such a bottom, the company failed to fulfill its mission. One feature 
in the charter of this company is to be noted. It was forbidden to 
erect bridges at the crossings of the large rivers and was only to be 
allowed to maintain the long-established ferries. Under authority of 
an act passed In 1790 bridges had been built across the Passaic and 

[41] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Hackensack, at another location, by certain parties who claimed for 
their charter an interpretation by which they were given exclusive rights 
to bridge those streams. For many years they maintained their posi- 
tion, but the courts finally decided the matter more consistently with the 
public interests. 

This highway entered upon its plank-road era soon after the in- 
corporation of the Newark Plank Road and Ferry Company in 1849. 
This company was allowed to take over the old road and rebuild it 
with a planked surface not less than twenty-four nor more than sixty 
feet wide, using the old ferries for passage over the rivers. Evidently 
the lack of modern means of crossing the waters proved too much of 
a handicap, for in 1852 the company secured authority to build a bridge 
over the Hackensack on line of the " plank road to be made.'''' This 
proved sufficient bait for capital and the road was completed, and, 
three years later, permission to bridge the Passaic was granted. The 
travel must have been very heavy between Newark and Jersey City 
at this time to give encouragement for so much work, when there were 
already in existence two turnpikes between the same places, of which one 
at least was proivided with suitable bridges. The Gazetteer of New 
Jersey, published in 1834, records a steamboat twice a day from Newark 
to New York, averaging seventy-five passengers a trip, and two lines 
of stages, " almost hourly," carrying about eight hundred passengers 
a week. Across the Hudson two steamboats plied at fifteen-minute 
intervals from New York to Jersey City. 

Under authority, granted in 1859, to replace its planks with a gravel 
roadway, the company rebuilt all of its road except the two miles be- 
tween the two rivers, which section remained a plank road until its 
final reconstruction m 1^12. Inigii this road was said to be the most 
heavily traveled in the country, on account of the large exports of 
manufactured goods which centered at the Jersey City docks. A traffic 
census taken at that time showed an ave-rage of two thousand seven 
hundred vehicles a day, the average weight being estimated at three 
and a half tons each. Many large pieces of heavy machinery, loads of 
castings, oilcloth, linoleum, and beer in kegs, products of Newark's 
industries, passed over the planks with such destructive effect that a 
permanent force of fifty men was maintained to make repairs. The 
average life of a plank was only sixty days, and the annual expense of 
renewals was about ten thousand dollars a mile. 

The planked section was rebuilt in 19 10-12 with two twenty-nine- 
foot roadways, two ten-foot sidewalks, and a twenty-two-foot reserva- 
tion for a double-track electric-car line. A heavy fill was laid to a 
grade eight feet above the marsh level, and the roadways were paved, 
one with granite blocks, as It had to carry a heavier tonnage than the 
other, and the contra-bound, with creosoted wood blocks.^ 

In Massachusetts the Plum Island Turnpike was at one time laid 

* Engineering Record, Volume 65, page 182. 
[42] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

with plank. One corporation was formed in New Hampshire to build 
a planic road, but no reason has been found to believe that its purpose 
ever was realized. Vermont created fourteen companies, and Con- 
necticut, during the years 1851, 1852, and 1853, granted incorporation 
to seven companies for that purpose. 

Plank roads were particularly well adapted to the needs of regions 
possessing rich soils with a deficiency of gravel, and they are still found 
to be economical in the Central States. There the planked surface will 
be frequently met, but the tollgate has now become a part of the un- 
regretted past. 



THE VEHICLES THAT USED THE TURNPIKES 

Although some form of wagon or cart was in use in very early days, 
no marked improvement in its form or construction was effected until 
the day of the turnpike, when a greater demand for wheeled convey- 
ances arose. 

The earliest form of vehicle of which we have evidence is the sledge, 
which is pictured in ancient Egyptian sculpture' found in the Temple 
of Luxor in Thebes. This crude form of conveyance consisted merely 
of two long runners slightly turned up in front, to which were attached 
several crosspieces on which the load was carried. As practically no 
region possessed any roads worthy of the name, it was in the countries 
of flat wastes and level plains, such as Egypt and Philistia, that the 
earliest form of wheeled cart was seen, a form that is said to be still 
in use in parts of Chili. 

Wheeled vehicles are frequently mentioned in the Bible under vari- 
ous names, which do not necessarily indicate as many forms. We are 
told that Jacob's family was sent to him in a wagon, and again we learn 
that Joseph had the distinction of riding in Pharaoh's second chariot. 
Pharaoh had many war chariots, and such weapons were very numerous 
in a battle fought about 1500 B. c. 

Some wheels, very much like our modern ones, were dug out of the 
ruins of Pompeii, and some wall decorations uncovered there pictured 
a wheeled vehicle which looked like the modern conveyance on which 
dishes are conveyed in dining rooms. But under the Romans the de- 
velopment of carriages was almost entirely confined to war chariots, 
and it was many centuries before any industrial use was made of wheels 
or pleasure derived by their means. 

Gradually, however, between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, 
several forms of crude carriages and coaches appeared, all supported 
on the axles, until about the year 1600, when the idea of slinging the 
body between the axles by means of leather straps was advanced. Such 
an acme of comfort and ease was good enough for the travelers of the 
next hundred years, and it was not until about 1700 that the advantage 

[43] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

of steel springs began to be utilized. But it cannot be imagined that 
at that early date steel springs could be produced cheaply enough for 
general use, and it Is doubtful If any were used by those of other than 
royal blood for the next seventy-five years. The springs were not of 
the style to which we are now accustomed, but were upright bars 
mounted rigidly on each axle at the base and inclining slightly inward. 
From the top of the forward to the upper end of the backward spring 
leather straps extended in which the body of the vehicle was hung, thus 
deriving easy motion from the bending tendency of the steel members. 

But that such springs were either unsatisfactory or that the cost was 
prohibitive Is plainly to be seen from the fact that litters In which 
horses' bodies took the place of wheels continued In popular and fashion- 
able use until the middle of the eighteenth century. 

In " Coaches and Carriages," by Ralph Straus, we read that stage- 
coaches first appeared on English roads about 1640, and that twenty- 
two years later there were less than a dozen In operation. But even 
that limited service had called forth denunciations from some who fore- 
saw ruin to the nation on account of the ease with which " simple country 
wives " could visit London and there acquire habits of indolence and 
vice. Stages increased more in numbers than in quality, and by 1734 
there was a considerable business being done over a large part of the 
kingdom. Sir Walter Scott has left us a description of the coaches of 
that date. It reads: 

They were " constructed principally of a dull black leather thickly studded by 
way of ornament with black headed nails tracing out the panels in the upper tier of 
which were four oval windows with heavy red wooden frames and green stuff or 
leathern curtains. Upon the doors also there appeared but little of that gay blazonry 
which shines upon the numerous quadrigae of the present time; but there were dis- 
played in large characters the names of the places whence the coach started and 
whither it went, stated in quaint and ancient language. The vehicles themselves 
varied in shape. Sometimes they were like a distiller's vat ; sometimes flattened and 
hung equally balanced between the immense front and back springs; in other in- 
stances they resembled a violoncello case which was past all comparison the most 
fashionable form; and they hung in a more genteel posture, namely inclining onto 
the back springs and giving to those who sat within the appearance of a stiff Guy 
Faux uneasily seated. The roofs of the coaches in most cases rose into a swelling 
curve which was sometimes surrounded by a high iron guard. 

Behind the coach was the immense basket stretching far and wide behmd the 
body to which it was attached by long iron bars or supports passing beneath it; 
though even these seemed scarcely equal to the enormous weight with which they 
were frequently loaded. 

The post chaises, of which we read so much in English literature, 
appeared in England in 1743 after they had been In use in France for 
over eighty years. At first they were two-wheeled affairs with a door 
In front, which was hinged at the bottom and fell forward on a small 
dasher. The wheels were lofty and the body was In front of them, 
supported on the long shafts, suspended at first in leather braces but 
later from upright springs. By 1753 the bodies had been enlarged 
[44] 



&#'• 







X 

f- 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

to more resemblance of a coach, having a high coachman's box, while 
the running gear had been enlarged to four wheels. 

The turnpike era was preceded in England by the " War of the 
Wheels " in the early seventeen hundreds. The wear of the surface of 
the poor roads of that time had become so serious and the expense of 
repairs so heavy that efforts were made to compel the wagoners to use 
wheels with rims wide enough to practically form road rollers. A few 
acts of Parliament were passed requiring an excessive width of rim and 
that the rear wheels should not follow in the track of those forward, 
but it was soon recognized that such demands obliged the carrier to 
carry an excessive weight and to perform physical labor far in excess 
of that required to move his loads. It was next sought to solve the 
difficulty by means of turnpikes. 

An old coach builder, William Felton, wrote his reminiscences in 
1790 and said: 

In the year 1790 the art of coach building had been In a gradual state of im- 
provement for half a century past and had now arrived at a very high degree of 
perfection with respect to the beauty, strength, and elegance of our English carriages. 

The half-century which Mr. Felton noted covers the period of early 
turnpike development in England, and the date 1790 is interesting as 
the opening of the turnpike era in America. So the improvements due 
to turnpikes in England bring us to the vehicles which were available 
for importation and copying in America when the turnpikes of this 
country called for better means of transportation over them. 

Chauncey Thomas has written ^ that the volume of business done by 
American carriage manufacturers in 1795 was exceedingly small. 
Technical knowledge was not wanting, for there were many shops which 
had been established in colonial days where fine carriages were occa- 
sionally built and many imported vehicles repaired. But business 
languished for lack of customers. The hard times which followed the 
Revolution made simplicity a virtue, and the luxury of a carriage was 
not suited to the democratic habits which then prevailed. All parts 
of the largest towns were within walking distance of each other, and 
there was but little occasion to visit neighboring places. 

But as the country grew prosperous a demand arose for vehicles for 
business, pleasure, and travel, and several varieties developed. Among 
them the principal were the chaise, curricle, chair, chariot, phaeton, 
whisky or gig, coach, landau, and many types of wagons and carts 
for working purposes. 

The chaise was early in great demand, and down to 1840 it seemed 
that nothing could ever supplant it in popular favor. The earlier forms 
had enormously high wheels and the tops were stationary, being sup- 
ported on iron posts. Curtains of painted canvas or leather covered 
the sides and back, and the vehicle was often unprovided with dasher 

' "American Carriage and Wagon Works," in "One Hundred Years of American Commerce." 

[45] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

or apron. In later years they were provided with folding tops which, 
with the dasher and cushioned seats, made it a carriage of luxury. 
The accompanying illustration clearly shows the details of such a car- 
riage. The one pictured, now in the Fairbanks Museum of Natural 
Science in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, was long in service in and around 
Providence, carrying the well-known Doctor Brown on his visits. 

The curricle was an ancient form of vehicle, having been in use in 
Italy for many years, where it was suspended on leather braces. Springs 
were added by the French, and the English altered the shape, giving 
the back a graceful ogee curve, improving the hood, and adding a spring 
bar across the horses' backs. It was a vehicle of easy draft and could 
be driven at great speed, but it was rather dangerous if the horse shied 
or stumbled. In Europe the horses were usually attached in a span, but 
in America they were driven tandem. It seems to have been an equipage 
of less luxury than a chaise, although generally closely resembling one. 
In the toll rates the curricle was commonly allowed to pass for a smaller 
sum. The curricle was drawn by two horses, the chaise by one. 

The chair, commonly pronounced " cheer," was the only traveling 
vehicle seen in the rural regions in 1800, according to Stratton in " The 
World on Wheels," and the cost of one was no inconsiderable sum. It 
was hung upon springs made of wood, generally with rude bow or 
standing-tops of round iron, hung around with painted cloth curtains. 
The linings and cushions stuffed with " swingling-tow," sometimes with 
salt hay, were, in those primitive times of simplicity and innocence, 
deemed good enough for any American sovereign. 

The chariot was really half a coach, having only one seat, while 
the coach had two. Each was hung high above the ground in order to 
clear the heavy wooden timbers which connected the two axles, which 
were far apart on account of the large size of the wheels. The bodies 
were inclosed and were hung by leather braces from scroll-shaped steel 
springs which inclined upward at an angle of about fifteen degrees 
from the perpendicular. The rear spring was called a " whip spring " 
and the front an " elbow spring." 

Of phaetons there were many varieties, none of which were driven 
by coachmen. Young England in those days delighted in very lofty 
phaetons and fast driving. The style continued to develop until It 
culminated in an excessively high type which the witty Irish dubbed 
a " suicide." These were four-wheeled carriages. The one-horse 
phaeton had the body over the hind axle, where it was hung on- grass- 
hopper springs which were bolted to the axle and connected with 
the body by scroll irons. The body was joined to the front wheels, 
where there were no springs, by wooden stays, which were slightly 
goosenecked to allow the front wheels to cut-under. Naturally with all 
that space between the axles, and with the body set back far enough to 
clear the turning of the front wheels, the horse was a considerable dis- 
tance In advance of its driver. 
[46] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



The whisky, or giig, has been perpetuated In the gig or racing sulky 
of the present day. 

The landau was an improved form of coach in which the roof 
parted in the middle and folded back each way to an angle of forty- 
five degrees, making a more agreeable carriage for pleasant weather. 

Of the vehicles in use in 1790 Thrupp says in his " History of 
Coaches," that the woodwork was heavier and the ironwork lighter 
than in later days. The iron frequently broke both on account of its 
insufficient proportions and its poor quality, but the axles being more 
carefully made gave little trouble. The wheels were very high and 
appeared light. The extreme height was five feet and eight inches, 
which size was made with fourteen spokes, and the smallest size, three 
feet and six inches, had eight. All bodies hung high in order to clear 
the perch, which was the name given to the heavy connection between 
the two axles. The larger wheeled vehicles were hung upon framed 
carriages which supported the upright springs. 

In 1804 Obadiah Elliot invented the elliptic spring which, with the 
reduction in the size of the wheels, brought the bodies much nearer 
the ground. This was the most pronounced advance which had been 
made in carriage development. 

In the early years of the century business In the old carriage towns 
was done on what was called the " dicker " system, wrote Thomas. 
Woodworkers, blacksmiths, trimmers, and painters each did business 
on his own account and swapped parts, as they termed It, the final settle- 
ments being made in finished carriages. The dealer In materials also 
took carriages in payment. The workmen were paid In orders for 
goods, and money was almost unknown. The old operators used to say 
that this plan was much safer than the cash system, there being fewer 
failures and less danger of getting Involved In debt. But those old 
customs had their day, and gradually the business became concentrated, 
until now we have the enormous factories with their constant outpouring 
of finished products. 

The romantic interest of the old turnpikes centers about the stage- 
coaches, and of them we have several accounts, of which we will repeat 
the three quoted by Professor KIttredge In " The Old Farmer and his 
Almanack." 

The first Is from the pen of Thomas Twining and refers to his jour- 
ney from. Philadelphia to Baltimore In 1795: 

The vehicle was a long car with four benches. Three of these in the interior 
held nine passengers, and a tenth passenger was seated by the side of the driver on 
the front bench. A light roof was supported by eight slender pillars, four on each 
side. Three l^rge leather curtains suspended to the roof, one at each side and one 
behind, were rolled up or lowered at the pleasure of the passengers. There was no 
space nor place for luggage, each person being expected to stow his things as he could 
under his seat or legs. The entrance was in front, over the driver's bench. Of 
course the three passengers on the back seat were obliged to crawl across all the 
other benches to get to their places. There were no backs to the benches to support 

[47] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

and relieve us during a rough and fatiguing journey over a newly and ill-made road. 
It would be unreasonable to expect perfection in the arrangements of a new country ; 
but though this rude conveyance was not without its advantages, and was really 
more suitable to the existing state of American roads than an English stage coach 
would have been, it might have been rendered more convenient in some respects 
without much additional expense. Thus a mere strap behind the seats would have 
been a great comfort, and the ponderous leather curtains, which extended the whole 
length of the wagon, would have been much more convenient divided into two or 
three parts, and with a glass, however small, in each division to give light to the pas- 
sengers in bad weather, and enable them to have a glimpse of the country. The dis- 
posal of the luggage also was extremely incommodious, not only to the owner but to 
his neighbors. We were quite full, having ten passengers besides the driver.^ 

The second example is from Melish's " Travels," and has to do with 
intercourse between Boston and New York in 1806: 

The mail stages here are altogether dififerent in construction from the mail 
coaches in Britain. They are long machines, hung upon leather braces, with three 
seats across, of a sufficient length to accommodate three persons each, who all sit 
with their faces towards the horses. The driver sits under cover, without any 
division between him and the passengers ; and there is room for a person to sit on 
each side of him. The driver, by the post-office regulations, must be a white man, 
and he has the charge of the mail, which is placed in a box below his seat. There is 
no guard. The passengers' luggage is put below the seats, or tied on behind the 
stage. They put nothing on the top, and they take no outside passengers. The 
stages are slightly built, and the roof suspended on pillars; with a curtain, to be let 
down or folded up at pleasure. The conveyance is easy, and in summer very agree- 
able ; but it must be excessively cold in winter.^ 

For our third description we are indebted to Abdy, the Oxonian, who 
is telling what happened to him in New England in 1833 : 

An English coachman would have been somewhat amused with the appearance 
of the stage and the costume of the driver. The former was similar to some that are 
common enough in France, though not known on our side of the channel. It was 
on leathern springs; the boot and the hind part being appropriated to the luggage, 
while the box was occupied by two passengers in addition to the " conducteur," and 
as many on the roof. On the top, secured by an iron rail, were some of the trunks 
and boxes, and inside were places for nine; two seats being affixed to the ends, and 
one, parallel to them, across the middle of the carriage. Our driver sat between 
two of the outsides, and when there was but one on the box, over the near wheeler ; 
and holding the reins, or lines, as he called them, in such a manner as to separate his 
team into couples, not a-breast, but in a line or tandem fashion, drove along with 
considerable skill and dexterity. When he got down, he fastened the ribbons to a 
ring or a post in front of the house where he had occasion to pull up.^ 

The primitive form of stage described as in use in 1806 was soon 
superseded by the egg-shaped coach, which is the form commonly pic- 
tured on the old stage-coach bills. In this type the body was hung in 
leather braces high above the ground in order to clear the connection 
between the front pin and the rear axle, which was high on account of 

' " Travels in America One Hundred Years Ago, being Kotes and Reminiscences by Thomas 
Twining." 

^ "Travels in the United States of America," John Melish. 

' "Journal of a Residence and Tour in the United States from April, 1833, to October, 1834," 
E. S. Abdy. 

[48] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

the large size of the wheels. There were three seats inside, as described 
by Abdy, with a seat and footboard in front on the outside. The base 
of the body and the roof curved symmetrically forrning an oval from 
which the resemblance to an egg was fancied, while the boot for bag- 
gage on the rear was inclosed by curtains which made a tangent to the 
roof curve and fell behind the rear wheels. Such were the stages during 
the teens and twenties of the nineteenth century. With the easy en- 
trance and exit by means of a side door, the easy motion due to the 
leather hangers, and the three large windows by which the entire upper 
half of the side was open to daylight, such a vehicle must have seemed 
the climax of luxurious traveling to those who had been accustomed 
to the crude " machines " described by Melish. 

The well-known Concord coach was introduced about 1828 by Lewis 
Downing who, about fifteen years earlier, had founded the now well- 
known house of Abbot, Downing, and Company in Concord, New 
Hampshire. It seems that the full measure of success was attained in 
the design of these coaches, for hardly an improvement has been made 
in them since their first appearance, and those in use to-day are prac- 
tically built on the same lines as were those of ninety years ago. The 
Concord coach at once leaped into popularity both on account of its 
excellence in workmanship and from its ease in riding and, wherever 
such vehicles are needed to-day, may be found still in service. They 
are too well known to need describing. In the construction of our first 
railroad cars the builders could think of nothing better, and Concord 
coach bodies, mounted on railway trucks, followed the first locomotive 
over the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad in 1831. 

We show here a picture of a wagon made by Thaddeus Fairbanks, 
the inventor of the Fairbanks scales, when he was about twenty years 
of age. This wagon doubtless traveled many miles over the Passumpsic 
and Danville turnpikes which led from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and 
may safely be taken for a type of the wagons in use at that time. No 
attempt was made to provide springs for the body of the vehicle, but by 
mounting the seat on the end of wooden bows comfort for the passen- 
gers was sought. 

Various forms of sleds and sleighs were in use, although it was an 
old saying that there was never any snow on a turnpike. The sleighs 
were of the pattern still to be found in northern New England and called 
" board runners " on account of a single piece of board being used for 
the runner, the same being shaped to a suitable form for running over 
the road. Probably all such sleighs and the sleds, too, were homemade 
or of local manufacture, as they could easily be made by one familiar 
with carpenter's tools. 

Further romantic interest is found in the old wagons in which the 
large shipments of freight were carried, and all accounts of the Cumber- 
land Road or of any of the turnpikes leading to the west, teem with 
references to the white-topped wagons with their strings of horses. 

[49] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

These splendid wagons were developed in Pennsylvania by topo- 
graphical conditions, by the soft soil, by trade requirements, and by 
native wit. They were the highest type of a commodious freight carrier 
by horsepower that this or any other country has ever known; they 
were known as Conestoga wagons from the vicinity in which they were 
first in common use, as is told by Alice Morse Earle in " Stage Coach 
and Tavern Days." 

These wagons had a boat-shaped body with a curved bottom, which 
fitted them specially for mountain use, for in them freight remained 
firmly in place at whatever angle the body might be. The rear end 
could be lifted from the sockets; on it hung the feed trough for the 
horses. On one side of the body was a small tool chest with a slanting 
lid. This held hammer, wrench, hatchet, pincers, and other simple tools. 
Under the rear axle-tree were suspended a tar bucket and water pail. 
The wheels had tires sometimes a foot broad. The wagon bodies were 
arched over with six or eight bows, of which the middle ones were the 
lowest. These were covered with a strong, pure white hempen cover 
corded down strongly at the sides and ends. These wagons could be 
loaded up to the top of the bows, which was the object attained by 
having them high at the ends. Four to six tons was the usual load for 
such a vehicle. 

The driver rode on the nigh-wheel horse or walked, no seat being 
provided for him. A board projecting from the side between the wheels 
afforded a precarious seat for the helper, who generally worked his way 
by such employment. 

,' In 1783 Levi Pease, in company with Joseph Sykes, established a 
I stage line between Boston and New York over the rough and crooked 
roads which then constituted the northern route, passing through 
(Worcester, Palmer, and Hartford, and making the trip in a week. In 
[later years Josiah Quincy described his experiences on a journey over 
the line in 1784 as follows: 

I set out from Boston on the line of stage lately established by an enterprising 
Yankee, Pease by name, which at that day was considered a method of transporta- 
tion of wonderful expedition. The journey to New York took up a week. The 
carriages were old and shackling and much of the harness was made of ropes. One 
pair of horses carried the stage eighteen miles. We generally reached our resting 
place for the night, if no accident intervened, at ten o'clock and after a frugal sup- 
per went to bed with a notice that we should be called at three the next morning, 
which generally proved to be half past two. Then, whether it snowed or rained, 
the traveller must rise and make ready by the help of a horn lantern and a farthing 
candle, and proceed on his way over bad roads, sometimes with a driver showing no 
doubtful symptoms of drunkenness, which good-hearted passengers never fail to 
improve at every stopping place by urging upon him another glass of toddy. Thus 
we travelled eighteen miles a stage, sometimes obliged to get out and help the coach- 
man lift the coach out of a quagmire or rut, and arrived at New York after a week's 
hard travelling, wondering at the ease as well as the expedition of our journey. '^ 

' As Josiah Quincy was but twelve years old in 1784^ it is possible that tkis was written by some 
other traveler, but the account is creditable. 

[50] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

We have already noted the starting of a stage line over the same route 
in 1772, but it did not continue long. After Pease's effort continuous 
service between Boston and New York was maintained by increasing 
numbers of coaches and then by trains. 

Prior to 1806 such stages journeyed over two hundred and fifty-four 
miles of roads, the distance being reduced by road improvements in 
that year to two hundred and forty-six miles, and by 1821 a total re- 
duction of forty-four miles had been made, leaving two hundred and 
ten miles to be covered between Boston and New York. Such savings " 
in mileage were the prime objects sought by turnpike construction, but 
it was too often attained at the expense of steep grades over hills which 
lay in the direct line. Still stage routes increased with the development 
of turnpikes and, as a rule, followed them over the hills. 

One feature of the Old Farmer's Almanac was the publication of a 
list of the stages running from Boston, and from the issue of 1801 
we note that one hundred and sixteen coaches arrived at and departed 
from that town weekly, there being twenty-six separate lines to as many 
places. Pease's stage by that time had two rivals, one going by way of 
Providence, and the running time had been reduced to thirty-nine hours, 
due doubtless to running all night instead of stopping for sleep at 
taverns by the way. These lines ran three times each week. There 
were two daily stages to Providence and the trip was made in eight 
hours. The service to Portsmouth had been improved from the weekly 
two-day trip in 1761 to a fifteen-hour journey three times a week, and 
a new route to Albany ran through Worcester, Brookfield, and North- 
ampton twice a week, making the trip in thirty-eight hours. All this 
was before the turnpikes had become factors of influence. 

When the Boston Traveller was founded by Badger and Porter, in 
1825, its issue was accompanied once in every two months by a supple- 
ment called the Stage Register, in which it was sought to give a com- 
plete list of all the stage lines in New England, with distances, routes 
followed, and rates of fare. The issue of September 6, 1825, shows 
sixty-eight lines leaving Boston, with three hundred and seventeen stages 
in and out each week, and a total of one hundred and twenty-five lines 
in New England. From Boston there were seven lines to Albany, each 
running three times a week. By way of Greenfield the trip was made 
in thirty-five hours, through Northampton in forty-one, with the same 
time by way of Springfield. Another route was through Brattleboro 
and Bennington, and forty-three hours were occupied on that journey. 
New York was reached by way of Worcester, Stafford, Hartford, and 
New Haven in forty hours, while the traveler who staged it to Norwich 
and voyaged thence to New York by the steamer Fanny spent the same 
length of time. 

Travelers to Bristol Ferry had a much happier time than in 1720, 
for in 1825 the route was through Taunton, and the required time had 
been cut down from thirty-one to eleven hours. The Portsmouth line 

[51] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



had disappeared, at least by that name, and those desirous of going 
there embarked on the Pordand stage. That took, nine hours to reach 
Portsmouth, gave its passengers fifteen hours for rest, and completed 
the journey in nine hours more. 

Fares from Boston were as follows : 



Albany, N. Y. . 

Amesbury, Mass. . 
Beverly, Mass. 
Brandon, Vt. . . 
Bristol, R. I. . . 
Burlington, Vt. . 

Cambridge, Mass. 
Chelmsford, Mass. 
Chester, Vt. . . . 
Concord, Mass. . 
Concord, N. H. . 
Dover, N. H. . . 

E. Bridgewater, Mass. 
Exeter, N. H. . , 
Fitchburg, Mass. . 
Greenfield, Mass. 
Groton, Mass. . . 
Hartford, Conn. . 
Harvard, Mass. . 
Haverhill, Mass. 



Dispatch Line. 



$8.75 
7-75 
2.25 
1. 00 

8.75 

3-50 

11.25 

12.00 

.25 

1.50 

5-75 
1. 00 
3-50 
3-00 

3-25 
1.25 
2.25 
2.00 

3.75 Dispatch Line. 
2.00 
5-50 
1.50 



Jaflfrey, N. H. . . 
Lunenburg, Mass. . 
Middlebury, Vt. . 
Mt. Holly, Vt. . . 
New Bedford, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
New Haven, Conn. 
New Ipswich, N. H. 
New York, N. Y. . 
Northampton, Mass. 
Portland, Maine 
Portsmouth, N. H. 
Providence, R. L . 



Rudand, Vt. . . , 

Southbridge, Mass. 
South Bridgewater. Mass. 
Springfield, Mass. . 
Taunton, Mass. . . 
Winchendon, Mass. 
Windsor, Vt. . . . 
Worcester, Mass. . 



$3-25 
1-75 
9-75 
6.75 
3-50 
2.00 
7.50 
2.50 

11.00 
4.50 
6.00 
3-00 
2.00 
1.50 

7-75 
3.00 
1.50 
4.50 
2.00 

2.75 
6.00 
2.00 



1.50 

The Eastern Mail Stage, an anticipation of the modern limited train 
service, carried its passengers to Portland for eight dollars, with pro- 
portionate rates for way stations, requiring but eight hours to reach 
Portsmouth. 

The regular time of departure for long-distance stages was 2 A. M., 
which was the hour for resuming the journey from resting places also. 

A study of the routes followed by the different lines of stages shows 
that generally the turnpikes were followed, but it is seen that the Cam- 
bridge and Concord and the Union turnpikes were scrupulously avoided. 
The Union was not badly located, but it suffered from its associations, 
for the Cambridge and Concord was built straight without regard to 
centers along the route, and in one case, at least, with a fatal disregard 
for grades. The local stage from Concord could not afford to spurn 
the business of Lexington and West Cambridge (Arlington), so it kept 
off the turnpike and went over the public roads. And the stages from 
the northwestern part of the state, reaching the western end of the 
Union Turnpike, diverted over the short Lancaster and Bolton Turn- 
pike and proceeded thence to Boston over the " Great Road " through 
Sudbury and Waltham. The Union and the Cambridge and Concord 
seem to have had little other business either, for each was very short- 
lived. 
[52] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Between 1825 and 1832 the number of stage lines in New England 
was more than doubled, there being two hundred and sixty separate 
routes in operation In the latter year, with a proportionate increase in 
the lines from Boston. The New York Mail then left Boston at 
10 p. M., reaching Worcester at 3.30 A. M. ; Hartford by way of Staf- 
ford at 1.30 P. M. ; New Haven at 8.30 p. M. ; and New York at 10 A. M. 
the second day. 



[53] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 
AND MAINE 




TURNPIKES 



OF 



MASSACHUSETTS 



SCALE - MILES 






THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

IN Massachusetts the custom was almost general, in providing for 
turnpikes, to require the construction of an entirely new road, 
although there were some notable exceptions in which the corpo- 
ration was allowed to take over an old established highway and in- 
corporate the same as a part of its toll road. The English custom was 
never followed in this state, but each turnpike was the outcome of 
financial confidence in it as an investment, or projected for the collateral 
benefits which were expected to follow. Each was authorized by 
a special act of the legislature, and down to 1805 each act of incorpora- 
tion went at length and In full detail into all phases of the corporate 
formation, and the same was repeated, at what must have been dreary 
length, with each successive company. The stereotyped form of act 
was about as follows: 

1. Certain persons incorporated under the specified name " for the purpose of lay- 

ing out and making a turnpike-road." 

2. Course of the road described. 

3. Width of the same specified. 

4. Number of gates to be erected when approved. 

5. Rates of toll. 

6. Exemptions from liability for toll. 

7. Power given to commute tolls. 

8. Sign to be erected displaying rates of toll. 

9. Right to take land conferred. 

10. Penalties provided for avoidance of toll. 

11. Penalty on corporation for delaying travelers or for failure to keep road in 

repair. 

1 2. Methods of procedure in organizing corporation. 

13. Required filing of account of cost of road and annually thereafter a statement 

of receipts and disbursements. 

14. Provided that the corporation might be dissolved when it had earned its orig- 

inal investment plus twelve per cent. 

15. Charter void unless road was completed within specified time. "^ 

In 1805 the earliest general corporation law was passed in Massa- 
chusetts. This applied only to turnpike companies and provided that 
thereafter no charter should be granted until the proposed route had 
been viewed by a legislative committee after public notice. Previously 
each route, after the charter had Issued, had been laid out by a com- 
mittee, consisting generally of one senator and two representatives 
specially appointed for that purpose; tut after 1805 that duty devolved 
upon five disinterested freeholders appointed by the court of sessions 

[57] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

for the county in which the road was to be built. The act also recited 
the routine portion of the charters previously granted and provided that 
future charters should have the same powers without repetition. An 
additional provision was made that any corporation might be dissolved 
at the pleasure of the legislature, after twenty years, without reference 
to its earnings. 

Upon the completion of a road application would be made to the 
court of sessions of the county in which the road was located for the ap- 
pointment of a committee to view -the new turnpike, and advise the 
court whether or not the same was constructed in a manner sufficiently 
safe for public travel. Such a committee was usually empowered to 
specify the location of the tollgates. The court of sessions, having 
received the report of its committee that the road was well built and 
safe for travel, would then declare the turnpike open for public use 
under the conditions imposed in the charter. 

A great difference naturally existed in the earning powers of roads 
in different parts of the state, and it would manifestly have been unfair 
to allow the same rates of toll in the Berkshires on a road built under 
engineering difficulties and through sparsely settled districts as were 
granted to a route tributary to Boston and connecting several prosper- 
ous communities. Hence a variety of authorized charges may be found 
by detailed search, but a fair average can be given. The Massachu- 
setts custom was generally to allow the erection of tollgates at intervals 
of about ten miles, and in the eastern part of the state the traveler 
would be apt to find displayed upon a signboard at each gate, in accord- 
ance with the charter requirement, " fairly and legibly written thereon 
in large or capital letters " the following: 

Rates of Toll 

For every coach, phaeton, chariot, or other four-wheeled carriage 

drawn by two horses 25 cents 

And if drawn by more than two horses, for each additional horse . . 4 " 

For every curricle 17 " 

For every cart, wagon, sled, or sleigh drawn by two oxen or horses . . 10 " 

And if drawn by more than two, for each horse or ox in addition . . 3 " 

For every chaise, chair, or other carriage drawn by one horse .... 10 " 

For every sled or sleigh drawn by one horse 6 " 

For every man and horse a " 

For all oxen, horses, mules, and neat cattle led or driven besides those 

in teams and carriages, each I " 

For all sheep and swine by the dozen 3 " 

Adjacent to the New York line, in the town of Hancock, would have 
been found a signboard on which the rates would have run from twenty- 
five to fifty per cent higher than those just given ; but the usual manner 
of giving relief to companies in receipt of insufficient tolls was not to 
allow an increased rate but to authorize additional gates, thus giving 
extra collections of the same amount. 
E58] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

For local reasons a company was often allowed to establish two gates 
within the limits of one, collecting one half the allowed rate at each. 
Such were significantly known as " half gates." 

Certain persons were exempt from paying toll. Such were : 

any person who shall be passing with his horse or carriage to or from public worship, 
or with his horse or team to or from any mill, or with his horse, team, or cattle to or 
from his ordinary labor on his farm, or on the common or ordinary business of family 
concerns within the same towns ; or any person passing on military duty. 

And if the toll gatherer was not at his post the gate had to be left 
open and everybody passed free. In special cases it was often provided 
that the inhabitants of certain districts should pass free because a 
section of the public road had been absorbed into the turnpike. 

Each company was required to file a statement of the cost of its road 
and, annually, an account of its receipts and expenditures, but no penalty 
was ever provided for failure to do so. Consequently out of the sixty 
corporations which built roads in Massachusetts only eight made con- 
scientious efforts to obey the rule. Twenty-seven others reported the 
cost of their investment, and some of them made desultory attempts 
to render the annual accounts, while twenty-five calmly ignored the 
requirement. 

Under the law of 1805 any justice of the court of common pleas, 
upon complaint being made to him that a turnpike was in bad order, 
might give a hearing and, if he found the complaint well founded, order 
repairs to be made, the gate meanwhile to be open for free passage of 
all. In 1840 this power was transferred to the county commissioners. 

An act passed in 1845 provided that the county commissioners might 
lay out any turnpike as a public highway, if they deemed it a public 
convenience and necessity, upon petition of the turnpike corporation or 
with the corporation's consent. 

Generally the corporation was allowed to do nothing beyond the 
acquisition of the strip of land four rods wide and the building and 
operation of a toll road on it. Prior to 1805 corporations were not 
allowed to run accounts with regular customers unless the legislature 
specifically authorized it, but under the general laws enacted in that 
year the privilege was extended to all. Very few general laws applying 
to turnpikes were ever passed, many of the acts providing penalties 
for evasions of toll and for damage to the road being enacted in behalf 
of certain specified companies, although ultimately such laws appeared 
upon the statutes applicable to all roads. 

The Revised Statutes of Massachusetts, prepared in i860, contamed 
but nineteen sections under the heading of " Turnpikes." 

Shares of stock were therein declared personal estate, transferable 
only by deed acknowledged before a justice of the peace and recorded 
in the book of the corporation's clerk. 

The county commissioners had the power to direct the location of 
gates, but a gate at which the full rate of tolls was collected could not 

[59] 



NOBFOXK AND BZUSTO^ TVBNFIKE. 



No. 



EM» ^evtltlt», that 



Share No. 
BRISTOL TURNPIKE ROAD. 



is proprietor of 
of the NORFOLK AND 



8tt 3rCfiitil}fOtf& blfiereof, the Seal of the Corporation is hereto 
affixed, the day of in the year of our 

Lord, one thousand eight hundred and 



Attest, 



(President of the 
\ CoiporatiOD. 



{^ that J, 
for a valuable consideration paid me by 

do hereby transfer to all my right in Share viz. 

No. in the NORFOLK AND BRISTOL TURNPIKE ROAD. 



Witness my hand and seal, this 
A, D. one thousand eight hundred and 
Witness, 



day of 



ss, Then 

above named acknowledged the foregoing to be his free act and deed. 

Before 



( Justice of 
j the Peace. 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

be erected within ten miles of another such gate without a special act 
of the legislature; and no gate could be put across a section of a turn- 
pike which had been a public road previous to turnpike building. 

Rates of toll were prescribed in full detail, with a provision that 
only half such rates could be collected from drivers of vehicles having 
wheel felloes six inches wide. 

Exemptions from paying toll were specified and a penalty of ten 
dollars, to be recovered by the corporation, was provided for anyone 
falsely claiming such exemption. Avoiding the payment of toll laid the 
offender liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars while, on the other hand, 
the corporation stood assessable in the sum of fifty dollars, if its toll 
gatherer demanded excessive toll or subjected the traveler to an un- 
reasonable delay. 

Carts or wagons carrying loads of over forty-five hundred pounds 
on wheel felloes less than three and a half inches wide had to pay three 
times the regular rate of toll, but the fine for evasion in such cases was 
only ten dollars. If a driver locked the wheels of a loaded cart or 
wagon, to ease its progress down a hill, without using a six-by-twelve- 
inch iron shoe, he might regret it to the extent measured by twenty 
dollars. Indulgence in the construction of a " shunpike " might cost 
its promoter a thousand dollars. Turnpike corporations were made 
liable for damages through any defect in their roads, but not in cases 
where the gross load was In excess of six tons. 

Fines could be assessed upon the corporations for neglect of their 
roads as in the case of towns, but all money secured by such fines 
had to be applied to the repair of the road involved, under the direction 
of an agent appointed by the court. When a turnpike was assumed by 
the authorities of a county the corporation was thereby dissolved as far 
as its obligations toward that section of road were concerned, and all 
the land held reverted to the former owners, or their heirs, even If the 
corporation had purchased the same and taken a regular deed. 

The requirement of an annual report of business done appeared in 
the Revised Statutes of i860, but even then it had " no teeth in it." 

No general provision was ever made for the organization of a turn- 
pike corporation. Petition had to be made to the legislature which, 
if it saw fit, might create the corporation and allow it the privileges 
appertaining to such under the general provisions, with such special 
rights as could be obtained. 

In each New England state every corporation was made subject to 
dissolution when its first investment plus twelve-per-cent Interest had 
been repaid, and It may be Interesting to consider how far short of 
realizing such hopes the actual performances were. Some reason has 
been found for inferring that it was expected that the life of a corpora- 
tion under such terms would be about twenty years, and to fulfill that 
expectation a road would have to yield net earnings of twelve per cent 
for interest and five per cent for a sinking fund, or seventeen per cent 

[61] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

in all. We will consider the two best roads in Massachusetts, the Salem 
Turnpike and the Dorchester Turnpike, taking the best single year's 
business done on each road which, in each case, shows in a pronounced 
peak on the plotted charts. 

The best year on the Salem was 1835, when the net earnings of the 
road amounted to $12,330, or about six and eight tenths per cent of the 
cost of construction. The Dorchester's biggest year's work was done 
in 1838, when its net earnings were $4005, or about nine and two tenths 
per cent of the cost. 

So it may safely be said that in only one year and on only one road 
did the earnings yield half enough to meet the expectations. And in 
nearly every case the road was finally given up at an almost total loss. 

What method of estimating earnings could the turnpike promoters 
have followed? The Blue Hill Turnpike was built at a cost of $78,300. 
To retire that road at the end of twenty years and keep it in repair 
during that term meant that annual gross earnings of $13,800 were 
to be secured. They actually averaged about $1392, with $2450 for 
a maximum. The Blue Hill served the towns of Milton and Randolph, 
connecting them with Boston over the Dorchester Turnpike; and it 
could not have been expected in those days that appreciable business 
would have come from any other places, as the branch turnpike to 
Taunton had not then been proposed. 

Milton in 1840 contained about four hundred and forty-eight fami- 
lies, and Randolph, nine hundred and forty-eight. Assuming that each 
of these groups would make four annual trips to Boston and back, with 
the very improbable idea of there being sufficient additional travel to 
require daily stages from each town to Boston and return, and that two 
six-horse freight wagons, arnply sufficient for that population, would 
pass over the road each way daily, we could anticipate the following 
returns : 

448 Milton families — 8 tolls @ .I2j^ . $448 

948 Randolph families — 8 tolls @ .25 1896 

Stage and four horses — 300 days — 2 tolls @ .33 198 

"_ " " " —300 " —2 " @ .16J/2 99 

Freight wagons and six horses — 300 days — 4 tolls @ .22 264 

$2905 

So it is seen that anticipating nearly forty years' growth in the two 
towns, the Blue Hill having been projected in 1804, and assuming all 
the business that could possibly have been visible to an optimistic pro- 
moter, that road's prospects yearly fell nearly $11,000 short of what 
its proprietors seem to have expected. 

And yet the investment in turnpikes was heavy. Considering only 
the corporations whose bridges were not the greater part of the cost, 
we find that thirty-two companies, owning five hundred and ninety-three 
and one half miles of roads, reported their investments, with a total 
[62] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

of $1,230,823. We have outside Information that three others ex- 
pended $578,200. Taking the companies which failed to report their 
first costs, and placing an estimate on each according to the return for 
a similar road, we find It probable that $569,977 more was invested 
in turnpikes in Massachusetts, making a total of $2,379,000. As the 
population of the entire state In 1830, when turnpikes were at their 
prime, was 610,408, It is seen that the turnpike investment was In the 
proportion of about three dollars and ninety cents per capita. When it 
is considered that this Investment provided only the road, with a few 
gates and tollhouses which seldom cost a thousand dollars apiece, and 
that the rolling stock and motive equipment was a further matter for 
individual investment. It is seen that the per-capita amount tied up In 
the turnpike utilities did not compare poorly with the later capital placed 
in railroads. 

Why, then, were the turnpikes built? In a letter written by one of the 
incorporators of the First Massachusetts Turnpike, and dated In 1 800, 
warning was given against too great expectations from such investments, 
as the First had proved a disappointment; and it seems to have been 
generally known long before the rush of construction subsided that 
turnpike stock was worthless. 

It can be conceived that propositions to connect such cities as Boston 
and Providence, Worcester, Hartford, Salem, and Newburyport may 
have seemed to stand in a separate class and to hold hopes of remunera- 
tive business; but what encouragement could have been seen for roads 
In the rural districts connecting small towns? The conclusion is forced 
upon us that the larger part of the turnpikes of New England were 
built In the hope of benefiting the towns and the local business con> 
ducted in them, counting more upon the collateral results than upon the 
direct returns in the matter of tolls. 

The turnpike era commenced In Massachusetts in 1796 when the first 
act of incorporation for a turnpike was passed, and generally It can 
be said to have ended by 1850, when railroads were in the ascendancy, 
although certain companies continued to do business through the sixties, 
and one did not surrender Its corporate rights until 1905. 

The early roads were In the western part of the state, as were some 
of the last ones, but those which collected their tolls well within the 
memory of men now living were on the eastern coast. 

THE FIRST MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

The first Massachusetts act of incorporation for a turnpike company 
was approved by Governor Samuel Adams on the eleventh day of 
June, 1796. As customary in those days, the act commenced with a 
preamble which read as follows: 

Whereas the highway leading through the towns of Palmer and Western is cir- 
cuitous, rocky, and mountainous, and there is much travelling over the same, and the 

[63] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

expense of straightening, making, and repairing an highway through those towns, 
so that the same may be safe and convenient for travellers with horses and carriages, 
would be much greater than ought to be required of the said towns under their pres- 
ent circumstances, etc. etc. 

Hence the First Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation was created 
and authority granted it to lay out and make a turnpike-road 

from Western bridge, near the Upper Mills, so called, in Western (now Warren) 
in the county of Worcester, to the county road, near the house lately called Scott's 
tavern, in Palmer, in the county of Hampshire. 

Through travelers between Boston and New York, at that time, had 
their choice of three routes, — one along the shore of Long Island 
Sound, the middle following more nearly a direct line, and the northern 
route through Worcester and Springfield. The last led through Palmer, 
and It was for the improvement of that through route, to hold its trade, 
and very likely with a view to financial profit, that the turnpike was 
projected. It was built according to Temple's " History of Palmer," 
" through Palmer Old Centre, and kept on the northerly side of the 
river eastward; and was the leading thoroughfare for long travel be- 
tween Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Hartford, New Haven, and New 
York, for many years. The toll gate was about two miles east of 
Palmer meeting house." 

Thirty-one solid citizens were named in the act of incorporation, 
among whom are some of note. Levi Lincoln, at that time a member 
of the house of representatives from Worcester County, and later 
senator, congressman, attorney-general of the United States, lieuten- 
ant governor and acting governor of Massachusetts, whose son Levi 
attained the highest office in the state, was one. Another, Captain 
Levi Pease, seeking employment after his arduous duties In the Revolu- 
tionary Army, had started a line of stages between New York and 
Boston, over the northern route, in 1783. By many he is hailed as 
" The father of the turnpikes " and " The father of the stage coach," 
and there is no disposition here to dispute his claim to either title. 
Salem Town, of Charlton, was a prominent man and at the time of 
this incorporation was a member of the senate. He appears to have 
become a turnpike authority later, for we find him often named as one 
of a committee to locate a new road. But the chief interest centers 
around the name of Thomas Dwight, who, four years later, wrote a 
letter to a friend on the subject of turnpikes which is almost a treatise. 
This letter is to be found among the papers of the Norfolk and Bristol 
Turnpike Corporation, now deposited with the Dedham Historical 
Society, and gives much interesting reading. From it we learn that the 
first section of the First Massachusetts Turnpike was built by Captain 
Bailey of Connecticut, who later built the turnpike from Hartford to 
New Haven, and that his contract price was three dollars per rod of 
length, yielding him $8640 for the nine miles of road which he built. 

[64] 





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Mr. Dwight criticizes this price as too much by fifty per cent. An ex- 
tension of the road to Wilbraham was allowed by the legislature in 
1798, and four miles of this, including one half mile along the Chicopee 
River, where the mountain approached so close to the river as to necessi- 
tate a cut and a retaining wall ten feet in height, was contracted by one 
Blair of Western for two dollars per rod, or $640 per mile. Mr. 
Dwight thought that the contractor received too much profit out of that. 
He cautioned his friend to watch the contractors, as they would cheat, 
placing stumps and large stones in the fill instead of good road material, 
and he advises the retention of ten per cent of the contract price for 
two years while the behavior of the work is observed. The First 
Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation had made a mistake, he wrote, in 
having so many shares at a small price each, and he warned his friend, 
who was about to embark in such an enterprise, that the expectations 
of the promoters of the First had not been realized. 

The road of the First Massachusetts was relocated in 1799, and 
made four rods wide instead of three as formerly. This appears to 
have been done in connection with the laying out of the extension to 
Wilbraham, which was allowed by the legislature of 1798, and a pecu- 
liar error is found in the county records at Springfield and North- 
ampton, where appears the approval of the court of sessions of the 
relocation and layout and the decree of the court establishing the road 
as " a county road." That it was not so established is plainly shown 
by the legislative acts which followed. In 18 13 a special act allowed 
the acquirement of real estate adjoining the road for the accommoda- 
tion of its toll gatherers. In 18 19 the corporation was released from 
its obligation to maintain its road east of the road to Northampton. 
How much longer the toll gatherers continued their work is not known, 
as the county records in Springfield, Northampton, and Worcester do 
not definitely record the public laying out of the old First turnpike. 

In the next eighteen years ninety-seven corporations were chartered, 
one or more being ground out of the legislative mill in every year except 
1798, with 1803 as the banner year, having sixteen for its record. Few 
new companies were organized after 18 14, although a revival occurred 
in 1826, when six appeared. 1832, 1841, and 1868 saw the birth of the 
last three, none of which seems to have built a road. In all, one hun- 
dred and eighteen acts of incorporation were passed, with one authoriz- 
ing a New Hampshire company to build In Massachusetts. Ten of these, 
however, were in the district which afterwards became the state of Maine. 

It was the early custom to designate each company like a regiment 
going to war, and we have the " First Massachusetts," " Second Massa- 
chusetts," " Third Massachusetts," and so on to the Sixteenth, although, 
as the compiler of the special acts quaintly observes, " there Is a chasm 
in the course of numbers," there being no Seventh, and the " Williams- 
town Turnpike Corporation " coming in the place of the Fourth. 

[65] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE SECOND MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

A notable piece of construction was the road of the " Second Massa- 
chusetts," chartered March 8, 1797, to build " from the west line of 
Charlemont, in the county of Hampshire, to the west foot of Hoosuck 
Mountain in Adams, in the county of Berkshire." This road was the 
predecessor, of the Hoosac Tunnel, following closely the same route. 
It followed up the valley of the Deerfield River on the southerly bank 
as far as Buckley Brook, near the present Hoosac Tunnel station. Then 
bearing southerly it described a semicircular course up the east side of 
the mountain, and so on to North Adams. That the project was long 
in maturing is shown by the finding of a plan dated 1795 in the Massa- 
chusetts archives, on which the route of the proposed turnpike is shown. 
In 1804 the company was authorized to build a bridge over the Deer- 
field River at the easterly end of Its turnpike. They must have been 
long in availing themselves of this privilege, for not until 18 17 were 
they allowed to erect a gate on the bridge. An unobstructed bridge at 
the far end of the road must have been extensively and freely used, and 
it is not to be expected that the company waited long under such cir- 
cumstances before applying for relief. An Instance of how closely the 
corporation was held to the privileges contained In the act of incorpora- 
tion is found in 1830, when, by special act, David White of Heath was 
authorized to call a meeting of the proprietors " for the purpose of 
choosing a clerk," and nothing else. Evidently the corporation had lost 
Its clerk, by death or otherwise, and by no other person could the stock- 
holders be called together; and only at a meeting called by a duly 
elected clerk could any business be transacted. That the receipts did 
not yield sufficient revenue can be seen from an act passed in 18 17, in 
which the company Is allowed to erect an additional gate, which meant 
one more collection of tolls, while the rates of toll were slightly in- 
creased also. In 1833 the corporation was dissolved and the road made 
free. 

This route over Hoosac, or Florida, Mountain followed approxi- 
mately the line of the old Mohawk Trail, over which those dusky war- 
riors proceeded In 1664 on their terrifying raid, which resulted In the 
extermination of the Pocumtuck tribe, which lived in the Connecticut 
Valley. In 19 14 the Massachusetts Highway Commission completed 
the construction of a state highway over nearly the same line, and the 
route, originally blazed in savage vengeance and hatred, has now be- 
come one of the most popular and beautiful roads of the country. At 
the highest point, where the road crosses the backbone of the old Bay 
State, and for two miles easterly from it, the Mohawk Trail, as the 
new state highway is called, is on the line of the old Second Massachu- 
setts Turnpike. 

The Second Massachusetts was a route for several of the stages 
[66] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

from Boston to Albany, which continued on the Williamstown Turnpike 
to Williamstown, and then followed up the valley of the Green River 
and the West Branch to Hancock Center. 



THE THIRD MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

The " Third Massachusetts," incorporated on the day after the 
" Second," built its road from the east side of Roberts Hill in North- 
ampton to the eastwardly line of Pittsfield, and, under authority given 
the next year, across the town of Hancock, to the New York line. A 
break in the system is thus seen across Pittsfield, which town seems to 
have always been aMe to provide needed highways from its public funds. 
Turnpike travelers thus had free passage over what are now known 
as Unkamet and West streets in Pittsfield. In 1800, as we are told in 
Smith's " History of Pittsfield," the company petitioned the legislature, 
stating that it had been able to pay no dividends on its expenditure of 
$30,000, and asked that it might collect larger tolls. It also made what 
seems an unreasonable request, that the towns should be required to 
break out the road after snowstorms, and that they should expend more 
money on the bridges. While the road was private property, the towns 
seem to have helped maintain the bridges. No act has been found 
granting these requests. All turnpike corporations were required, by 
their charters, to file with the secretary of state a statement of the cost 
of the road and, annually, a summary of their receipts and expenditures. 
The " Third " was the first to do so; no penalty being provided, most 
of the companies neglected the matter. From the returns of the 
"Third" we learn that its road cost $29,989,34. The length being 
roughly thirty-two miles, made the road cost about $940 a mile. From 
the returns filed between 1801 and 1814, we see that its net earnings 
averaged about $600 yearly, or about two per cent. The name of this 
corporation was changed, in 18 14, to "The Worthington Turnpike 
Corporation." On petition of the corporation, its road was made free 
in September, 1829. 

THE WILLIAMSTOWN TURNPIKE. 

The Williamstown Turnpike Corporation was the fourth to be in- 
corporated in Massachusetts, and its road formed a continuation of 
that of the Second across Williamstown to the New York line. It 
seems to have been the original of the present Adams and Main streets 
and Petersburg Road in that town. 

The cost was about $1000 a mile, and during the two years for 
which it deigned to file returns its profits were $490.21, or about two 
and one half per cent on the investment. 

This turnpike connected at the New York line with the Eastern 
Turnpike of that state, but it does not seem that the combination in- 

[67] 





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vlted much stage travel. The Boston to Albany stages came as far as 
Williamstown Center but turned southerly there, and ran the length 
of the town of Hancock before turning to the west again. 

THE FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

" The Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike," authorized by an act passed 
March 3, 1799, ^^^ *^^ most extensive and ambitious project sanctioned 
by the state. The mileage undertaken and the rough character of much 
of the country which it traversed, together with the scarcity of settle- 
ments along much of its length, show conclusively that its projectors 
were more intent upon other benefits to be derived than upon dividends 
from their investment. The turnpike was projected in Greenfield, which 
place had hitherto been accessible only by way of the Connecticut River, 
and the construction of the road opened a direct line to the eastern 
part of the state. The route was also designed to connect Northfield 
and southern New Hampshire with the same section, the whole being 
defined in the charter as 

from Capt. Elisha Hunt's in Northfield through Warwick, Orange, Athol, Gerry, 
Templeton, and Gardner, to Westminster Meeting-house ; from thence to Jonas 
Kendall's tavern in Leominster; and also from Calvin Munn's tavern in Greenfield, 
through Montague and up Millers river, through unincorporated land, so as to inter- 
sect the road aforesaid in Athol. 

A stage had been estabhshed between Boston and Northfield as far 
back as 1789, according to Temple and Sheldon's " History of North- 
field," which ran by way of Worcester, Holden, Barre, Petersham, 
Athol, Orange, and Warwick; and In 1790 Its trips were extended to 
Bennington by way of Brattleboro. 

The turnpike corporation was formally organized at a meeting 
held in the inn of Oliver Chapin in Orange, probably early in 1799, 
and sixteen hundred shares were issued with a par value of $100 each, 
as Frederick A. Currier told the Fitchburg Historical Society. Work 
must have been commenced at once and prosecuted with remarkable 
energy, for in June, 1800, the legislature authorized the company to 
open all of its road except about three quarters of a mile which passed 
close to the Westminster meeting-house and which apparently did not 
satisfy the corporation, as they had appealed to the general court 
for a change in that part of their location. The matter remained open 
for nearly a year when the company was required to locate Its road 
" to the northward of said meeting-house, in the most convenient direc- 
tion." At the November term of 1800, of the court of sessions of 
Hampshire County, the " layout according to survey by Ebenezer 
Hoyt from GTreenfield to Athol and In Warwick " was approved. At 
about the same time the layout in Worcester County was approved 
through the towns of Athol, Gerry (now PhlUIpston), Templeton, 
Gardner, Westminster, Fitchburg, and Leominster. 

[69] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Starting in Greenfield the road had its western terminus at the tavern 
of Calvin Munn, which occupied the site of the Mansion House, as 
Thompson states in his " History of Greenfield," and followed what 
is now Highland Avenue and on by Highland Park and the Bear's den 
to Montague City bridge; thence passing south of Turners Falls to 
Millers Falls, where it crossed the Millers River and followed easterly 
on its northerly bank substantially on the line of the present state 
highway to Fitchburg, and thence to Leominster. The length from 
Greenfield to the Athol line is given by Hoyt's survey as twenty miles, 
sixty-eight rods, and six links, which with the added length of the branch 
to Northfield and the long section in Worcester County must have given 
the company a total mileage of nearly fifty-eight. The statement filed 
with the secretary of state gives the cost as $54,965.06, from which 
the average cost per mile would be about $950. The section running 
to Northfield appears to have been originally projected as the main 
line, but it clearly was destined to be a side issue, as the heavier traffic 
naturally followed the route along the Millers River, to Greenfield, 
on the way to central New York. 

What we here call the Northfield branch left the main road in Athol, 
passing through Pinedale and Warwick, to Houghton's Corner, in 
Northfield, which was chosen for the terminus instead of Capt. Elisha 
Hunt's, as specified in the charter. This branch was relocated in 18 15, 
so that it crossed Millers River just west of Athol and then followed up 
the west side of Tully River. The act authorizing this relocation also 
provided that the corporation might alter its road in any such places 
" as shall facilitate the travel by going round instead of over hills, with- 
out much increase of way," which indicates that the straight-line mania 
had somewhat clouded the issue with the original locators. Two other 
branches were authorized, one in February, 1803, from Athol to the 
New Hampshire line in the west part of Royalston, and the other, 
in June of the same year, from the corporation's road in Warwick to 
the line of Winchester, New Hampshire. No indication has been found 
that the first was ever built, but the Hampshire County records estab- 
lish that the second was built, connecting with the road of the Sixth 
New Hampshire, and its construction approved within about three years. 

An additional gate was allowed in 181 1 and the rates of toll were 
increased, by which we judge that dividends were not forthcoming. In 
June, 1827, the corporation was allowed to build a new section, to 
replace a part of its old road, which extended down the " Gulf road " 
in Warwick, and in December of the same year a committee was ap- 
pointed to estimate the value of land occupied by the new construction. 

At the December, 1829, meeting of the county commissioners of 
Franklin County a petition was entered for the freeing of the Fifth 
Massachusetts within Franklin County, but no action seems to have 
followed, for in 1832 Ephralm Stone, Calvin Townsley, Lipha French, 
Benjamin Estabrook, and Joseph Young, directors of the corporation, 
[70] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

renewed the petition, but this time asking that they might be relieved 
of the entire system of roads and the same thrown open to the public. 
The request being granted, the old turnpike became a part of the public- 
road system of the respective counties in that same year, 1832. 

At the time of the establishment of Franklin County and during the 
contest between various aspirants for the location of the county seat, 
Greenfield set forth its claims, stating, among other boasts, that the 
Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike had been promoted in that town and had 
cost $60,000. In all probability extensive repairs were required, which 
could not be financed from the earnings, and hence additional expendi- 
tures of capital were needed. The Millers River is a turbulent stream 
and no doubt made easy work of washing away long sections of the 
early roadbeds. 

The corporation filed returns, as required by the charter, from 1798 
to 1 801, in 1818, and again from 1822 to 1827. In 1801 the receipts 
were nearly $1800 with expenses of $1046, leaving a net of about $754. 
In 1822, 1823, and 1824 the receipts averaged about $1030 and' the 
expenses about $730, leaving an inconsiderable amount for dividends. 
Receipts increased and expenses were lessened in the next year, but 
apparently trouble was saved for the following year, for then the ex- 
pense jumped to over $1600, and in 1827, the last year in which reports 
were made, there was a deficit of nearly $800. That dividends were 
paid, however, for a few years is stated by Frederick A. Currier in 
Proceedings of the Fitchburg Historical Society. In 18 10 one of $.50 a 
share was declared; from 1811 to 1817, $.75; in 1818, $1.25; 1820, 
$.25; arid in 1823, $.75. By the above, i8i-8 would seem to have been 
a most prosperous year; but the returns filed at the state house for that 
year show a net income of only about $600, little in such a showing to 
induce investment in similar projects for monetary gain. 

The town of Ashburnham became mildly excited over the project 
of the Fifth Massachusetts, as it hoped thereby to be relieved from the 
impending cost of a new county road, Stearns' " History of Ashburn- 
ham " recites, and much negotiating with the corporation occurred. 
Finally an agreement was reached, by which the town contributed $1000, 
but the corporation reserved the right to build its road where it saw fit. 
As none of the road was ever built in Ashburnham, it would be interest- 
ing to know what became of that thousand dollars. 

THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

Once more, before the close of the eighteenth century, the legislature 
incorporated a turnpike corporation, this time the Sixth Massachusetts, 
on June 22, 1799. It was proposed by this company to build a road 
" from the east line of Amherst, on the county road, near William 
Breton's house, through said towns '(given in preamble: Pelham, 
Greenwich, Hardwick, New-Braintree, Oakham, Rutland, Holden, and 

[71J 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Worcester)' to the great road In Shrewsbury aforesaid," the great road 
in Shrewsbury being the road from Boston to New York. Records 
in Worcester and Northampton show that the turnpike was completed 
in 1800. Jonas Reed was the proprietor's clerk, or as would be said 
now, clerk of the corporation, and he, in later years, published a 
history of the town of Rutland, from which is extracted first hand 
information regarding this turnpike. It is learned that the road was 
forty-three miles and one hundred and twelve rods in length; that it 
was built in one summer, which the records show was that of 1800; 
and that the cost was about $33,000, or at the rate of about $760 a 
mile. At a town meeting, Rutland voted its approval of the project 
and voiced its wish to have the turnpike built through the town, and 
appropriated $1000 to help the cause along. The appropriation was 
later rescinded, whereupon a number of individuals associated them- 
selves and contracted to build the road through Rutland for $1.70 a 
rod, taking their pay in stock of the company at $25 per share. The 
work was sublet, Moses. White undertaking the construction of five 
hundred and nineteen rods of the west end at the rate of $2.39 a rod, 
while the remaining seventeen hundred and fifty rods was divided into 
seven sections, each of which was let at a price of $1.41 per rod. The 
average price per rod is thus seen to be $1.63, which gave the first 
contractors a profit of a little less than $.07 on each rod, but since they 
took their pay in stock, it is not supposed that any of them grew rich 
from it. Information as to the location of gates on any of the roads Is 
generally vague, but the one on this road in Holden stood a little west of 
the center, according to Estes' " History of Holden," to which position 
the legislature allowed it to be moved by an act passed June 17, 1820. 
In the same act the corporation was allowed to discontinue such of its 
road as lay In the towns of Pelham and Greenwich, and was discharged 
from, all liability for maintaining the same. In 1829 the remainder of 
the Sixth turnpike was laid out as a county road and became free. 

As already stated, no corporation bearing the name of Seventh was 
ever incorporated. Had it been the Thirteenth which was omitted, one 
could easily conjure a reason therefor, but nothing is known to explain 
the failure to recognize the number seven. 

THE EIGHTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Massachusetts Turnpike corporations 
were the legislative grist for the year 1800. The Eighth, incorporated 
on the twenty-fourth of February, had an elaborately worded route, 
but which, on account of reference to temporary local objects, has litde 
meaning to-day. But it is plain that the authorized line commenced 
on the southerly bank of the Westfield River where the same crossed 
the line between the towns of Westfield and Russell, and followed 

[73] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

thence up the Westfield River and the West Branch of the same to 
some point in Chester. From there it was allowed to take over an 
existing road, locally known as the " Government road," to Becket 
Village, and thence by another existing road from Becket to the Pitts- 
field line. 

No evidence has been found that the section over the " Government 
road" was ever utilized by the turnpike corporation; in fact, the 
Berkshire records show that the company was allowed, in 1802, to 
abandon a section of its layout in Becket, but it did improve and operate 
the road from Becket to the Pittsfield line. There must have been 
serious construction difficulties in rendering the " Government road " 
suitable for a turnpike to induce the company to give up that section. 
That there was business enough to make it remunerative is clearly 
shown by the fact that, in the year following the abandonment by the 
Eighth, another corporation was formed, which built a turnpike con- 
necting the same terminals and closely paralleling the " Government 
road " ; and by the many later efforts to improve this same route, of 
which more on subsequent pages. 

The Eighth, as constructed, followed up the Westfield River, as 
already described, to a junction with the Becket Turnpike in the south- 
west corner of the town of Chester. Then, from a point in the south 
central part of the town of Becket, it ran northerly across that town 
northwesterly across Washington, and across the southwesterly corner 
of Dalton to the Pittsfield line. The portion of the road from Rus- 
sell's westerly boundary to where the Becket Turnpike later took up 
the burden was built in time to receive the approval of the Hampshire 
court of sessions at its August term in 1801, but it was not until March 
of 1805 that a committee was appointed to inspect and approve the 
part built over an old highway from Becket to the Pittsfield line. 

In 1 8 19 the corporation was allowed to abandon the Becket-Pittsfield 
section, and at the same time they were required to make an alteration 
in the road between the foot of Becket Mountain and the easterly end 
of the Becket Turnpike. That this was needed for the public conven- 
ience is evident from the fact that two years were allowed, in which 
two thousand dollars should be spent on such alteration, penalty for 
failure being reduction of tolls at one gate by one half. In 1838 the 
company obtained permission to improve its grades by cutting out a 
section on Dickinson's Hill and substituting a length of road in a better 
location. The balance of the Eighth Massachusetts was thrown open 
to the public in April, 1844. 

Four miles beyond Westfield the west-bound traveler on the Boston 
and Albany line crosses the boundary line between the towns of Russell 
and Montgomery, where the latter town draws down to a point at the 
river. On the opposite bank may be seen the place where the turnpike 
began, and the old road itself may be seen, now on one side of the 
train and then on the other, at various spots all the way to Chester, 
[74] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

although many sections of it must have been effaced during the railroad 
construction. Opposite Woronoco station a tollgate formerly stood, 
and the corner of the roads, which can be seen from the train, is where 
the Hampden and Berkshire Turnpike branched off from the Eighth 
Massachusetts. 

Above Woronoco, formerly known as Fairfield, the river swings in 
a wide semicircle with a steep hill rising abruptly from its southerly 
bank, and carrying the old road shelved in its side. Along this section 
the ambitious western extension of the Springfield street-railway system 
is laid. 

THE NINTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

It has been noticed, no doubt, that so far all the projects were in 
the interests of the western part of the state, although the Sixth had its 
terminus as far east as Worcester. But now comes a turnpike partly 
in Norfolk County, and affecting Boston, inasmuch as it sought the 
improvement of the through route to Hartford from that city. 

The Ninth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation, chartered Feb- 
ruary 25, 1800, built its road " from the end of the turnpike road in 
Thompson, in the State of Connecticut, where it adjoins the line of 
this commonwealth in the Town of Douglass, in the County of Worces- 
ter, to the east line of the Town of Bellingham in the County of 
Norfolk." 

The length was about twenty-two miles and the cost was certified to 
have been $13,222.83, or about $600 a mile. 

That this project had been brewing in the minds of local men for 
some time appears from the town records of Mendon, from which we 
learn that a committee was appointed, in August, 1796, to go to Ash- 
ford, Connecticut, to meet the commissioners of that state, who had 
been appointed to survey and lay out a road from Hartford. Philip 
Ammidon was one of this committee, and later was the first named 
among the incorporators of the Ninth; and since to him was addressed 
the long letter from Thomas Dwight, to which reference was had in 
writing of the First Massachusetts, it seems that the investors in the 
Ninth had ample warning of the failure of the First to yield revenue. 
It will be recalled that Mr. Dwight expressed the opinion that two dol- 
lars a rod was too much to pay for a road, and it is interesting to note 
that the recipient of the advice obtained an average of about one dollar 
and eighty-eight cents a rod on his road. 

In 1780, when Milford was set off from Mendon, an old road was 
designated as the boundary, Ballou's " History of Milford " tells us, 
and the two towns were burdened with equal shares of its maintenance. 
Such has ever been an annoyance to towns so burdened, and it must 
have been welcome to each town when the Ninth Massachusetts offered 
to include that section of road in its turnpike. The same boundary now 

[75] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

exists between the towns of Hopedale and Mendon, another survivor 
of the turnpike days. The old road is known to-day as Hartford Street, 
in Bellingham; Westcott's Road, in Mendon; and apparently Northeast 
and Southwest Main streets, in Douglas. 

Returns of financial matters were made in 1802 to 18 19 and from 
1824 to 1827, during which years the average net earnings of the road 
were $121.20 per year, or nine tenths of one per cent, on the cost of 
the turnpike. Returns were omitted from 1820 to 1823, both Inclu- 
sive, but a suggestion that those years were no fatter than the ones for 
which reports were made is found in an act passed in 1823, by which 
an additional gate was allowed to be erected in the westerly part of 
Mendon. 

The turnpike became a county road in Douglas in 1831, and the 
portion in Norfolk County, or in the town of Bellingham, was laid out 
by the county commissioners in 1833, while alterations were decreed 
on portions in the other towns. At a town meeting held June 17, 1831, 
we find in Metcalf's " Annals of Mendon," it was voted to oppose the 
discontinuance of the Ninth Massachusetts as a toll road, and a com- 
mittee was chosen to conduct such opposition, but that vote was re- 
scinded at a meeting in November of the same year. The records of 
Worcester County, of which Mendon and Uxbridge are a part, give 
no date for the final freeing of the road in those towns. 

The Ninth Massachusetts was a link in an important line of turn- 
pikes, which extended from Boston to Hartford over the " Middle 
Road," by which the distance was one hundred and six miles, according 
to the Old Farmers' Almanac. On this route was located landlord 
Taft's tavern In Uxbridge, the service in which so pleased President 
Washington, when he stopped there on his tour in 1789, that he after- 
wards sent presents to the host's two daughters, accompanied by a most 
graceful letter. 

THE TENTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

The Tenth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation, created by an act 
passed June 16, 1800, was generally known as the Farmington River 
Company, on account of Its road following the bank of that stream for 
so large a part of Its course. It clearly was designed to form a link in 
a turnpike system connecting Hartford with Albany, as the Massachu- 
setts portion did not pass through any Important centers except Lenox 
courthouse. In fact, the road was locally known also as the Hart- 
ford and Albany turnpike, by which name it Is mentioned In a " History 
of the County of Berkshire," published in 1829. The road commenced 
at the termination of a Connecticut turnpike, on the state boundary line 
where the Farmington River crossed the same, and followed up the 
valley of that river, now in Sandisfield, then In Tolland, through Otis 
and Becket, to the east side of Greenwater Pond; thence through Lee, 
[76] 





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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Lenox, Richmond, and Hancock, to the New York line. Southerly from 
Becket the road seems to be locally known as the " Old Turnpike " 
to-day, while the portion in Lenox appears to be called Walker Street 
and Cllffwood Street, and Richmond and Hancock folks know It as 
Lebanon Road. It passed through that portion of Lee called " Cape 
Street." 

The length of turnpike was about thIrty-sIx miles and the cost of 
construction was about $1340 per mile. 

In 1 8 14 concessions were made, provided that persons under certain 
conditions should pass free, and the same act provided that anyone 
falsely claiming exemption on account of those conditions should be 
liable to the corporation. In an action of debt, for the sum of ten dollars. 
In 1 8 19 the corporation was allowed to discontinue all of Its road 
westerly of the Stockbrldge road In Lee, about one third of Its system, 
and Increased rates of toll were granted on the balance. In 1840 and 
In 1842 acts were passed authorizing changes in the location of the. 
road, the two totaling only about four hundred rods, which seems small 
business for a legislature. 

By 1854 the turnpike had become so badly out of repair that various 
suits had been commenced for the annulment of the charter, and the 
legislature of that year took drastic steps toward forcing proper main- 
tenance by the company. Even the franchise itself was made liable to 
attachment in suits for damages sustained by fault in the road. The 
county commissioners were empowered to throw open the gates, that 
all might pass free, whenever they deemed the road to be out of repair; 
and they were further empowered to lay out the road as a public high- 
way, at their discretion, paying to the corporation the amount awarded 
by three referees. The Berkshire records show that the road was laid 
out as a public highway on petition of William Taylor, In September, 
1855. Nothing is known about the financial part of the corporation's 
affairs, as no returns were ever filed at the state house. 

THE THIRD NEW HAMPSHIRE TURNPIKE 

Four acts were passed in the year 1801, the first on June 18, allow- 
ing the proprietors of the Third New Hampshire turnpike road to 
extend their road into Massachusetts " from the line of the State of New 
Hampshire, on the north side of the Town of Townsend, communi- 
cating with a turnpike road laid out In that state by said corporation, 
to the county road in said town near Goss' Bridge, so called, a distance 
of about four miles." 

The Third New Hampshire was chartered in that state on December 
27) 1799. ^° build from Bellows Falls, through Keene, toward Boston, 
and its road appears to have entered Massachusetts In the northwest 
corner of Townsend, close to Walker Brook, and run thence directly 
to Townsend Center. After It was built, as Cutter tells In his " History 
[78] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

of Jaffrey, New Hampshire," it became common practice among the 
inhabitants of the region traversed to carry products to Boston in their 
own teams after snow fell, and it was not unusual to see twenty to forty 
sleds or sleighs journeying over the turnpike together. Dearborn and 
Emerson established a line of stages between Boston and Walpole, New 
Hampshire, in 1803, passing over the Third New Hampshire, through 
Jaffrey and Keene. 

In 1824 the New Hampshire legislature authorized the corporation 
to surrender its charter and make its road free, and in 1826 Massachu- 
setts followed suit. 

So far all applications for charters have been marked by sincerity 
of purpose and further ability to carry out the intention, but many of 
the charters granted in the later years were never utilized. Some of 
them are readily detected, while others are hidden in the mists of long 
ago. One of the former class is the Eleventh Massachusetts, which 
was chartered June 19, 1801, to build from the Connecticut line through 
Granville to Blandford meeting-house, and thence to a connection with 
the Eighth Massachusetts in Becket. A plan has been found showing 
the route proposed between Blandford and the state line, but roads ap- 
pear to-day over but a part of such route. The records of Hampshire 
court of sessions show that a location of the road was made in 1801 
and a change in the location in 1802, but nothing further. That the 
road was never built is plainly shown by the act passed in 1809, in- 
corporating the Granville Turnpike Corporation and granting it the 
route laid out by the Eleventh Massachusetts. 

THE TWELFTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

But better luck attended the promoters of the Twelfth Massachu- 
setts Turnpike Corporation, which received its franchise on the same 
date as the Eleventh. The road of this company was to be built from 
the Connecticut line in the southeasterly part of Sheffield, northwesterly 
across that town and across Egremont to the easterly end of the Hudson 
Turnpike, the road of a New York corporation. In 1803 the location 
was made by a committee of the Berkshire court of sessions, and 
authority was given for a branch of this turnpike at its southeasterly 
end, under which a road was built, about two miles long, to another point 
on the Connecticut line. Another branch was built, without any author- 
ization as far as now appears, leaving the main road at a point In the 
easterly part of Egremont and running northerly across the south- 
westerly corner of Alford to the New York line, on the way to Albany. 

The Twelfth evidently had trouble with " shunplkes," or feared it 
would have, for we find it enacted Into law In 1806 that no landowner 
should allow a road to be maintained on his land, parallel to the turnpike, 
within forty rods of any gate. Penalties were also provided for any per- 

[79] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

son who Injured the road, fifty to one hundred dollars being the amount 
to be inflicted, and other penalties for evasions of toll were specified. 

The Twelfth seems to have been locally known as the Litchfield 
Turnpike, probably because its Connecticut connection, the Greenwoods 
Turnpike, traversed Litchfield County. The route described in the 
charter is unique inasmuch as it is located almost entirely by reference 
to the dwelling houses of various men, and in only one case gives the 
town in which a house is to be found. 

This road, with its Connecticut connections, the Greenwoods and 
Talcott Mountain turnpikes and its extension in New York, formed 
for over half a century the great highway between Hartford and Albany 
and was a heavily traveled route. 

By the branch authorized in 1803 connection was later made with 
the Warren Turnpike in Connecticut, over which access was had to the 
lower Housatonic Valley. 

The cost of construction was reported as $12,771.18. The length 
being twenty miles makes the unit cost about $640 a mile. In 1857 the 
company petitioned the county to take the road and it became free. 

June 19, 1801, the ominously named Thirteenth Massachusetts 
Turnpike Corporation was formed, to build " from the line of the state 
of Connecticut, near Holmes' Mill, by the meeting-house in the middle 
parish in Granville, to the northwesterly part of the Town of Loudon, 
in the County of Berkshire." 

Apparently the blight of the unlucky number could not be overcome, 
for no further record has been found either in state or county records, 
and we are obliged to include this turnpike among those probably never 
built. Loudon, by the way, became Otis in 18 10. 

THE SALEM TURNPIKE 

A cursory glance at the map will suffice to show the difficulties which 
beset land travelers essaying to journey between Boston and Salem in 
the early days. The many broad creeks meandering back into the 
country and the many swamps, still to be seen, made the trip one of 
wider detour and extra mileage. The passage by sea, passing outside 
of Marblehead, Nahant, and Winthrop, must have been exasperatingly 
long, and no doubt travelers by either route begrudged the time con- 
sumed in passing from place to place, only thirteen miles apart. Tradi- 
tion has it that the first party of Salem people who journeyed to Boston 
by land were four days on the way, and publicly gave thanks for their 
safe return. Spasmodic efforts to maintain a stage between those places 
commenced as early as 1766, but nothing regular or satisfactory was 
accomplished. 

But having " got along " for nearly two hundred years with such 
poor accommodations was no argument for the Salem people that they 
[80] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

should continue thus handicapped, and on March 6, 1802, we find the 
Salem Turnpike a:nd Chelsea Bridge Corporation formed to build 

a road beginning near Buffum's Corner, so-called in Salem, thence to be continued 
through the Salem Great Pastures, so-called; thence by the southeasterly side of 
Farrington's Hill, so-called, in Lj'nn, over Breed's Island, in Lynn Marshes, and by 
the southeast side of Cheever's Hill, so-called, in Chelsea, to a place on the Chelsea 
side of Mystic River, between Winnesimmit Ferryways and Dr. Aaron Dexter's 
gate, and over said river to a place on the Charlestown side thereof, north of, and 
near to, the Navy Yard ; and thence to said Charles River Bridge in Charlestown. 

And the company was further empowered to build 

bridges over the rivers and waters between said Buffum's Corner and Charles River, 

a most necessary provision, in view of the nature of the country to be 
traversed. 

By an act passed February 26, 1803, the route of the company 
was shortened and it was allowed to build only to " Main Street, in 
Charlestown," or in other words, to City Square. The road, as built 
in conformity with the above description, formed what are now known 
as Highland Avenue, in Salem; Western Avenue, in Lynn; Broadway, 
in Saugus, Revere, and Chelsea; Chelsea Street, in Charlestown; and 
included Chelsea Bridge, over the Mystic River. 

We read in Lewis' " History of Lynn " : 

On Thursday the 23rd of September (1803) the Salem Turnpike was opened 
and began to receive toll. The Lynn Hotel was built this year. The original num- 
ber of shares in this turnpike were 1200, and the original cost was $189,000. This 
road will become the property of the Commonwealth when the proprietors shall 
have received the whole cost with 12% interest; and the bridge over Mystic River, 
when 70 years shall be accomplished. This turnpike, for nearly four miles, passes 
over a tract of salt marsh which is frequently covered by the tide. When it was 
first projected many persons esteemed it impracticable to build a good road on such 
a foundation. One person testified that he had run a pole down to the depth of 25 
feet. Yet this turnpike proves to be one of the most excellent roads in America. 

The length of the road, exclusive of the bridge over Mystic River, 
was twelve and one half miles; and the cost was officially given as 
$182,063.21, or about $14,600 a mile. 

June I, 1 8 13, was the day on which this turnpike did the greatest 
day's business in its history. This was the day of the famous sea fight 
between the Chesapeake and Shannon off Salem Bay, and one hundred 
and twenty stages passed over the turnpike that day filled with passen- 
gers eager to witness the combat from the commanding hilltops of 
Salem. ^ 

Besides the sections through swamps, described above, there were 
other sections even more difficult to build. There seemed to be no 
medium; it was either soft marsh or the hardest of hard rock, and it 
seems incredible that the promoters should have dreamed of ever earn- 
ing dividends on so expensive a proposition. But nearly five per cent 

John F. Browning in the Salem News, January 15, igiS- 

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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

net was averaged down to 1820, and five and seven eighths per cent was 
the average for the six years preceding the opening of the Eastern 
Railroad. After that competition began, the earnings fell at once 
nearly one half and steadily dropped from that date until 1868. On 
June 5 of that year the legislature declared the turnpike a public 
highway. 

This corporation filed returns in accordance with the spirit of the 
law, and only those for the years 1809, 18 10, and 181 1 are missing. 
The following table of averages is compiled from the returns and shows 
the net earnings of the road in percentages of its cost: 

1804 to 1808 average 5.0% 

1812 to 1818 " 4.9% 

1819 to 1828 " 3.4% 

1829 to 1838 " 5.06% 

1838 Eastern Railroad opened, 

1839 to 1848 average 2.46% 

1849 to 1858 " 1.62% 

1859 to 1867 " 1.41% 

1 8 12 saw the greatest net earnings, seven and two tenths per cent, with 
a gross business of $16,696.79, and expenses of $3504.68. The leanest 
year was 1861, when the net earnings amounted to only three tenths of 
one per cent, the gross receipts being $6889.61 and the expenses 
$6385.88. The largest year's business was done in 1836, when the tolls 
totaled $17,671.46; but expenditures of $5577.15 held the net proceeds 
down to six and six tenths per cent. The accompanying chart shows 
graphically the financial history of the Salem Turnpike as revealed by 
the Massachusetts archives. 

Although a part of the same franchise, the Chelsea Bridge was 
treated as a separate institution and returns for that were filed sepa- 
rately. Its cost is given as $55,469.46, and returns were filed spas- 
modically. The net earnings averaged as follows : 

1804 to 1807 average 1 1.3% 

1814 to 1816 " 6.17% 

1829 to 1838 . ... " io.% 

1839 to 1848 " 6.1% 

1849 to 1855 " 7-45% 

1859 to 1861 " 6.45% 

Strange to say, the leanest year, 1861, for the turnpike was the banner 
year for the bridge, as it is recorded that the bridge collections then 
totaled $11,010.56, with expenses of $4832.90. 

In 1825 the corporation was authorized to convey such land to the 
United States as might be necessary to make the Navy Yard boundaries 
straight, and to buy enough other land "to compensate it." In 1831 
the discontinuance of the turnpike between Charlestown Square and 
the northwest corner of the Navy Yard was allowed. The town was 
[84] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

to accept the road within four months, have it well paved as far as 
Caswell's Corner and the rest of the distance put in good repair, in 
return for which the corporation was to pay the town $1000. And 
thereafter the corporation was to be allowed to maintain a guide board 
in Charlestown Square directing travelers to its turnpike. 

June 5, 1868, the legislature declared the turnpike and the bridges 
a public highway. The Lynn and Boston Street Railway Company, 
chartered April 6, 1859, had been allowed to lay its tracks along the 
turnpike, and the act provided for the appointment of commissioners 
who were to determine what amount the street-railway company should 
pay toward the maintenance of the new highway. By the same act the 
county commissioners of Essex were required to make public six toll 
bridges over the Merrimac River and one between Beverly and Salem. 

For its entire length to-day the Salem Turnpike is a busy and im- 
portant thoroughfare, being the principal street of the cities of Chelsea 
and Revere and passing through the manufacturing district of West 
Lynn. 

In the northwesterly corner of Lynn is stil) to be seen the famous 
" Floating Bridge," a unique and unprecedented piece of construction. 
Collins Pond, seventeen acres in area, lay across the route selected for 
the road, and being of great depth with a soft, peaty bottom offered 
serious obstacles to any known form of bridge construction. So a new 
method was evolved by which a long raft was built, making a continu- 
ous floating structure across the pond five hundred and eleven feet long 
and twenty-eight feet wide. 

The bridge was built in three sections on the shore of the pond and 
floated into place. First a course of logs hewn on the upper sides was 
placed. Then a course of timbers one foot square was laid at right 
angles upon it, the operation being repeated until there were five such 
layers, when a top course of plank was laid, making the whole bridge 
about five and one half feet deep. The timbers were fastened together 
with dowels, which allowed an undulating movement as loads passed 
along the surface, and provided flexibility between the fixed ends on 
the banks and the portion affected by the variations of water level in 
the pond. 

Construction of this bridge delayed the completion of the turnpike 
about a year, the bridge being built in 1804 at a reported cost of 
$55,469. Turnpike operation, however, did not wait its completion, 
a detour being provided around the pond and over what is now Waitt 
Avenue. Of late years renewal of the planking has been necessary about 
every three years, and the usual custom has been to add it to the worn 
timbers already in place until the bridge is now said to be over fifteen 

feet thick. 

A large drove of cattle once attempted to cross the bridge stoppmg 

on the way to drink. Many of them gathering on one side and thrust- 

ine their heads under the railing caused the bridge to list, and the railing, 

^ [85] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

catching their horns, held the heads under water until they were 
drowned.^ 

In later years the construction of a high-speed electric railroad 
called for another bridge across this pond, but the invention of the pile- 
driver made the second effort less picturesque. A double-track pile 
trestle is now to be found close beside the " Floating Bridge." 

The portion over the Lynn marshes still traverses a waste region, 
although the roadbed has been brought to a scientific excellence and 
firmness. Breed's Island, mentioned in the act of incorporation, is still 
in evidence, the hard ground being noticeable at the angle in the road 
about halfway across the marsh. 

According to Tracy's " History of Essex County " one tollgate was 
located on this island, a point of great advantage in preventing shun- 
piking. Another gate, stood on Chelsea Bridge, while a third was 
located in Salem Great Pastures about two miles from Salem. Tracy 
says that the Salem gate collected $5300 in the year 1805. That was 
about forty-three per cent of the total receipts of the road for that year 
and more than double the total expenses. 

As Broadway in Chelsea, the turnpike felt the full force of the 
disastrous conflagration which swept that city in April, 1908, burning 
across the main avenue and destroying several blocks on each side. 

Salemites of years ago used to tell gleefully of one of their fellow 
citizens who, returning late one night in a snowstorm along the turn- 
pike, was suddenly confronted by a burly figure which .with extended 
arm seemed vigorously to demand "your money or your life." Mind- 
ful of the proverb which defines the better part of valor, the traveler 
hastily tossed his watch and purse to the dimly seen figure and retreated. 
Next morning with reinforcements he returned to the scene of his dis- 
comfiture only to experience bitter mortification when his valuable prop- 
erty was -found in the horse trough at the foot, of the old-fashioned 
pump, which still held its ground with handle horizontal. 



THE NORFOLK AND BRISTOL TURNPIKE 

The Columbian Cerittnel of January 8, 1800, made the following 
announcement : 

New York and Providence Mail Stages 

Leave Major Hatches, Royal Exchange Coffee House, in State Street, every 
morning at eight o'clock, arrive at Providence at six the same day ; leave Providence 
at four o'clock for New York, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Stage book 
kept at the bar for the entrance of the names. Expreffes forwarded to any part of 
the continent at the shorteft notice, on reafonable terms: horfes kept ready for that 
purpofe only. All favors gratefully acknowledged by the Public's moft humble 
servant 

Stephen Fuller, Jr. 

^ Paper read before the Essex Institute by C. J. H. Woodbury, 1898. 

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Ten hours from Boston to Providence, and the rest of a week to 
reach New York, was the time required at the opening of the nineteenth 
century, so no wonder the spirit of progress presently manifested itself. 
Hence we find the following petition presented at the 1802 session of 
the Massachusetts general court: 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in General _ Court 
assembled : 

The subscribers humbly shew 
That it is expedient that the public roads should be made smooth and easy for travel- 
lers and for the conveyance of goods and commodities as well as produce. That the 
road between Boston and Providence is much used and of great public accommoda- 
tion ; but it is in a very bad state and they conceive is only to be made good by a 
Turnpike, that being the cheapest, and most equitable, and just mode of making the 
needed improvement. Wherefore they pray that they, with others, may be incor- 
porated as a Turnpike Company to improve the road from the line of the State of 
Rhode Island at Pawtucket Bridge or falls to the Court House in Dedham, and that 
due authority may be given to straiten the road. 

And as in duty bound, will ever pray 

Ephraim Starkweather and thirty-two others. 

The incorporators comprised men of prominence in their respective 
towns from Boston to Pawtucket, and it Is interesting to note that several 
of them were in controversy with the corporation two years later over 
the amount to be paid for land taken. 

In answer to the petition the legislature duly granted an act of in- 
corporation on the eighth of March, 1802, and authorized the building 
of a road by the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike Corporation 

from the Court House in Dedham, in the county of Norfolk, to the North parish 
meeting-house in Attleborough in the county of Bristol, and from thence to Paw- 
tucket Bridge, so-called, and for keeping the same in repair. The said turnpike to 
begin at the Court House in Dedham aforesaid, and thence to run as near a strait 
line from the said Court House in Dedham to the said Pawtucket Bridge, as a Com- 
mittee appointed by the General Court, shall, with due regard to the nature of the 
ground, direct ; and which Committee is hereby authorized to locate the same road 
accordingly . . . 

On the following day the committee provided in the act above was 
appointed: Salem Town, Esq., from the senate and Messrs. Kendall 
and Rice of Hingham from the house. Of Salem Town we have 
already heard as an incorporator of the First Massachusetts. He was 
a man of note, and at this time was serving in the senate for the second 
time after having declined advancement to the council. He had been 
a quartermaster in the revolutionary army, according to Daniels' " His- 
tory of Oxford," and later was the second major general of the Massa- 
chusetts militia. He served seven years in the house and eight in the 
senate, being first elected to the latter body as a successor to Moses 
Gill, who was advanced to a lieutenant governor in 1794. In 1802 and 

[87]' 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

1803 he served as a member of the governor's council.^ Besides his 
connection with the First Massachusetts and with the Norfolk and 
Bristol he later appeared either as an incorporator, or on the committee 
for laying out, of several other turnpike corporations. 

The first meeting of the corporation was held March 30, 1802, at 
the house of Joseph Holmes in Attleboro. Colonel Israel Hatch was 
moderator and Fisher Ames was elected president. The number of 
shares was fixed at eight hundred, of a par value of fifty dollars each. 
The number of shares was afterwards increased and assessments 
amounting to two hundred dollars per share were laid, but only nine 
hundred and sixty-four shares were thus paid in, and that number con- 
stituted the capital stock of the company throughout. 

Colonel Israel Hatch was a native of Attleboro, and at the out- 
break of the Revolution was a stage driver over the post road between 
Boston and Providence. He saw service In the Revolution, but attained 
the rank of colonel in the militia of later days. In 1780 he bought 
the old Garrison House in Attleboro, and kept a public house there 
until his death in 1837. But he appears to have divided his time be- 
tween the Attleboro house, which he called " Steamboat Hotel," and 
various taverns in Boston, of which he was at one time and another the 
proprietor. In 1787 he assumed the management of "The White 
Horse," which stood on Washington Street, then called Newbury Street, 
about opposite Hayward Place, and announced his intentions by the 
following advertisement: 

TAKE NOTICE 

Entertainment for 

Gentlemen and Ladies 

At the White Horse Tavern, 

Newbury Street. 

My friends and travellers, you '11 meet 

With kindly welcome and good cheer, 

And what it is you now shall hear : 

A spacious house and liquors good, 

A man who gets his livelihood 

By favours granted ; hence he '11 be 

Always smiling, always free: 

A good large house for chaise or chair, 

A stable well exposed to air : 

To finish all, and make you blest, 

You '11 have the breezes from the west. 

And — ye, who flee the approaching Sol, 

My doors are open to your call ; 

Walk in — and it shall be my care 

T' oblige the weary traveller. 

From Attleborough, Sirs, I came, 

Where once I did you entertain, 

' Tillinghast's Index of Senate and House Members, Massachusetts State Library. 

[88] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

And now shall here as there before 
Attend you at my open door, 
Obey all orders with despatch, 

Am, Sirs, your servant, 

Israel Hatch. 
Boston, May 14, 1787. 

According to Daggett's " History of Attleboro," he was appointed 
the first postmaster in that town by President Washington, in 1789, 
and kept the office in his " Steamboat Hotel." At the beginning of 
the nineteenth century, Drake tells us in his " Old Landmarks and 
Historic Personages of Boston," he was conducting the Royal Exchange 
Tavern, which stood on the southwest corner of what are now State 
and Exchange streets. 

The stand in Attleboro which Colonel Hatch purchased was the 
oldest tavern stand in Bristol County, as July 5, 1670, John Woodcock 
was licensed " to keep an ordinary at the ten mile river (so-called) 
which is in the way from Rehoboth to the Bay. . . ." Madam Knight 
stopped there for dinner on the second day of her journey, and has left 
a most unappetizing account of her meal. 

Fisher Ames was Dedham's most brilliant son. Graduating from 
Harvard in 1774, he became a lawyer in his native town, and was sent 
as a delegate to assist in framing the Federal Constitution. For the 
first eight years of the country's existence he served in Congress, and 
upon the retirement of Washington was chosen to deliver the address 
in behalf of that body. While the turnpike was building, in 1804, he 
was elected president of Harvard College, but was obliged on account 
of ill health to decline. 

Construction of the turnpike was commenced promptly and it was 
opened for traffic in 1806. February 10, 1803, an additional act was 
passed by the legislature, by which an extension was allowed from the 
courthouse in Dedham to " the southerly side of the pavement near to 
the Brick School House in said Town of Roxbury." Under the two 
acts the road was built from the present corner of Washington and 
Bartlett streets, in the Roxbury section of Boston, straight through 
Forest Hills to Dedham, the only notable break in the straight line 
coming at a point a little north of Germantown, where the road curved 
to avoid a large rock, which has lately been removed by the state high- 
way commission. Reaching Dedham at the old Phoenix House, the 
turnpike made almost a square bend to the right and followed the present 
High Street to the old courthouse, which occupied the site of the present 
one. From thence to Pawtucket Bridge the road ran so straight that 
we can imagine the few bends were due to inaccuracies in the old- 
fashioned surveyors' compasses, except at one point, at High Rock in 
Wrentham. There we find good reason for the crook in the road, for 
the hill would have been impassable if the line had been carried straight 
over it. 

[89] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Although, as we have seen, the promoters of this road had the benefit 
of the advice of Thomas Dwight that two dollars a rod was too high 
a price to pay for construction of turnpikes, the directors actually con- 
tracted with Colonel Hatch for the construction of three and three 
quarters miles of the road at seven dollars a rod. The original contract 
may still be seen in the rooms of the Dedham Historical Society. It is 
in the form of a bond, Colonel Hatch being holden and standing firmly 
bound for a certain sum, the conditions being that he is to construct the 
road from Hatch's Corner to the Allen Road, twenty-four feet wide and 
crowned twelve inches. The specifications required him 

to form a smooth regular surface covered in every part with coarse hard cementing 
gravel not less than six inches thick for seven feet in width and three inches at the 
sides of a true slope, the whole cleared of stones within one foot of the surface, with 
trenches on each side of sufficient depth to carry ofE the water and sluices where 
necessary and where they are not made by the said corporation of sufficient sizes, 
made and covered with good stone and projecting two feet on each side of the trav- 
elled part of said road. 

And the contract further provides for the building of three bridges for 
which the timber was to be furnished by the company. The section 
which Colonel Hatch built under this contract extended from what is 
now the corner of Washington Street and the road to Plainville, at the 
upper end of North Attleboro Village where Hatch's " Steamboat 
Hotel " stood, to the corner of Washington Street and Allen Avenue, 
at the top of the highest hill between North Attleboro and Paw- 
tucket. At two points on this section are still to be seen interesting 
instances of the difference between turnpike construction and that of 
earlier days. The Old Post Road passed through what is to-day North 
Attleboro Village, coming down over the top of the high hill by the 
water tower, where it is now known as Elmwood Street, and passing, 
in a long radius curve to the west of the location of the present Baptist 
meeting-house. The turnpike, coming down the hill into North Attle- 
boro on the line of the present Washington Street, cut across the 
Old Post Road and continuing the straight line made a chord across 
the curve above mentioned, after which turnpike and post road were 
blended into one for a few miles. Again, about one mile below 
North Attleboro where the trolley cars leave Washington Street to 
pass through the village of South Attleboro is a place where the Old 
Post Road was badly crooked, but: the turnpike still held to the straight 
line, and the two roads are to-day in their old positions, like a bow and 
cord. Entering Dedham from Boston, Washington Street the turnpike, 
and East Street the Old Post Road, emphasize the same lesson. 

Once and once only did this corporation deign to file a return of its 
doings, as required by its charter. In that the total cost of the road is 
stated to have been $225,000, which makes the cost per mile about 
$6440. This figure was undoubtedly inflated, as we have already seen 
that the total capital was only $192,800; and taking the latter figure as 
[90] 




Mendon Road, South Attleboro, site of Tollgate 
Scenes in Foxboro and VVrentham 

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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

the cost of the road would give a cost per mile of about $5500, which 
is less than forty per cent of the pro-rata cost of the Salem Turnpike. 
The report of Secretary Gallatin states that this road was covered with 
a stratum of gravel or pounded stone, which accords with the specifica- 
tions in the Hatch contract and accounts for the great excess of cost 
over the previous turnpikes, which were simply dirt roads. 

Right-of-way acquisition seems to have been easy in Norfolk County. 
Away back in the northeast corner of the clerk of court's office in 
Dedham, on the top shelf, was found in a box the report of the com- 
mittee to whom was intrusted the duty of determining the value of the 
necessary land in cases where the corporation and the owners could not 
agree. There were only fourteen such cases, and the total amount of 
the awards was only $831.34; and from the findings no appeals were 
taken. But in Bristol County they had their troubles. We have already 
seen that there appears to have been a split between the original pro- 
jectors, and the records of the court of sessions in Taunton show that 
the enterprise was not welcomed in all parts of its route. Ephraim 
Starkweather, the leading spirit of the enterprise in its early days, must 
have had a bad falling out with his associates before construction began, 
for we find him appealing for a jury to revise the award which the 
committee had made on two pieces of land which had been taken from 
him. For these he had been allowed $96 and $650 respectively, but 
the jury thought he had not received fair treatment and awarded $1100 
for the two. Eliphalet and Samuel Slack of Rehoboth were among the 
original incorporators, and they, too, entered into litigation with the 
new company. Considering the awards of the committee in their cases 
too great, Oziel Wilkinson of North Providence, a director of the 
corporation, appealed for a jury and succeeded in having the total of 
the two awards reduced by five dollars. The appeal from the award 
to Samuel Slack is unique, for it claims that the committee was unduly 
influenced by the fact of said Slack's being a deputy sheriff. 

Forty-five contested cases were submitted to the committee in Bristol 
County, and from its decisions ten appeals were taken, the last not being 
disposed of until July i, 1805. The total of the awards by the com- 
mittee was $7664 and the appeals raised this amount by about $750, 
the average award being about $1.90 per lineal rod of four rods width. 
Accepting this figure as the average cost of the land makes a total cost 
of about $21,280, or $608 per mile, but this undoubtedly would not 
provide for land in Dedham and Roxbury. Probably $25,000 to 
$30,000 is near the correct cost of the right of way. 

Thirteen miles of this turnpike was built by Oziel Wilkinson, probr 
ably the five miles connecting the end of Colonel Hatch's contract with 
Pawtucket Falls, and another eight miles in Wrentham and Foxboro; 
and it is instructive as to the state of manufacturing at that time to note 
that he was obliged to fit up a shop of his own in Pawtucket, in which he 
manufactured the shovels to be used by his workmen. 

[91] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Although the road was opened for traffic in 1806, it was not until 
November 6, 1809, that sufficient surplus had accumulated to justify 
a dividend. Then the sum of $1205 was distributed, about five eighths 
of one per cent. The corporation by-laws required semi-annual divi- 
dends, and they were declared fitfully after that. The chart shown was 
compiled from the treasurer's books and is authentic. It shows a vary- 
ing rate, but generally holding up to about one or two per cent per 
annum, until the opening of the Boston and Providence Railroad, after 
which, as might be expected, a heavy falling off is noted. But a most 
amazing jump appears in August, 1831, when $9640, making a five-per- 
cent dividend, was declared, which gave a total for the year of six and 
one half per cent. 

A few notes on the nature of the traffic may prove of interest, 1825 
being arbitrarily selected as a sample year, and the data being collected 
from the toll gatherers' returns. As shown on the chart, the volume of 
business was heaviest between Boston and Dedham, the collections on 
the two sections there being greater than all the rest together. The 
amount decreased steadily as the gates receded from Boston with a slight 
recovery on the Pawtucket end. 

The travel was heaviest in June, but it is surprising to see no regu- 
larity in the rise and fall, and how late into the winter good business 
kept up. 

The winter of 1824—25 must have been an open one, for the toll 
gatherer at the Foxboro gate reported no sleds or sleighs passing 
his gate in February. The following table gives his report for two 
months of 1825 of the nature of the traffic: 

Description February July 

Boston-Providence Citizens Coaches 56 208 

Boston-Providence New Line 56 113 

Guild's Teams (freight wagons) — 41 

Coaches 5 17 

Chaise, Chair, or other i horse vehicles 86 194 

Union Line Stage (i horse wagons) — 19 

Four Horse Wagons 49 49 

Two Horse Wagons 30 21 

One Horse Wagons 165 119 

Saddle Horses 12 16 

Sheep or Swine 54 — 

On July 2 it was noted that sixteen stagecoaches passed the gate. 

The gross receipts for 1825 were $9154.11, and in that year one 
of the semi-annual dividends failed to materialize, while the other only 
gave a rate of about one and one quarter per cent for the year. 

By special provision in its charter the corporation was allowed to 
commute tolls or, in other words, to run accounts with extensive cus- 
tomers such as stage-coach companies. Such commuted tolls in 1825 
amounted to $3006.48, as follows : 
[92] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Citizens Coach Line — Boston to Providence $1,377.65 

Providence Stage — Old Line 575-53 

New Line 563.34 

Hartford Stage . I45-I5 

M. Guild for wagon tolls I40-54 

Union Line 88.00 

Dedham Stage 10.00 

Miscellaneous 106.27 

A suggestion appears in the above table of why the section between 
Boston and Dedham paid so much better than all the rest, for " Hart- 
ford Stage " may be noted as a source of income. The Hartford and 
Dedham Turnpike, which by its connections with the Norfolk and Bris- 
tol at one end and with the Ninth Massachusetts at the other, formed 
the best through line to Hartford, connected ■ with the Norfolk and 
Bristol at the courthouse in Dedham, and all its Boston business passed 
thence over the latter company's road. 

In 1805, while the expectation of dividends may have been still vivid, 
the corporation sought and obtained an extension of its franchise rights 
from its authorized terminus at the corner of Washington and Bartlett 
streets to Pleasant Street in Boston. But such a piece of work, involv- 
ing the building of a bridge or causeway over a mile long across tidal 
flats, proved too great an undertaking, and the turnpike continued 
throughout to deliver its travelers to the public road in Roxbury. 

The old turnpike is in existence throughout its length to-day as a 
public road, except for the few places where changes have been made in 
connection with railroad crossings. Commencing at its end at the cor- 
ner of Washington and Bartlett streets, for about two miles it may be 
traced under the gloom and reverberations of the elevated structure 
to Forest Hills, where the first tollgate was encountered by the old-time 
travelers. For many years the railroad station at Forest Hills was 
known as " Toll Gate Station " ; and " Toll Gate Cemetery," " Toll 
Gate Way," and " Toll Gate Inn," still chronicle the location of the old 
gate. In the grade-crossing abolitions of 1895 the present bend in the 
street was formed to afford a better passage under the tracks. About 
the time of the Centennial celebration in 1876 a concerted movement 
resulted In having the old turnpike named Washington Street in all the 
Massachusetts towns through which it passed; hence as Washington 
Street we look for it and follow the same to Dedham, the latter part 
of the way, over a broad boulevard constructed by the state highway 
commission. Here, however, a slip occurred, and for the next mile 
Washington Street Is not the old turnpike at all. The old-time travelers 
on reaching Dedham Square found the Phoenix House on the corner 
at the right, where it stood until burned in 1880. Turning around this 
corner the turnpike followed the present High Street to the courthouse, 
and thence over Court Street to Its junction with Washington Street. 
Then to the Rhode Island boundary Washington Street is the old turn- 
pike. Glance at the map of this section of Massachusetts and you will 

[94] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

have no trouble in picking out the old road. The stralghtness of its 
course makes it stand out as If emphasized by heavier lines. From 
Dedham to East Walpole It Is an Important road with twenty-minute 
trolley service and heavy teaming; thence to South Walpole It Is a much- 
used country road; but between South Walpole and North Attleboro It 
Is an almost forgotten path through the woods. Below North Attle- 
boro It Is a state highway, which in summer gives off Its surface In an 
almost continuous cloud of dust from passing automobiles. Entering 
Pawtucket we find the road called Broadway, now In Rhode Island. 
Prior to i860 the easterly shore of the Seekonk River was the boundary 
between the states, and the turnpike was built in Massachusetts as far 
as the easterly end of the bridge In the center of Pawtucket, where It 
connected with the Providence and Pawtucket Turnpike, the road of 
a Rhode Island corporation, later owned by the state. 

Except for the section between Norwood and North Attleboro the 
turnpike was laid out along the line of the previously existing road, 
which led through the centers of Walpole, Wrentham, and Plainville. 
But there the straight-line mania was allowed to warp better judgment, 
and from Norwood for fifteen miles it was laid out as straight as it 
could be made through what must then have been a wilderness, and over 
hills that called for the greatest allowance In grades. Lewis tells us In 
his " History of Walpole " that that town, In town meeting, voted to 
oppose the granting of the charter for this turnpike, and he wonders 
at the opposition to progress. Rather it would seem that the hard- 
headed old settlers knew of the proposed route through the wild out- 
skirts of their town, and were far-sighted enough to see that it would 
not succeed. For the old road refused to be put out of business by the 
new turnpike, and, having the advantage of easier grades with little 
additional distance and also the travel and traffic of the intermediate 
towns, it proved a formidable competitor of the turnpike. In the com- 
parison of business by districts, shown on the chart already mentioned, 
the comparatively small business done on the Foxboro and Attleboro 
sections Is probably largely due to such competition. According to 
Lewis' account, John Needham ran the stage route from Boston 
to Providence through North Walpole and the Plain in close rivalry 
with the stage line which passed through East Walpole. Now that sec- 
tion of the turnpike Is an almost forgotten path through the woods for 
much of Its length, but the old road, located by earlier theories along 
lines of least resistance, is still a much-traveled highway and the prin- 
cipal road between Boston and Providence. President Monroe, on his 
tour of New England In 18 17, passed over the turnpike from Pawtucket 
Bridge to Hatch's Tavern, where he stopped for refreshments. His 
journey was resumed through Wrentham and Walpole over the old 
road.^ 

» "The Tour of James Monroe, President of the United States in 1817," by S. Putnam 
Waldo. 

[95] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

There were thrilling scenes on the old turnpike in the years preceding 
the advent of the railroads, when the demands on the meager trans- 
portation facilities were taxing them to their utniost and loudly calling 
for further and improved methods. With sometimes sixteen stages a 
day over the road, it is not hard to imagine the bustle attendant upon 
their passing, the hurry and excitement where .the hungry travelers 
alighted for their meals and horses were changed, and the keen excite- 
ment of a race when stages of rival lines met the temptation. And there 
is a touch of romantic interest in the old freight wagons which plodded 
their way so slowly that taverns were provided for them every few 
miles. The telegraph had its predecessor in those days, too, for they 
had their way of handling important messages. President Jackson's 
message was carried from Providence to Boston in two hours and forty- 
five minutes on one occasion. Wrapped around a whip handle It was 
thrown on to the Providence wharf as the New York steamer neared 
its landing. Instantly seizing it a waiting rider dashed away with 
the message at full speed, which he maintained until he overtook 
another who was jogging along easily, waiting for him to catch up. In 
this manner the message was passed from one to another, so that the 
utmost speed of a horse was constantly being employed. 

One often wonders If tollhouses, situated often in remote and lonely 
districts, were not subject to robbery, and lest we too rashly conclude 
that they were Immune on account of the high moral character of a cen- 
tury ago, let us read the following affidavit which Is to be seen among 
the Norfolk and Bristol Corporation's papers. 

Mass*°. Norfolk ss Dedham, March 27th, 1806. 

Personally appears Cyrus Knowlton of Roxbury in the County of Norfolk, 
keeper of the toll gate on the Turnpike Road from Boston to Dedham in said Rox- 
bury and upon oath complains and declares that between twelve and one o'clock 
yesterday morning being in bed and asleep in the Toll house of the lower Gate at 
Roxbury aforesaid I was awakened with the noise of several People whom I heard 
talking but did not first distinguish what was said then they took hold of the door 
and attempted to open it — I said halloo — upon which they told me to be still and 
open the door — or let them in — I asked them what they wanted — They said to 
come in — I asked who they were — They said none of my business (or to that ef- 
fect) let us in — I told them they should not come in, but they might pass the Gate 
and pulled out the bolt — They then demanded my money — I told them I had none 

— they insisted I had — They then told me to hand them the two watches, (hang- 
ing up in the Toll house which they could see by the lamp which stood in the win- 
dow) I told them I would not — Thereupon they stove in the window — and one 
attempting to get in and having about half his body within the Toll house aforesaid 

— I struck with a sword at the half body so within as hard as I could the lamp being 
put out and no fire or light remaining upon which he fell back as I thought, then I 
saw a hand holding a pistol within said Toll house and snaped the pistol at which 
hand I again struck with my sword, but suppose I struck the pistol as I afterwards 
found my sword battered — Thereupon they all seemed to be moved off except one 
who threatened my life if I made any noise. I stood still awhile and then thought 
I saw somebody attempting to come at the window and struck him but did not sup- 
pose I hit him — ■ After waiting awhile I spoke but nobody answered — Then I 

[96] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

hallooed and exclaimed Murder — Then I heard the report of a pistol, as I sup- 
posed, against the door of said Toll house against which I was standing — and found 
one ball had lodged in the door — & another ball passed thro' the door and lodged 
in the board siding opposite the door — Then a person without said Toll house said 
" I have got another loaded (or ready, I can not recollect which) and if you attempt 
to come out or make a noise before day I will blow your brains out " — I stood 
still untill a team came up to the Toll house and found no person remaining — The 
Teamster went and alarmed the neighbors then I went with him and others and 
traced the blood on the snowy ground towards Boston about thirty rods — which 
others say they traced a mile off quite thick — and further saith not. 

Cyrus Knowlton. 

Some famous hotels were located along the Norfolk and Bristol and 
drew their trade from its travelers. First at the northerly end was 
found the old Norfolk House, still standing in Eliot Square, Boston, not 
on but " contiguous to the Providence Road," as its old-time circulars 
announced. In Dedham accommodations were to be had at the Phoenix 
House, already mentioned, which was burned in 1880, and the Norfolk 
House, which is now a private residence and stands just back of the 
courthouse. This house, erected in 1803 in the early turnpike en- 
thusiasm, continued to receive travelers hospitably until about 1866, 
and like many others of its class breathes traditions of presidents and 
great generals who have been sheltered by its roof. It is a three-and- 
a-half-story brick structure of colonial design, with a large ell in the 
rear, in which is a large dance hall with spring floor and suspended 
orchestra balcony. Standing beneath several ancient elms, it presents 
a singularly attractive view and forms a delightful link between the past 
and present. 

Next, in Norwood, came the tavern which gave the nickname to that 
section for many years. Until about 19 14 this tavern remained on its 
original site on Washington Street in the center of the village, but lately, 
in a rush of civic improvement, it has been relegated to a less conspicu- 
ous position. In olden times a large hook had its place in front of the 
tavern, and riders approaching would easily toss their reins over the 
hook, thus losing no time in putting themselves in position to have their 
thirst quenched. As " The Hook " that section of Norwood was there- 
fore known. 

Famous throughout the country were the two taverns in South Wal- 
pole, and many have sung the praises of the dinners served there. Situ- 
ated on opposite sides of the road, almost exactly halfway between the 
terminal cities, they naturally had almost a monopoly of the noonday 
dinner business, and their rivalry grew so keen that a friendly com- 
promise became necessary. Tradition tells us that by such agreement 
all stages pulled up at the tavern on the right-hand side of the road, thus 
giving the Boston-bound business to one and that In the opposite direc- 
tion to the other. Each of these old taverns stands to-day, but woefully 
fallen from their once high estate. In one you will reverently be shown 
the room in which President Washington once slept ; but since there was 

[97] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

no tavern there until the turnpike was built, and since there was no turn- 
pike there until seven years after the death of Washington, you may 
reserve your decision. Many an old-timer treasured sweet memories 
of the entertainment at Polly's Tavern, which enjoyed a wide popularity. 

Down in Foxboro, near the Wrentham line, the old turnpike inter- 
sected the ancient " Cape Road," which led from Wrentham and 
points beyond through Foxboro Village, and on to Plymouth and 
Cape Cod. The crossing occurred at the summit of a high hill known 
since early days as " Shackstand Hill " ; and this location, on two im- 
portant lines of travel, logically determined the site of the old Shack- 
stand Tavern which, under the famous management of " Pennyroyal " 
Cobb, flourished through the turnpike days. About a mile southwest 
the turnpike curved slightly at the summit of " Turner Hill," and the 
traveler was thrilled by the sight of the long, straight stretch of road, 
dipping into the valley and then rising over successive hills, until it 
finally disappeared over the horizon to follow an easy down grade into 
Attleboro North Parish, now the thriving town of North Attleboro. 
But one traveler, back in the early days before railroads had sim- 
plified the transportation problem, felt no thrills over the inspiring 
scene, for he was driving a jaded team hauling a heavy load over the 
soft road and through the mud of early spring. Ephralm Jewett held 
the contract to haul from Providence to Boston a newly coined issue of 
silver dollars, packed in kegs, consigned from the United States Mint 
to various banks in Boston, and he had struggled with his duty and urged 
his weary horses, for many miles until late in the evening when tired 
horse flesh could do no more, and the valuable cargo came to a stop on 
the steep grade of " Turner Hill," oozy and deep with mud from the 
spring thaw. Despite the desperate efforts of the driver, who thus 
found himself stalled at night in a lonely part of the road, the horses 
could not advance another inch, and finally, as he told it himself, 
Ephralm " got mad," and leaving his trust where it stood betook him- 
self and the horses to the " comfort for man and beast " offered by the 
Shackstand Tavern. No worry oppressed his sleep, and he arose the 
next morning sufficiently refreshed to extricate his wagon and resume 
his journey, with the cargo undiminished by thieving hands. 

Only a little over five miles back on the road from the scene of his 
discomfiture Jewett had passed Colonel Hatch's " Steamboat Hotel," 
of which mention has already been made. A little farther toward 
Providence, on the site of the modern Emerson House, on the corner 
of Washington Street and Commonwealth Avenue in North Attle- 
boro, stood the old " Union House," built by Richard Robinson, and 
famous far and near for its dances. 

Still standing on the State Highway, as the turnpike Is now called 
in that section, is the old Barrows Tavern in South Attleboro, another 
link to the turnpike past. Here Milton Barrows, the first postmaster 
in the south part of the town, sorted and passed out mail. 
[98] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

One tollgate stood in what is now Forest Hills Square, where the 
railroad later made a grade crossing, and the second was located " near 
the old road Westward of Mill creek," probably near the corner of the 
present East Street. These were half-gates, at which one half the 
authorized tolls were collected, — an arrangement which was author- 
ized by the legislature by an act passed in 1804. Another gate stood at 
the crossing of the Neponset River, below South Walpole, according 
to Lewis' " History of Walpole," and Timothy Gay divided his atten- 
tion between his gristmill and the tollgate. In 1825 James Boyden was 
performing those duties. Another gate stood at the corner of the 
Mendon Road in South Attleboro. 

The Boston Traveller of October 2, 1833, printed an account of a 
journey just completed on which the wanderer left New York by steam- 
boat at five o'clock in the afternoon, landing in Providence at eleven 
the next forenoon. The journey to Boston was continued by stage over 
the turnpike in a coach of the Citizens' Line which, " without any 
dangerous attempt at racing," arrived in that city soon after five that 
afternoon. So rapid was the stage-coach travel considered that the 
editor of the Providence Gazette suggested that anybody desiring to 
move faster should send to Kentucky for a streak of lightning. He had 
just been " rattled over the road " in four hours and fifty minutes, which 
was probably about the record attained by stages. 

The fare from Boston to Providence previous to the turnpike open- 
ing had been one dollar. The Massachusetts act incorporating the 
Citizens' Coach Company, in 1829, limited the fare to two dollars and 
a half in spite of the interstate nature of the business ; but nevertheless 
it is said that three dollars was the rate In 1832. 

At the May sitting of the court in 1821 a petition was presented for 
two public roads, one to lead from Dedham Common, the other from 
the courthouse, to unite on Dedham Island and then proceed to Spring 
Street in Roxbury. The turnpike corporation opposed the granting 
of this petition, and it was finally dismissed upon the corporation's 
agreeing to move its gate from Its position on the west side of Mill 
Creek to some place on the east side of the creek. If that had been 
done, Dedham people would have been able to follow the turnpike until 
they had crossed the meadows of the Charles River, and then could 
have continued their journey over the old road without paying any toll; 
so we are hardly surprised to find further along that the corporation did 
not carry out its agreement, and further petitions appeared until the 
matter was finally dropped about September, 1824. 

About 1826 demands became insistent that better means of trans- 
portation should be provided, and the state was looked to for the build- 
ing of railroads, which had just been introduced in England. A " Board 
of Directors of Internal Improvement" was appointed to study the 
question, and In their consideration of the route between Boston and 
Providence they caused a survey to be made of the amount of travel and 

[99] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

traffic carried over the turnpike, and also by water. Their report, issued 
in 1829, gave the following: 

Between 

Providence and Pawtucket, and Boston per annum 1,706 tons 

Providence and Boston by water " " 3,400 

Boston and towns over ten miles away " " 6,744 

Providence and towns over ten miles away " " 976 

Boston and towns not on the route but which would con- 
veniently use ten or more miles of the route . . . . " " 10,701 " 
Providence and ditto " " 3,663 " 

and stated that twenty-four thousand one hundred passengers were car- 
ried in 1827 between the two terminal cities by the citizens' and com- 
mercial lines of stages. 

Following the opening of the Boston and Providence Railroad in 
June, 1835, the dividends dropped to about one half of one per cent 
with frequent omissions altogether, and in 1843 the corporation peti- 
tioned the legislature to allow it to relinquish all of its franchise be- 
tween Dedham and Pawtucket Bridge, stating that an agreement had 
been made with the Norfolk county commissioners by which the road 
from Dedham to the northerly line of Foxboro was to be laid out as 
a county road, but they further wished to be relieved of the section 
In Foxboro, Attleboro, and Seekonk. One hundred and forty-six 
Attleboro citizens' signatures may be seen in the state archives attached 
to a protest filed against the corporation's request. Said they : " The 
undersigned had much rather pay the legal tolls on said road, when 
kept In good order by the proprietors, than receive it as it now is as a 

Nevertheless the legislature granted the petition, and the road was 
relinquished, within those limits, under authority of an act approved 
March 23, 1843. The portion In Norfolk County promptly became a 
public highway, but not until 1855 did Attleboro add its portion of 
the turnpike to its town roads. 

The petition of 1843 further recited that the portion of the road 
between Dedham and Roxbury still yielded a small Income, and desired 
that the corporation might be allowed to retain Its rights over that. 
That being granted, the company continued to operate that portion with 
steadily diminishing dividends until, in 1857, the county commissioners 
laid it out as a public road. 



THE QUINCY TURNPIKE 

Like the famous chapter on Snakes In Iceland,^ we might open this 
section by saying that there never was any " Quincy Turnpike." But 
there was a road which was known by that name, although miscalled, 

» " Natural History of Iceland " (1758), Chapter LXXII. 
[100] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

and it was built in connection with the Neponset Bridge between Dor- 
chester and Quincy. 

As early as 1635 the need of crossing the Neponset River near its 
mouth seemed great enough to demand a ferry, and the right to conduct 
such a business was granted to John Holland in that year. That ferry 
crossed from Preston's Point in Dorchester to Billings' Rocks In Quincy, 
and in 1802, on March 11, the Neponset Bridge Corporation was 
formed to build a bridge between the same points. But Holland's ferry 
did not pay and was soon given up. In 1638 another ferry was estab- 
lished farther up stream, which was known as the " Penny Ferry " on 
account of that coin being charged for a single passage. Ten years 
later we find that the ferry had disappeared, and " Mr. Joh Glour " 
was then given a franchise for a period of seven years. The need of 
better means of crossing was so great that Quincy voted in a town 
meeting in 1802 to choose two agents to assist the pi-omoters of the 
Neponset Bridge Corporation in their efforts to secure the franchise. 

Serious dIfEculties were found in building the bridge at the location 
specified In 1802, so the next legislature was appealed to for an amend- 
ment, which was granted, allowing the bridge to be erected at " Horse 
Hummock " Instead of at Preston's Point. The first charter contained 
the right to build a road from the bridge to the Quincy meeting-house 
but provided for no tolls upon It. In the amendment the same road was 
allowfd with another on the Boston side running to " Dorchester Lower 
Road." Dorchester and Quincy people were to have the free use of 
their respective roads. The coi-poration was to maintain the road in 
Dorchester, but Quincy was to share the expense of the road on Its 
side. 

Hancock Street to-day follows the lines laid out by the bridge 
corporation from its road to Quincy meeting-house. It was over two 
and a half miles long, but no gate was erected upon It nor tolls collected, 
so It was not a turnpike but a feeder for the bridge. But on some maps 
and In many papers the road Is spoken of as the " Quincy Turnpike," as 
has also been found the case with the road on the Dorchester end. 

As with turnpikes, returns of business done were required from toll 
bridges, and the Neponset Bridge made its statements with reasonable 
frequency. From 18 10 to 1841 returns were made without a break 
and intermittently after that. These have been plotted on the accom-. 
panying chart and seem to emphasize the fact that a toll bridge was not 
In the same class as a turnpike in the matter of earnings. Between 
1 8 10 and 1841 the average of the net receipts was about fourteen per 
cent. The banner year was 1835, with a gross of $7464.72 and a net 
of about twenty and three fourths per cent. When returns were resumed 
in 1844 the Old Colony Railroad was in operation, crossing the river 
but a few hundred feet below the bridge, and naturally the tolls were 
much reduced by the competition. 

May 26, 1857, an act was passed by the legislature under authority 

[iqi] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

of which the County of Norfolk assumed the management of the Nepon- 
set Bridge and the Braintree and Weymouth Turnpike, with its 
bridge. Tolls continued to be collected under county control until 
September 13, 1863, when all became free. The story of the operation 
of the Braintree and Weymouth Turnpike and the Neponset Bridge by 
Norfolk County has been sketched in connection with the Braintree and 
Weymouth Turnpike, and will be found on page 116. Early in 1864 
the Norfolk county commissioners voted to sell the tollhouse at Ne- 
ponset Bridge and it was soon after moved to another location, where 
it has served as a dwelling ever since. 

The approach on the Dorchester end passed under control of the 
county at the same time as the bridge, and that seems to be the only 
public dedication which that street has had. It is now known as 
Neponset Avenue, and extends from 358 Adams Street to the Neponset 
Bridge. 

The present Neponset Bridge was built In 1877, replacing the old 
toll bridge; and It, too, Is soon to give way to a more enduring and 
ornamental structure built under the control of the Metropolitan Park 
Commission. 

THE FOURTEENTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

The Fourteenth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation was the next, 
being chartered March 11, 1802. The road of this company was to 
complete the system of turnpikes from Boston to the Hudson River, 
and it was to connect the Fifth Massachusetts with the Second, covering 
an Intervening distance of about twenty-four miles. The description 
of the route contains two hundred and forty-four words, ten words for 
each mile, and is noteworthy for specifying that at each river intersec- 
tion there must be a bridge. Hampshire County records show the loca- 
tion of the road, but only for a distance of about six and one eighth 
miles westerly from Greenfield. Damages were awarded the various 
landowners whose land was taken for the road to a total of $340.50, 
or about $^6 per mile, for right of way. 

Money was not easily obtained for this road, and the whole was 
evidently never completed. Greenfield men were the promoters, and 
apparently their efforts were exhausted when they had built to Shel- 
burne, for we find an act passed In 1807, which allowed the company 
to operate that much of Its road. In 1808 the time within which the 
road might be built was extended to 1812, but nothing further appears. 
When the road was thrown open to the public is not on the records. 
An inspiring ride Is offered over the old road to-day. Starting from the 
Mansion House in Greenfield one follows westwardly over Main Street, 
dipping down to the crossing over Punch Brook. Then In a little less 
than three miles the old turnpike climbs seven hundred feet, by a devious 
course bristling with overhanging rocks and plunging deeply through 

[103] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

ledge cuts. After much solicitation by the local people this road was at 
last built over as a state highway. 

After the opening by the Massachusetts Highway Commission of 
the Mohawk Trail, which generally followed the route of the old Second 
Massachusetts Turnpike, a rush by enthusiastic motor tourists began, 
and the trip soon became one of the most popular in the state. As of 
old, the route from the east led over the line of the old Fourteenth 
Massachusetts, and those bound for the Mohawk Trail found them- 
selves obliged to climb the steep grades over Shelburne Mountain after 
leaving Greenfield. As some of those grades ran as steep as eleven 
per cent and severely taxed the power of all makes of automobiles, 
much complaint of that route was heard, so that the commission's en- 
gineers began, in 191 6, the survey for a new road which, by passing 
a longer distance on the northerly side, would reduce the grades to a 
maximum of six per cent. 



THE CAMDEN TURNPIKE 

The District of Maine was next to be favored, and we find the Cam- 
den Turnpike was incorporated June 23, 1802. This company was 
also known by the name of its chief promoter, Daniel Barrett, and by 
the name of Meguntikook Mountain. It was the first project that had 
the courage to make a survey before obtaining its charter, and the 
description of its route is worth reading. 

Beginning at a birch tree, the boundary line between the plantation of Canaan 
and the town of Camden ; thence running south four degrees east, forty- four rods ; 
south six degrees east, forty rods ; south seventeen degrees east fifty-four rods ; south 
twenty degrees east, one hundred twenty-six rods ; south thirty-two degrees east, 
fifty-four rods; to the southeasterly side of Smelt Brook, so called agreeably to the 
plan and survey of said road, being about one mile in length ; and that the made 
way and path for travelling be in no place less than ten feet wide, and where the 
mountain and pond will admit, to be sixteen feet wide, with eleven places for turn- 
ing out, at proper distances, as marked in the plan and survey of said road, for the 
accommodation of teams in passing over the said Megunticook Mountain. 

One gate was allowed, which was located at the southerly end of the 
turnpike. No returns were ever filed by this company, so we have no 
authentic data of the cost nor of the business done, and were it not for 
Robinson's "History of Camden and Rockport " we probably should 
know nothing of the road. But that tells us that the road was built 
at a reported cost of five to six thousand dollars, and that from three 
to six years were occupied in the work. The cost, it will be noticed, was 
excessive for a dirt road, and was so great on account of the tremendous 
amount of grading required and the large amount of rock handled. 
The turnpike was designed to connect Camden Harbor with Lincolnville 
Center, supplanting the earlier road which led over Meguntikook Moun- 
tain, and which could not be traveled by any sort of vehicle, being even 
[104] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

dangerous for a horse. It passed through narrow defiles, over lofty 
cliffs, and on the edges of precipices where a misstep would result in 
horse and rider being hurled into rocky chasms hundreds of feet below. 
It was a section of road dreaded by all who had to travel it, but never- 
theless a favorite place for those with leisure to gratify their love of 
nature. Such a road became intolerable as soon as business began to 
make any demands upon it, and Daniel Barrett boldly attacked the 
problem by cutting directly through between the base of the mountain 
and the lake. The photograph shown gives an excellent idea of Mr. 
Barrett's audacity. The lake here is close to the road on the left, and 
but for the shelter of the summer's leaves on the trees would occupy 
a large part of the picture. It is very likely that the water washed the 
very foot of the cliff shown, and that only the turnpike construction 
forced it away. 

When one considers the lack of all sorts of conveniences for doing 
such work, even shovels being obtainable only in small numbers, the 
courage and energy of Daniel Barrett in undertaking a work of such 
magnitude must be held in reverence. The lake must have been deep 
where he desired to make his road, for we are told that it was necessary 
to detach large rocks from the steep mountain side and roll them into 
the lake, there to form a rough retaining wall, within which smaller 
rocks and stones and finally earth were placed to form the road. Every 
common expedient was used in thus detaching the rocks, undermining 
bowlders, and blasting granite. Large rocks were prepared for their 
trip to the lake by digging under the lower sides and substituting props 
from time to time. When enough earth had been taken away, it was 
necessary for someone to knock out the props, a decidedly risky piece 
of work. 

The number of workmen varied from five to fifty, many of them 
being local residents who performed their labor in consideration of free 
passes over the toll road when opened, those who worked a specified 
length of time being entitled to pass free for life. 

Camden at that time numbered but eight hundred and seventy-two 
residents, so we are not surprised to learn that Mr. Barrett did not 
receive legal interest on the money he expended. But he kept up the 
business until 1834, when he sold out to various citizens in behalf of 
the towns for three hundred dollars. 

Of the road to-day Robinson writes: 

Words are inadequate to give an appropriate impression of its romantic scenery. 
It must be seen to be properly appreciated. Riding along this drive the traveller 
sees on one hand, the steep and rocky clifE rising to a height of nearly one thousand 
feet, with rocks and boulders of all sizes and descriptions lying at its base as if 
hurled there by the hand of Jove, and Maiden ClifE standing clear cut against the 
sky, while on the other hand lie the sparkling waters of Lake Meguntikook, gemmed 
with green capes and islets, with the western mountains rising from its opposite 
shores. Grandeur and loveliness combined make the Turnpike a unique spot in our 
scenery, which has been celebrated often in prose and verse. 

[105] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

On June 24, 1802, the First Maine Turnpike Corporation was 
granted its franchise to build a turnpike road 

from Harriman's Ferry, in the town of Prospect, on Penobscot River, to the Kenne- 
bec Bridge in Augusta. 

North's " History of Augusta " informs us that there were but two 
chaises in that town in 1798, and that the first four-wheeled carriage 
was introduced in 1800, so it is hard to see any encouragement for a 
turnpike with that town for a terminal. The stage route between 
Bangor and Waterville in 1835 followed practically the line of the 
present railroad, passing through the towns of Carmel, Newport, Pal- 
myra, Pittsfield, and Clinton, and swinging a huge bow over the pro- 
posed straight line of the turnpike. As the stages followed the turn- 
pikes, we are justified in concluding that the First Maine was never 
built. 



THE FIRST CUMBERLAND TURNPIKE 

A corporation was created June 24, 1802, with a franchise to build 
a short road in Scarboro in the District of Maine. 

Tourists between Saco and Portland by trolley or automobile, pass- 
ing through the village of West Scarboro, or Dunstan's Corner as it 
is locally known, and within a very short distance after passing the sol- 
diers' monument, going toward Portland, will observe a country road 
bearing off to the left. That was the old road, and the one straight 
ahead was the First Cumberland Turnpike, and the first buildings on the 
left of the corporation's road were the farm buildings and home of 
Horatio Southgate, the leading spirit In the turnpike three quarters of 
a century ago. 

Just north of Old Orchard Beach Is the narrow outlet of a broad 
area of marshland which extends Inland for a distance of about three 
miles. The early road between Boston and Portland bore well In- 
land to avoid this marshy tract, and at West Scarboro made a wide 
detour around it, passing over Scottows Hill, and traversing a length 
of over two and a half miles between points less than a mile and a half 
apart. Over that Interval the turnpike was built, probably soon after 
the granting of the charter. 

It was on a raw, rainy, January day that the writer stepped from 
a trolley car at Dunstan's Corner In his search for data on this old 
road. Having a tip that Mr. Noah Pillsbury of that village was once 
the collector of tolls, he sought him out and found him, although 
seventy-eight years old, performing the duties of rural mail carrier, and 
driving over his route of twenty-five miles every day. He gladly wel- 
comed the searcher, made him welcome to all he had to Impart, and 
proudly exhibited the treasurer's book of the corporation from 1834 
to the end of business. From that book the accompanying chart of 
[106] 




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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

business done was compiled. It shows, as do many of the others, the 
large Increase in stage and wagon traffic, reaching a climax in the 
thirties, with a disastrous slump upon the advent of the railroads. 

The tollhouse stood north of the Southgate house, within speaking 
distance, and the gate was a horizontal bar swinging in a quarter circle, 
and pivoted on top of a post. The cost of a new gate is given as $5.97 
in the accounts for 1836. The rate of toll for a one-horse wagon was 
eight cents, but if the wagon had a top, it was regarded as an indication 
of the ability to pay more, and twelve cents was assessed accordingly. 
Stages were mulcted twenty-five cents for passage over this mile and a 
half, which so wrought upon the feelings of the owner of Paine's line 
of stages that he built, at his own expense, a road of several miles' length 
by which the turnpike could be avoided. As he never collected tolls on 
his new road, it Is but just that his name should be perpetuated in 
" Paine Road." 

The artillery of the anti-turnpike sentiment was turned on this cor- 
poration in 1834, when representations were made to the Maine legis- 
lature that the earnings of the road had been sufficient to repay the 
original investment with twelve-per-cent interest, and that, therefore, 
under the conditions imposed by the Massachusetts act of incorporation, 
the road should become free. By vote of both houses the attorney- 
general was instructed to institute proceedings to dissolve the 
corporation. 

The attorney-general did a little investigating, however, before tak- 
ing any drastic action, and called upon Horatio Southgate, the treasurer 
of the corporation and chairman of the standing committee, who exhib- 
ited the books to him and showed that the earnings had not realized the 
conditions alleged. The attorney-general's report to that effect was 
referred by the governor to a committee of the legislature which re- 
ported the same in March, 1835. Thereupon it was voted that pro- 
ceedings should not be instituted. 

Ten days later the representations of sufficient earnings were re- 
newed, and a resolution was adopted giving the governor authority to 
call for the corporation's books and to appoint one or more auditors to 
Investigate them. No report has been found, and this seems to mark 
the end of the agitation. 

In 1847 the proprietors of Vaughn's Bridge, between Portland and 
South Portland, finding that travel over the Paine Road was diverting 
business from their bridge, made a contract with the management of 
the First Cumberland Turnpike, whereby the collection of tolls was 
discontinued In consideration of a yearly payment by the bridge com- 
pany of one hundred dollars. This arrangement lasted through the year 
1 85 1, after which the turnpike company endeavored by resuming the 
collections and making repairs to derive more revenue. But the day 
for such operations was past, and after struggling along for a few years, 
with no dividends, the road was sold to the county for two thousand 
[no] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



dollars, to which the town of Scarboro added five hundred. The toll- 
house was sold in i860 for thirty-six dollars and moved to its present 
position, near the corner where the branch car line to Old Orchard 
turns off, where, with a second story tucked under the original roof, it 
now serves as a dwelling-house. 

THE BELCHERTOWN AND GREENWICH TURNPIKE 

The first of the sixteen companies created in the enthusiasm of the 
year 1803 was the Belchertown and Greenwich Turnpike Corporation, 
which dates from February 7 of that year. It was to build its road from 
Belchertown, through Enfield, to the South Parish in Greenwich, and by 
an act passed in 1805 was allowed to extend to the North Parish in 
Greenwich. 

It would seem that this company did not meet with success on its first 
attempt for a charter, for we learn from Parmenter's " History of 
Pelham " that that town voted, a year prior to the date of the act which 
incorporated the company, to have Its representative In the general 
court oppose the granting of the franchise. It was then proposed to 
run the road perhaps well to the east and into the town of Hardwick; 
and Pelham, which then included part of the present town of Prescott 
and adjoined Greenwich, would have been left far to one side. But 
failure to secure the franchise In 1802 did not discourage the promoters 
and their renewed efforts In 1803 brought success, although it may be 
surmised that they compromised with Pelham by running a little nearer 
to the boundaries of that town. But the raising of money apparently 
was slow, for an extension of the time within which they might build 
was granted in 1807, as they had actually begun operations. 

At the January term of court in 1807 a committee had been ap- 
pointed to lay out the road and its report was presented a year later. 
The location, as found in the Hampshire records, is given by metes and 
bounds, by means of which we are able to trace the road to-day. It 
commenced at the corner of the roads southwest of Snow's Pond in 
Belchertown, and ran easterly and northeasterly through Enfield Vil- 
lage, thence northerly crossing the south end of Davis Pond to Green- 
wich Village, where it joined the Petersham and Monson Turnpike. 
That road, chartered In 1804, had already been built between the South 
and North Parishes in Greenwich, so the Belchertown and Greenwich 
did not avail itself of its right to build to the latter place. Curiously 
enough the locating committee reported the end of its layout as " the 
North Parish meeting-house," but the surveyor's description plainly 
shows that it stopped at the South Parish. 

Returns were filed for 1808-15, by which we see that the net earn- 
ings for the best year amounted to three and one half per cent on the 
cost of the road. Construction cost was $4899.83, or about $633 a 
mile. 

[Ill] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



A petition filed In 1825 stated that the road had been abandoned by 
the corporation and was badly in need of repairs, but since It was a 
public necessity, prayer was made that the county should lay it out as 
a public highway. Such was accordingly done, with a total award of 
fifteen dollars for damages, which were granted to one Individual, the 
company getting nothing. 



THE FIFTEENTH MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE 

Again the regimental system of designating was resumed, and we 
next consider the Fifteenth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation, the 
product of an act passed February 12, 1803. This company built about 
nineteen and a half miles at an expense of about $840 a mile. The 
road was what Is now known as the " Sandy Brook Road " In the south- 
west part of Sandlsfield, and it continued through New Marlboro 
at Hartsvllle, and over the top of Three Mile Hill In Great Barrington, 
to the southerly line of Stockbrldge. Although the charter was granted 
In 1803 It appears that the road was not built for several years, for an 
extension of the time for construction was granted In 1807, giving until 
February, 1809, for that purpose. Returns of receipts and disburse- 
ments were made for the years 18 10 and i8ri, which probably indi- 
cates the time of completion of the road. Gross Income for 18 10 Is 
given as $114.81, on an investment of $16,353, while 181 1 shows equal 
receipts and payments of $193.23. 

It seems that the county laid out a public road which entered the 
turnpike about three quarters of a mile south of the Stockbrldge line 
and followed It thence northerly, for an act was passed by the legisla- 
ture In 1 8 12 by which that portion of the turnpike was discontinued, 
although the gates were allowed to stand as they had been, with no 
reduction in rates of toll. 

In 1829, on the twenty-ninth of September, as shown by the Berk- 
shire County records, the Fifteenth Massachusetts asked that Its road 
might become a part of the public system, and the request being granted 
the gates ceased their functions. 

The " History of the County of Berkshire," already mentioned, says 
that, although discontinued as a turnpike, this road was a county road 
of considerable Importance. 

The Sixteenth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation, ushered Into 
existence February 14, 1803, met a chilly reception from the money 
powers. Its time limit was successively extended for ten years, and it 
finally was allowed to lapse. It would appear by the Hampden County 
records that a layout was made In 1812 for the road " from Berkshire 
County line easterly," but no approval of construction Is found. A 
location was made in Berkshire in 1804, which does not appear to have 
been utilized either. 

[113] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE WISCASSET AND AUGUSTA TURNPIKE 

February 22 was the date of the act which created the Wiscasset and 
Augusta Turnpike Corporation for the purpose of connecting those 
Maine towns, and its road was to run from the Wiscasset courthouse 
to the newly built Kennebec toll bridge in Augusta. 

The records of the court of sessions of Lincoln County show that 
the promoters early got to work with a petition for a committee to lay 
out and locate the road, and presented the same at the May term of 
1803. But not until January, 1807, was the committee appointed, and 
they duly reported a location from the Wiscasset courthouse to Bridges' 
Bridge in Dresden. 

This turnpike formed a link in a series of such roads which extended 
from Brunswick to Augusta, and rendered feasible a journey from the 
latter town to Portland, Boston, and beyond. 

Stone's " History of Beverly" tells us that that town in 1803 con- 
curred in the petition of John Heard et al. for a turnpike from Beverly 
to Newburyport, but the project was prosecuted no further than to 
secure the act of incorporation. That was the Ipswich Turnpike Cor- 
poration, chartered March i, 1803. 



THE MEDFORD TURNPIKE 

The Medford Turnpike Corporation, dating from March 2, 1803, 
was, according to Brooks' " History of Medford," occupied for three 
years in efforts to obtain its charter. The road of this company was 
laid out by the proper committee in 1803, and its construction approved 
by the court in September, 1804. Brooks tells us that it was never 
profitable, but considering the nearness to Boston with the large tribu- 
tary region back of it, and the fact that the corporation strenuously 
resisted efforts to take away its toll privileges, continuing to operate its 
road for over sixty years, we may reasonably doubt this. Of course 
no turnpike was a gilt-edged security, but the Medford must have been 
one of the best and a moderate dividend payer. A public highway was 
opened over Winter Hill not long after the turnpike was opened, over 
which free passage could be had, but enough travelers still preferred 
to follow the toll road to make it worth keeping. Efforts by the town of 
Medford to throw the road open were successfully resisted in 1838, and 
not until 1866 was a step accomplished toward that end. In that year 
the legislature allowed the Middlesex county commissioners to make a 
public layout, put the road in proper repair, and assess the cost upon 
various towns and the county, provided the corporation consented and 
asked no damages. This was accordingly done, and in 1867 the road 
finally became free. The turnpike to-day is known as Mystic Avenue, 

["4] 




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Plate XXIII 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

and is the long straight street leading from the Sullivan Square Ter- 
minal of the Boston Elevated Railway in Charlestown to Medford. 

Realizing the possibilities of large business for the tavern keeper 
when the Medford Turnpike turned so much Boston travel through 
Medford, Andrew Blanchard built the Medford House the same year 
that the turnpike was finished. These buildings are still standing in 
Medford on Main Street, and offer the best illustration of the accom- 
modations offered in the old stage days which the writer remembers 
to have seen. The old-fashioned tavern seems typical, and the large 
barn with its spacious yard and sheds still suggests the day when numer- 
ous stages and Conestoga wagons spent the nights within its limits. • 

The Mystic Marshes across which the Medford Turnpike made its 
way were dreary and lonesome in 1821, and late one afternoon in that 
year, as Major John Bray and his wife were driving along the turnpike 
in their one-horse chaise, they were held up and robbed by Michael 
Martin, who had achieved an extensive and unenviable reputation in 
that line of business, and who subsequently ended his career on the 
gallows at Lechmere Point. 



THE BRAINTREE AND WEYMOUTH TURNPIKE 

One of the important eastern roads now appears, the Braintree and 
Weymouth Turnpike Corporation being incorporated March 4, 1803, 
to build a road along the route now occupied by Quincy Avenue in 
Quincy and Braintree, Washington Street in Weymouth, and Whiting 
Street in Hingham, thus extending from Quincy Center to Queen Anne 
Corner on the boundary line between Hingham and Norwell, which was 
then a part of Scituate. This was on the main route between Boston, 
Plymouth, and Cape Cod towns, and was beyond a doubt the route over 
which traveled the stage so quaintly advertised in the poster which is 
here reproduced. 

The road which this corporation built was about eight and one half 
miles in length, and its cost was reported to the secretary of state as 
$38,250, or about $4500 a mile. Returns of business done were filed 
for the years 18 10 to 1821, and 1828 to 1849, ^^id from them the ac- 
companying chart was prepared. Unlike those of other companies, it 
shows the peak of business in the year 1845 and a sloughing-off of re- 
ceipts sufficient to cause the practical abandonment of the road before 
the opening of the competing railroad. 

In November, 1849, a complaint was entered by the turnpike com- 
pany against the South Shore Railroad Company, which was the name 
first given to the railroad running from Braintree, through Hingham 
and Cohasset, to Plymouth. It set forth that the railroad company 

have, since said turnpike road has been established constructed a railroad across said 
Turnpike road at Braintree in the County of Norfolk and have obstructed the free 

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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



passage over said Turnpike, taken a portion of the same, diverted the travel there- 
from, and otherwise greatly injured your petitioners' road and rendered it of no 
value. 

At the hearing held at the hotel of Asa B. Wales In Weymouth tes- 
timony showing loss of toll by diverted travel and fear of collisions at 
the crossing was rejected as " legally inadmifsable," but the turnpike 
company was allowed to prove loss of toll while the turnpike was 
obstructed during construction of the railroad. The commissioners 
awarded damages to the extent of three dollars to the turnpike corpora- 
tion and assessed the costs upon the railroad. 

Fifteen years after the incorporation and more than ten since the 
laying out of the road, some technical omission seems to have been 
found in the proceedings, and the legislature was appealed to for an act 
confirming the layout, which was granted February 20, 1818. At the 
same late date authority was obtained to finally settle the cost of the right 
of way, and one landowner who had persistently refused to accept the 
company's offers was obliged to close the account. 

The Braintree and Weymouth evidently was not in favor with the 
legislature of 1850, for we find some harsh terms laid down. In case 
of a public layout of the whole or any part of the turnpike, If the 
corporation did not accept whatever might be awarded it, It should at 
once lose the privilege of collecting one half of its authorized tolls. 

This company died in sections. In September, 185 1, all that portion 
lying In HIngham was laid out as a public road by the commissioners 
of Plymouth County, the corporation receiving two hundred and fifty 
dollars as compensation. Portions of the road In Norfolk County were 
laid out by the commissioners In Braintree, Weymouth, and Quincy In 
the same year; a further portion in Weymouth In 1852; and the " Queen 
Anne," which must have been the lower end of the same road, in 1854. 
But the corporation still retained a section of road In Weymouth and 
Braintree with the bridge over Weymouth Fore River, which it op- 
erated for a few years longer. 

The Neponset Toll Bridge, crossing the Neponset River between 
Dorchester and Quincy, necessarily had to build sections of road at each 
end of the bridge In order to make it accessible, and the bridge, with 
Its connecting roads, made practically a unit with the Braintree and 
Weymouth Turnpike In the route from Boston to Plymouth. Hence 
we find them treated together In the legislation of May 26, 1857. 
In the act of that date it was provided that the Norfolk county com- 
missioners could, with the consent of the proprietors, lay out the Brain- 
tree and Weymouth Turnpike and the Neponset Bridge as common 
highways, but they were not to assess any betterment charges upon the 
towns. Instead, the collection of tolls was to be continued under the 
direction of the commissioners, deficiencies to be met by the county, and 
surplus to accumulate until it amounted to a fund sufficient to yield 
Interest to amount of cost of maintenance. This act took effect upon 

[117] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

being ratified at a Quincy town meeting, and it seems strange that, with 
the number of turnpike companies that had recently gone out of busi- 
ness and the generally poor nature of such investments, the state legis- 
lators and a majority of Quincy citizens as well should have thought 
the plan advisable. But there were many toll bridges in New England 
at that time, and the Neponset Bridge was a pretty good paying prop- 
erty, so it is probable that the turnpike end was but a minor considera- 
tion, and that the main object in view was the removal of the two 
bridges from private ownership that they might ultimately become free 
to all travelers. 

The accounts of the commissioners at Dedham show that the turn- 
pike and its bridge was operated at a net loss of $1766.37, from March 
14, 1859, to July I, 1862; but the revenue from the Neponset Bridge 
was sufficient to show a gain on the whole account, which amounted to 
$7224.72 on the first of the year 1863. An act was then passed pro- 
viding that the operation should continue until the surplus had reached 
the sum of $15,000, when roads and bridges should become free and 
the fund be divided between the various towns in which the properties 
lay. Bristol county commissioners were to divide the fund, as the 
Norfolk officials were the trustees. 

During the first nine months of 1863 the increase in the fund was 
$2564.70, and on September 13, 1863, the bridges and the turnpike 
became free, although only $9789.42 of the required $15,000 had been 
laid aside from tolls. 

The Quincy Railroad Company was incorporated February 15, 
1 861, to operate a line of horse cars from Quincy to Dorchester, pass- 
ing over the Neponset Bridge, for which privilege it was to pay toll 
either periodically or in gross. As the road commenced operations 
about the time the bridge became free, it seems obvious that the railroad 
company supplied the deficiency and brought the fund up to the pre- 
scribed $15,000. 

The Braintree and Weymouth Turnpike Corporation was favored 
with long service by James H. Foster, who was its treasurer during the 
entire period of thirty-nine years for which returns were made. 

THE CHESTER TURNPIKE 

The name of Chester was given to two turnpike corporations, the 
first being created by the act of March 5, 1803, to build a road from 
the West Parish in Partridgefield, through Middlefield and Chester, to 
Parley Cook's in Chester. Probably on no other turnpike are so many 
changes of name and township allegiance to be noted. The West Parish 
of Partridgefield became a part of the new town of Hinsdale In 1804; 
Partridgefield Itself became Peru In 1 806 ; while it appears that Parley 
Cook's farm was transferred from Chester Into Norwich in 1853, and 
found Itself a part of Huntington in 1855. In three counties was the 
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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

road located: in Berkshire in 1804, and in Hampden and Hampshire 
in 1805, as is seen upon the records of each. 

The road apparently commenced on the southwest side of Great 
Moose Hill, which is now in the southwesterly part of Huntington 
near the West Branch of the Westfield River, and followed over what 
is now known as the " Cook Road," to Chester Center, over the Chester 
Hill Road and South Street to Middlefield Center, and thence by North 
Street up the valley of Factory Brook across the southwest corner of 
Peru, and Into Hinsdale over Southeast Street. 

Nothing has been found to Indicate when the corporation ceased to 
maintain the road, but since the name of Chester was given to another 
company to build in a different section In 1822, we are justified in con- 
cluding that collection of tolls was discontinued a few years at least 
before that date. 



THE CAMBRIDGE AND CONCORD TURNPIKE 

The Cambridge and Concord Turnpike Corporation was chartered 
March 8, 1803, to provide facilities between those towns. This com- 
pany suffered so severely from the straight-line mania that It Is said they 
attempted to have their road laid out diagonally across Cambridge 
Common so as to preserve direct alignment, but fortunately they did 
not succeed. On March 5, 1805, an extension of the road was author- 
ized " to the causeway of West Boston Bridge, In as straight a line as 
circumstances will admit," but It was not to be allowed to pass within 
ninety feet of Stoughton Hall, which was mentioned as " the new build- 
ing of Harvard College." 

At the May term of the Middlesex court of sessions in 1803 the 
corporation entered a petition for a committee to assess damages but 
not to locate the road, — such a strange request that we are not sur- 
prised to find that it was withdrawn at the next term in November, and 
a petition for a locating committee substituted. The resulting committee 
seems to have established a record for expeditious work, for its warrant 
was not Issued until August 17, and yet It reported the location, with 
awards for damages, at the next September term. According to the 
law a committee of the general court had gone over the route pfevlous 
to the granting of the charter, and the committee of the court of ses- 
sions laid out the road along the same lines. Awards were made for land 
taken to the amount of $5258.50, but Andrew Cralgle and John T. 
Apthorp, to whom nothing had been awarded, secured damages by jury 
award, which raised the total to $6509.73. If that is all that was paid 
for land damages the cost for that item was about $500 a mile, or 
about $62.50 an acre. 

In the South Middlesex Registry of Deeds ^ Is found the record of 
the agreement by which the differences between the corporation and 

^ Volume 185, page 6i. 

[119] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Mr. Apthorp were adjusted. By that it is seen that the road had been 
built over Apthorp's land, on the northerly side of Fresh Pond, extend- 
ing easterly about five eighths of a mile from the crossing of Alewife 
Brook. As the parties could not agree on a price, suit had been entered 
and judgment rendered against the company for $732.42 in damages 
and $16.86 for costs. In the agreement conveyance is made of the strip 
of land, fifty feet wide, occupied by the turnpike, and payment was made 
to the company by Apthorp of $300, in return for which the corporation 
bound Itself not to make the road any wider and never to erect or 
maintain a tollgate at any place easterly of the easterly end of the land 
thus conveyed. It would seem that this was a doubtful advantage to the 
corporation, for the most expensive part of its turnpike, that extending 
from Cambridge Common to West Boston Bridge and over which there 
must have been a heavy travel, was thus shut out from any toll collec- 
tions. Mr. Apthorp was evidently too shrewd to accept any agreement 
that he should pass free of toll, with endless chances of disputes, and he 
took the surer means of securing exemption, when passing from his 
home In Cambridge to his farm at Fresh Pond, by shutting out all chance 
of a gate ever barring his way. 

The directors of the corporation were : Richard Richardson and 
Jeduthan Wellington of West Cambridge, Leonard Hoar of Lincoln, 
Peter Clark of Watertown, and James Jones of Concord. 

The "lower part" was completed by September 3, 1805, and the 
rest of the way to Concord by December i, 1806. An order issued by 
the court in February, 1807, declared the road open for business and 
allowed the erection of two gates which were not to be " closely located." 

In those days Concord was the " shire town " of Middlesex and a 
place of considerable commercial importance, In addition to the prestige 
which follows court procedure, and with this town for one terminal and 
Cambridge and Boston for the other, this road of only about fifteen 
miles seems to have had special encouragement. No returns were ever 
filed, so we have no clue to the nature or amount of business done. 
Three blunders were committed through yielding to the straight-line 
obsession, two of which merely added to the amount of money invested, 
but the third of which caused loss of business every day of operation. 
Not to be swerved from Its aim toward its objective in Concord, the cor- 
poration allowed itself to be obliged to build a scant two miles from the 
village of Lexington, without touching that center, and thereby lost a 
large amount of heavy teaming from New Hampshire towns, which 
could easily have been lured by the attractions of a good road. Over 
Wellington Hill In Belmont, and over another hill near the Concord 
and Lincoln line, the road was laid with such steep grades that the 
location had to be almost Immediately abandoned for a better one 
around the foot. The map of the United States Geological Survey in- 
dicates that the road over Wellington Hill had an average grade of over 
six and one half per cent, while the maximum must have been fully twice 
[120] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

as steep. That part of the location to-day Is a residential section, al- 
though retarded by the steep slope, but the section over the Lincoln 
hill still recalls to the old residents memories of the juicy berries which 
grew uncrushed between the walls. 

The good effects of broad tires were much appreciated a century ago, 
and many turnpike companies gave reduced rates to wagons so built. 
In March, 1804, an act forbade the Cambridge and Concord demanding 
more than half toll from " carts or waggons with wheel fellies six inches 
wide." No Information is at hand as to how this law was Interpreted, 
but it is not hard to imagine a predecessor of our present-day public- 
service officials demanding full toll because the " fellies " slightly ex- 
ceeded six inches. 

The extension to West Boston Bridge did not progress as rapidly as 
the originally proposed portion. A petition for a locating committee, 
entered in September, 1806, dragged along until December, 18 10, when 
it was dismissed on account of neither party appearing, and In March, 
181 1, the corporation petitioned to be released from Its obligation to 
build. No gate was to be allowed on that portion, which was to be 
over two miles In length, and the authorities of Harvard College had 
so Interfered with the location that it was unsatisfactory to the company, 
which therefore did not wish to complete the extension. This petition 
was dismissed at the January term In 18 12, so it is to be surmised that 
the corporation had to complete the road according to Its franchise. 
This extension is the Cambridge Broadway of 1919. 

In September, 1826, all papers in the court of sessions records 
relating to highways were turned over to the county commissioners, 
and consequently it was to the county commissioners that the company 
made application In September, 1828, to be released from Its obligations 
and to have its road laid out as a public highway, which was done in 
May, 1829. 

The turnpikes of Middlesex County were generally short lived, an 
Indication of poor business, and a suggestion of the reason may be 
found In the fact that between 1808 and 1822 one hundred and fifteen 
public roads were established and only four turnpikes. With such 
energy directed toward public roads. It can readily be surmised that 
turnpikes found too much free competition to allow them to be 
profitable. 

The Memoirs of the Concord Social Circle ^ tell us that a triweekly 
stage ran between Concord and Boston during the years around 18 17, 
and it is interesting to note that it did not follow the turnpike through 
the woods In a straight line, but went by way of Lexington usually, and 
one or two seasons by way of Bedford. Passengers and their baggage 
were called for in any part of the village of Concord and delivered 
at any desired point in old Boston except the South End, similar ac- 
commodations being rendered on trips In the opposite direction. Three 

' Second Series, page 360. 

[121J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

hours was the running time for the trip in good weather, and sometimes 
five in bad. 

The Cambridge and Concord Turnpike commenced at the westerly 
end of the West Boston Bridge in Cambridgeport, at what is now known 
as Kendall Square, its layout there being one hundred feet in width. 
From that point it followed the lines of the present Broadway to Cam- 
bridge Common, passing through Magoun Square, where the Middlesex 
Turnpike, now Hampshire Street, joined it. At the Common, had the 
corporation had its way, the center line of the road would have passed 
close to the soldiers' monument, and would have clipped a generous 
portion off from the northerly side of the grounds of Harvard College. 
But the legislature said they must not build within ninety feet of Har- 
vard's new building, and the town erected a fence around its common, 
so the turnpike had to pass around. 

From the Common in Cambridge to the line of the town of Lincoln 
the old turnpike is known as Concord Avenue. Through Lincoln it 
seems to lack any distinctive designation, but Concord, true to its rich 
historic associations, has named the road and so marked it by sign- 
boards " Cambridge Turnpike." 

From the Common to Belmont the old road is now lined with resi- 
dences, but at Belmont Depot one gets the impression of being in a park, 
so ornamental is the stone arch bridge carrying the Fitchburg Railroad 
overhead and the hedges lining the roadways around the station. At 
Belmont town hall Concord Avenue makes a square turn to the right, 
gradually rising, and then, by a sharp corner to the left, climbs bravely 
to the top of Wellington Hill. That is the turnpike as it existed after 
the builders came to their senses and laid out a road possible for horses 
to climb ; but let us look for the original turnpike, the one of which such 
fanciful tales are told. F. H. Kendall tells us in the New England 
Magazine ^ that baggage wagons went over that hill once but never 
attempted it again, and that one farmer who had a log team of two 
yoke of oxen, one pair being old and experienced, the other but partly 
broken, had an especially trying time coming down the steep hill, hold- 
ing his load and keeping the green steers from bolting. And the oxen 
never could be coaxed to attempt the descent of the hill again. 

Standing in front of the Belmont town hall and facing westerly one 
sees in front and bearing slightly to the left an unimposing street with 
the imposing name of Center Avenue. Following this avenue the 
houses are soon passed, and within five minutes the street has become 
but a crooked footpath through a jungle of thick bushes. Peering 
through the leaves on either side reveals the old stone walls which lined 
the turnpike at a distance of four rods apart. To the experienced eye 
the indications of the old road are plain until a square corner to the 
right is met, which is not consistent with turnpike procedure. But look 
carefully for the wall which has bordered the road on the south, and 

' "Turnpike Roads of Middlesex County," August, 1903. 
[122] 





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it will be seen continuing its former course and pushing straight ahead, 
while the modern footpath goes off to the north. That was where the 
old turnpike went, and traces of its former graded roadbed can be 
noticed by sharp eyes. Follow the footpath and it will bring you out 
on Concord Avenue, the revised turnpike. Turn to the left and go as 
far as the first bend in the road and you will see where the new route 
departed from the old. From that bend on westward the original turn- 
pike can be traveled for many miles. Elms are the distinguishing 
feature of the Cambridge and Concord Turnpike, and many fine speci- 
mens may be seen along its borders. 

Just after crossing the Hobbs Brook Reservoir of the Cambridge 
waterworks, at the first rise in the road may be seen another instance 
of the straight-line obsession. Instead of going the easy way on the 
macadam road, push straight ahead through the bushes and see again 
the testifying walls and note the graded surface on which you walk. 
Continue your straight line and you will enter the road again at the 
entrance to the Farrington Memorial, and the old turnpike will lie dead 
ahead of you. Two miles before you reach Concord the road will sud- 
denly bear to the left, but " straight ahead " you will see an opening 
through which the sixty-two-wire line of the telephone company passes. 
Electricity cares nothing for grades, and conversations by telephone now 
constantly pass and repass over the hill that wore out the horses of 
a century ago. Where the old and the new come together again is also 
indicated by the lines of telephone wires which follow the turnpike 
thence to Concord. 

The turnpike builders did not avail themselves of their privilege to 
build to Concord Common, but ended their road where ft intersected 
the old Lexington Road, over which the British soldiers marched on 
that memorable April morning twenty-nine years before. Later, that 
corner became famous the world over, not from turnpike associations, 
but as the location of the home of the " Sage of Concord," Ralph 
Waldo Emerson. 



THE NEWBURYPORT TURNPIKE 

On the same day as the Cambridge and Concord the Newburyport 
Turnpike Corporation was incorporated to build a road from the head 
of State Street in Newburyport to Chelsea Bridge " as nearly in a 
straight line as practicable," and " in a course south twenty-four degrees 
west, as nearly as possible." This seems to be the most positive straight- 
line requirement imposed upon any company. The road was built in 
very close compliance with the rule, for only for a short section through 
Lynnfield and Saugus was any substantial deviation from an air line 
made. 

Petitions were entered for locations and awards of damages in the 
towns of Essex County in August, 1803, and the reports of committees 

[123] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

were generally received by December of the same year. A similar 
petition was made in Middlesex County for location through Melrose 
and Maiden in November, 1803. As one of the committee appointed 
died soon after, it became necessary to appoint a new committee, which 
was done In September, 1804, and this body reported finally two years 
later, with location and award of damages. The amount awarded for 
land In Middlesex County was $2306.58, part of which was taken from 
what is now Everett Square in the city of Everett. 

The road was nearly completed in one year, as the following adver- 
tisement, found in the Columbian Centinel of January 2, 1805, and in 
the Salem Gazette of December 28, 1804, shows: 

Newburyport Turnpike Corporation 
The Directors of the Newburyport Turnpike Corporation, at their meeting on 
the 24th inst. Voted, that the following statement concerning the progress of the 
Turnpike-road be communicated through the medium of an advertisement, viz. 

That there is already made twenty-five miles of the Turnpike-road ; that bridges 
over six rivers are built ; that, in some instances, hills have been reduced twenty-five 
feet; that two Houses for entertainment are erected, one of which is now open for 
the reception of travellers; and that it is their opinion that the whole route of 
twenty-six miles (from Newburyport to Maiden Road) will be opened early in the 
spring. 

Per order of the Directors 

B. Marston Watson 

Clerk of the Corporation. 
December 25, 1804. 

And in the same advertisement the sixteenth assessment of twenty dol- 
lars on each share of stock Is called. 

It may be noticed that the directors in their communication refer 
to the Maiden Road as If that was to be the southerly terminus of the 
turnpike, while the original charter gave them the right to build to 
Chelsea Bridge. Evidently the terminus at Chelsea Bridge was not 
attractive to the projectors, and they halted the work at the junction 
with the Maiden Road, which was in what is now the southerly part 
of Saugus, opposite Cllftondale, until they could secure a more desirable 
franchise. In March, 1805, this was granted them in an act which 
allowed them to build from Jenkins Corner, probably the junction with 
the Maiden Road, to Maiden Bridge instead of Chelsea Bridge. The 
Middlesex committee, which had reported on the first layout in 1805, 
had to go at It again, and Its report locating to the Maiden Bridge was 
filed In September, 1806, with land damages as already stated. 

The Massachusetts Highway Commission, in Its report for 1907, 
said of the location of this road: 

In its building no change of direction was made, either to avoid hills or to ac- 
commodate the population to the right or left of a straight line. 

The road from Andover Street to Newburyport is improperly laid out, the 
grades are excessive, the population along it is sparse, the villages on either side are 
provided with other roads better laid out, and there appears to be no reason why it 
should become a State road. 
[124] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Certain citizens of Salem foresaw the disadvantage of sacrificing 
everything for a straight Hne, although some self-interest may be sus- 
pected in their viewpoint, for which read the following news item which 
appeared in the Salem Gazette of February ii, 1803. 

TURNPIKE — Some gentlemen of Newburyport have it in contemplation to 
carry a road strait from that town to Boston, which will of course run to the north- 
ward of the seaports in this county, and have no connexion with the Salem turnpike. 
But it is expected that an actual measurement will discourage it by showing that the 
saving will not be more than a mile more than if brought strait to this town. 

The route which this turnpike was designed to improve was one of 
the earliest stage routes of the country, and the early and constant travel 
over it surely gave promise of good business for the improved road. 
In 1 76 1, on the twentieth of April, John Stavers started what has 
been claimed to be the first stage in America, which ran from Ports- 
mouth to Boston.^ The vehicle was a two-horse curricle wide enough 
for three passengers, and it made the round trip once a week, leaving 
Portsmouth on Monday mornings, stopping over night at Ipswich and 
reaching Charlestown Ferry the following day. The return was made 
on Thursdays and Fridays, and the fare each way was 13s. 6d. Evi- 
dently this stage was not continued many years, for between 1770 and 
1790 the mail was carried from Boston to Portsmouth once a week 
on horseback. 

Jacob Hale and Sons established permanent facilities from Ports- 
mouth south In 1794, when they established a four-horse stage line 
which continued to run until the railroad had absorbed all Its patronage. 
By leaving Portsmouth at half-past two In the morning this line suc- 
ceeded In getting through to Boston the same day, with breakfast at 
Newburyport and dinner at Ipswich. According to an advertisement 
In the Essex Journal and Merrimack Packet In May, 1774, Ezra Lunt 
ran a four-horse stagecoach on weekly trips between Boston and New- 
buryport, but It is doubted if he continued very long. 

Currier in his " History of Newburyport " tells us that the first 
meeting of the Newburyport Turnpike Corporation was held In Boston 
April 14, 1803, William Tudor being elected president and Enoch 
Sawyer treasurer. The work was commenced on the twenty-third of 
August of the same year, as we learn from the Salem Register of the 
twenty-ninth of that month, which said : 

New Turnpike 

Newburyport, August 24. 

The workmen on the direct Turnpike from this town to Boston commenced the 
important undertaking yesterday. It is to run from the head of State Street, New- 
buryport, in as straight a line as possible. The inhabitants of New England have 
long gained attention for their enterprising and public spirit, and the present under- 
taking may be well said to justify this claim. 

' Gage's " History of Rowley." 

[125] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

There were nine hundred and ninety-five shares in the capital stock 
according to Coffin's " History of Newbury," and they were paid in 
the form of twenty-dollar assessments, so that they cost nearly $420 
each, or a total of $417,000. 

The work started with a cut ten feet deep at the head of State Street, 
the material excavated being used for filling across the treacherous 
" Pine Swamp." A hotel was built by the corporation at Topsfield and 
another at Lynnfield, which indicated expectations of heavy travel and 
intention to take care of it in every detail. The hotel at Topsfield 
provided for travelers for thirty years, after which in 1834 it was 
moved intact to Phillips Beach in Swampscott. This may have been 
the house on the beach long known as the " Martin House," which was 
torn down years ago. A witness of the moving, then a boy of ten years, 
tells an interesting story of the operation as the occupa:nts remained, 
the women calmly continuing their home work on shoes, as was the 
custom then. The big chimneys were cut off at the floor level and sup- 
ported on special beams Inserted under them. The Lynnfield hotel evi- 
dently expected patronage from the sporting fraternity, as provision was 
made for horse-racing by making a mile of the adjacent turnpike of 
double width, we learn from Tracy's " History of Essex County." 

No returns are found from this company among the Massachusetts 
archives, so we must be content with Coffin's statement of the capital 
and Currier's record that a small dividend was paid each year. In 
general there must have been a great disappointment, for the heavy 
grades prevented the road from being much used by private travelers, 
most of whom preferred the old route through Rowley, Ipswich, and 
Salem. The stage-coach' companies, however, usually shared the delu- 
sion of the preference for the stralghtest line, and we commonly 
find them adhering to the turnpikes. It was so In this case, and the 
Eastern Stage Company, as the syndicate formed In 18 18, which an- 
ticipated the Boston and Maine Railroad, was called, paid annually In 
commuted tolls from $800 to $1000. 

As was the case with so many of the others, this turnpike received 
Its mortal thrust from railroad competition. In 1840 the Eastern Rail- 
road was completed to Newburyport, and the turnpike in that town 
and in Newbury lasted but seven years longer. The portion In Rowley, 
Ipswich, Topsfield, Danvers, and Peabody became free in April, 1849, 
and in Lynnfield and Saugus In the same month of 1852, In which year 
the Middlesex section also became a public road, and the entire New- 
buryport Turnpike was free from toll. 

An interesting comparison with the manner In which such work Is 
carried on to-day may be found In reading the following extract from 
the Salem Gazette of August 13, 1804: 

Deaths. — Killed instantly, by the falling in of the earth, while at work on the 
Turnpike, in Topsfield, on the 19th of July last, Jonathan Hoyt, aged 20; an active 
and industrious young man from Concord (N. H.). 
[126] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

and there followed one of those eulogistic tributes in which old-time 
editors used to revel. Besides the disadvantage under which turnpike 
projectors labored in lack of tools and mechanical apphances they had 
to look to the " active and industrious young men " of our New Eng- 
land farms for the supply of labor which later came in such quantities 
from different European countries. 

The Maine Turnpike Association, chartered on the same day, was 
a " flash in the pan," the franchise being repealed two years later. This 
company proposed to build from the New Hampshire line, through 
Portland to Augusta, and as usual, " upon as straight a line as circum- 
stances will admit." 

The brains of the state were occupied with other problems for the 
next three months, and not until June 22, 1803, was another turnpike 
launched. On that day the Becket, Boston and Haverhill, and Essex 
Turnpike corporations were created. 



THE BECKET TURNPIKE 

The Becket filled in a gap which was left in the construction of the 
Eighth Massachusetts. When that road was built It had the authority 
to locate over a section of old road in Becket known as the " Govern- 
ment Road," but either on account of local opposition or other reasons 
the court of sessions of Berkshire County released the company from 
that part of its franchise. In other cases the legislature only seems to 
have exercised such power, and a company once having accepted the 
franchise to build over a certain route was held strictly to its duty 
therein. For Instance, see the case of the Cambridge and Concord, 
previously recited. In which the company sought release from its obli- 
gation to build an extension to West Boston Bridge, but was refused. 

The reason for the neglect by the Eighth to Improve its opportunity 
to build over the " Government Road " is hard to conjecture, unless it 
was on account of construction difficulties. Apparently the " Govern- 
ment Road " passed on the north of Center Pond and uncomfortably 
close to Becket Mountain, and the cost of such a route looked too great. 
The Eighth did build, however, over a portion of that location and for 
a short distance into Becket, and the Becket corporation undertook to 
complete Its line westward over a more practicable section of country. 

The charter of the Becket contained none of the straight-line require- 
ments, and the road looks on the map as if it had been laid out with 
some conception of grade resistances. The length cannot be determined 
reliably, but apparently it was about seven miles. The cost was re- 
ported as $4228.88, and it seems safe to say that the average cost was 
about $600 a mile. The road connected the Eighth Massachusetts, 

[127] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

from a point in the southeasterly part of Becket near Walker Brook, 
with the Tenth Massachusetts near the village of West Becket. 

Berkshire County records show that this road was located by a com- 
mittee of the court in 1804, and that in 1832, upon petition of the 
company, it became free. 

By an act passed in 18 19 permission to move the gate was given, but 
a restriction was laid that only one quarter toll could be collected from 
inhabitants of Otis and Becket. The Chester Turnpike, incorporated 
in 1822, seems to have taken over a section of the Eighth and to have 
improved on the Becket by paralleling it for a distance of eighty rods 
on the easterly end. By act of June 18, 1825, that eighty rods of the 
Becket was discontinued and the parallel section of the Eighth was 
annexed to the road of the Becket corporation. As an instance showing 
how remote those old roads were from our modern improvements, it 
may be noticed that this last-named act was passed on the same day that 
Governor Levi Lincoln approved the act which established the Boston 
Fire Department. 

The Becket corporation followed the precedent set by the English 
bishops, and, unrestricted by any requirements regarding number of 
stockholders, constituted itself a corporation sole. The report giving 
the cost of the road is signed by Joseph Goodwin, " only proprietor 
of said road," and Eliada Kingsley, " sole proprietor of the Becket turn- 
pike," in 18 19 was allowed by the legislature, to move his gate. And 
in 1832 the same Eliada Kingsley, in his "sole" capacity, asked that 
the road might become free. 

The Boston and Haverhill was Intended to run south three degrees 
west " as nearly as possible " from Haverhill Bridge to Maiden Bridge, 
but no evidence has been found that anything was ever done beyond 
securing the charter. 



THE ESSEX TURNPIKE 

The Essex Turnpike was projected from the New Hampshire line 
across the Merrimac at Andover Bridge, now the city of Lawrence, 
and thence to Captain Felton's store in Danvers, on the way to Salem, 
the county seat. It was also to run south thirteen degrees east from 
Andover Bridge to the line of Middlesex County in Reading. The 
Andover and Medford, which was chartered two years later, did not 
avail Itself of its permission to build to some point in Andover, but 
stopped at the Essex County line where it joined the road of the Essex 
corporation. The t-wo corporations were allowed, by act passed in 
1807, to maintain one tollgate jointly at the county line, the rates of 
toll and the division between the companies to be established by the 
commissioners who were to view the roads. 

From the New Hampshire line to that of Middlesex County was 
[128] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

located by the committee early in 1806, the branch line to Salem being 
laid out two years later. Construction was slow, the act of 1807 giving 
powers to the commissioners whose verdict allowed the road to com- 
mence business, and another act, passed in 1809, extending the time 
within which construction must be completed. But the roads were 
finally completed at a cost of $67,905.25, or about $2425 a mile, and 
opened for travel. Lawrence's Broadway and the continuation of it to 
the New Hampshire boundary is the perpetuation of the Essex Turn- 
pike, as is Main Street, through Andover Center to the Reading line. 
The Salem branch of the turnpike may be followed from Lawrence 
over Winthrop Avenue, across the town of North Andover, over North 
Main Street to Middleton and South Main Street to the Danvers line; 
thence over Andover Street until one reaches Peabody Center, which 
was probably the location of Captain Felton's store, that part of Dan- 
vers having been set off as South Danvers in 1855, and the name 
changed to Peabody in 1868. 

The original charter required that the traveled part of the roadway 
should be thirty-two feet wide, but that was modified to twenty-four 
feet in 1806. 

This turnpike formed a link in a much-traveled route between Boston 
and points In New Hampshire and Vermont. By Its connection at the 
state line with the Londonderry Turnpike direct communication was 
had with Concord, and over the Litchfield and Second New Hampshire 
turnpikes with Claremont and the Vermont territory beyond. South- 
erly, Boston was reached over the connecting Andover and Medford 
Turnpike, which extended to the market place In Medford, whence the 
journey was continued over the Medford Turnpike, which landed the 
traveler at Sullivan Square in Charlestown, after which reliable public 
roads could be found. Of the Second New Hampshire, Cochrane 
writes in his " History of Antrim" that, opened in 1800, for twenty- 
five years it carried an enormous traflUc in farm products and timber to 
Boston, with return loadings of store goods and rum. This historian, 
too, has his criticism of the custom of tackling the hills head on, and 
he speaks of the severe competition by free roads In more favorable 
locations. 

The Salem road became a free highway in December, 1829, while 
the portion from the New Hampshire line to the connection with the 
Andover and Medford collected Its tolls until December, 1835. No 
returns of business done were ever filed by the Essex corporation, which 
is to be regretted, as figures relating to the commerce with southern 
Vermont and New Hampshire at that time would be interesting. 

A portion of the Salem branch of this turnpike has been utilized in 
late years by the Massachusetts Highway Commission, which has con- 
structed a considerable length of concrete roadbed, divided into several 
experimental sections of different compositions. Each of these sections 
is designated by a board set by the side of the road, on which can be 

[129] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

read the proportions of the concrete mixture in the adjacent section with 
a statement of its reinforcements. 

The Andover Bridge In Lawrence to which this turnpike was di- 
rected, and which furnished the means of crossing the Merrimac River, 
dates back several years ahead of the turnpike, the charter having 
been granted 'March 19, 1793, for a term of seventy years. This 
term was made perpetual in 1799, but the bridge was ultimately made 
free in July, 1868, in accordance with chapter 309 of the acts of that 
year. 

At Methuen Center the turnpike rose abruptly over a steep, although 
not very high, hill which is now more in use by automobiles than it has 
been for many years past by horse-drawn vehicles. The public authori- 
ties laid out another road, forming a letter " S " on the turnpike, which 
avoids the hills and has no steep grades. 

The two roads are known locally as the one " over the hill " and the 
one " around the hill." 



THE WISCASSET AND WOOLWICH TURNPIKE 

The needs of the District of Maine were given attention on the 
twenty-third of June, 1803, when the WIscasset and Woolwich Turn- 
pike Corporation was chartered to build from WIscasset to Day's Ferry, 
which crossed the Kennebec to Bath. This ferry had probably been 
operated for several years prior to 1762 by Samuel Harnden, but In 
that year he received a hcense " to keep and run a ferry," which was 
renewed to his son Brigadier In 1769. Since 1788 the ferry had been 
called Day's Ferry, according to Reed's " History of Bath." 

The road was laid out and Its location reported at the May term 
of the court of sessions, 1805. Reverend Henry O. Thayer, who pre- 
sided In Woolwich for twenty-five years, writes : " The old WIscasset 
road, earlier than the turnpike, went from the ferry to Nequasset Mills, 
or Church, and then east by present lower and main road to WIscasset, 
and that road was formerly called ' The King's Highway.' " The new 
town laid a road over the same course In 1760-61, discontinuing a por- 
tion of the old road. In the discontinued part Is. a sharp turn where 
General Henry Knox had an overturn of his carriage, from which the 
spot was formerly known as " Knox's Corner." 

This turnpike, in connection with the one from Brunswick to Bath 
formed later, and the WIscasset and Augusta already noted, formed 
a continuous route of about forty-five miles, and put Augusta in closer 
communication with Portland and points beyond. 

In 1837 a steam ferry-boat was Installed at Day's Ferry, but the day 
of the railroad had not then arrived, and for many years the stages 
crossed and recrossed, assisted by the same force that was soon to 
accomplish their downfall. 
[130] 





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THE NORTH BRANCH TURNPIKE 

The North Branch Turnpike Corporation, under authority granted 
it on the twenty-third of June, 1803, built seventeen and a quarter miles 
of road at a cost of $25,740.46, or about $1500 a mile, according to 
official records. This road was located by a committee of the Worces- 
ter court of sessions in 1805 through Fitchburg, Westminster, Ash- 
burnham, and Winchendon, and extended, according to a contributor to 
the Fitchburg Historical Society, from the New Hampshire line between 
Fitzwilliam and Winchendon, through Ashburnham, through Scrabble 
Hollow in Westminster, to the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike near 
Osborne's Mills in West Fitchburg. The present-day maps show a road 
from West Fitchburg to Ashburnham in as straight a line as the rugged 
topography of that region will allow, which from Ashburnham runs 
directly along the route of the Cheshire Branch of the Fitchburg Divi- 
sion of the Boston and Maine Railroad to Winchendon, and then 
straight as a string to the Fitzwilliam line. Indications are strong that 
this is the old turnpike, but positive evidence has not yet been uncovered. 
Once before we noted the yearning which Ashburnham had for turn- 
pikes, so we are not surprised to learn that that town contributed five 
hundred dollars toward the building of the road. 

The North Branch Turnpike served travelers between Bellows Falls 
and Keene, and Boston. Across the state line the Ashuelot Turnpike 
continued the route toward Bellows Falls, while the Branch Road and 
Bridge Corporation's turnpike gave access to Keene. 

The North Branch was opened for free use in 1829. 

The year 1804 saw the birth of eleven corporations, the first being 
the Warwick and Irwin's Gore. This was designed as a feeder for 
the Fifth Massachusetts from southwestern New Hampshire, but ap- 
parently it never got beyond the formative period. 



THE NEW BEDFORD AND BRIDGEWATER TURNPIKE 

The New Bedford and Bridgewater Turnpike Corporation, created 
February 29, deserved success from the devout nature of its route, 
which required it to pass as near as practicable to six churches. It never 
was intended to reach as far as New Bedford, and its southerly terminus 
was defined as the post office near the Great Ponds In Middleboro. 
Thence it extended in a remarkably straight line, even for a turnpike, 
through the villages of TItlcut, Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Whit- 
man, Abington, North Ablngton, and South Weymouth, to a junction 
with the Braintree and Weymouth Turnpike in Weymouth, at the 
corner now designated as Main. and Washington streets. The length 

[131J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

was about twenty-five and one half miles and the cost of construction 
was reported as $49,662.50, or about $1950 a mile. Although this 
road suffered from the adherence to the straight-line theory, its chief 
fault appears to have been in not having improved connections with 
New Bedford, but in turning its travelers off at a distance of thirteen 
miles from that center to follow their way over tortuous country roads. 
It also seems that it would have been better if the road had turned from 
Bridgewater to Middleboro and run thence to New Bedford. That 
route has always been the favorite, and is to-day the principal one 
between Bridgewater and New Bedford. Excessive grades were not 
caused by the straight line, and the centers along the way were prop- 
erly served, except in the case of Middleboro. 

So it seems in this case that the road failed because there was not 
enough business in its territory. No returns of business done were ever 
filed. 

No record of the location was found in Norfolk County, but in 
Plymouth a petition for a committee was made in April, 1805. In 
August, 1806, the committee reported the location of the road four 
rods wide with no description of the route, but with a measurement 
and valuation of each lot of land taken. Weston's " History of Middle- 
boro " says that the road was three years in building and was never 
a pecuniary success. Over it passed one stage each way per day between 
Boston and New Bedford, and seven freight wagons each week. One 
tollgate stood at the southerly end, where the Lakeville town house 
now stands, another was in the " Hasklns Neighborhood," while a 
third was near Solomon Eaton's tavern, a well-known house at that 
time. 

Another excellent tavern was kept by Mrs. Goodwin in Titicut Vil- 
lage near the Baptist Church. The old church which had heard the rum- 
bling of many stages past its door gave way about twenty years ago to a 
modern edifice, and the old-fashioned shut-in pews were replaced by 
modern oak benches. And the services on Sundays now are disturbed 
by the roar of trolley cars. 

The appropriate name of " Turnpike " is given to the- little station 
on the Taunton to Middleboro line of the New York, New Haven, 
and Hartford Railroad where the track crosses the old turnpike. To-day 
the road Is known as Main Street In Weymouth, and as Bedford Street 
throughout the rest of Its length. 

Norfolk County records show a public layout of the portion In Wey- 
mouth in the year 1830, and the Plymouth County records that the 
part between Bridgewater and the Weymouth line was freed in Decem- 
ber, 1829, upon petition of the corporation. The section from the Great 
Ponds, or Lakeville Town House, to Titicut was thrown open in Jan- 
uary, 1845; the next two and a third miles northerly became public in 
August, 1847, the balance of the road from that section to Bridgewater 
having been laid out In January, 1844. 
[132] 







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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



THE PETERSHAM AND MONSON TURNPIKE 

The Petersham and Monson Turnpike Corporation was created also 
on February 29, 1804, and authorized to build a road from the Fifth 
Massachusetts Turnpike in Athol to a connection with a Connecticut 
turnpike in the town of Stafford. Twice were acts secured extending 
the time within which construction might be completed, the last running 
to June, 1809. No records of the location of this road were found in 
a search of the records in three counties, but that it was built is well 
established. It extended from the village of Athol at a point on the 
Fifth Massachusetts almost due south into Petersham, crossing the west 
end of that town and the northwest corner of Dana, then southerly close 
to the west line of Dana, and entering Greenwich near Greenwich Vil- 
lage, at which point it crossed the Sixth Massachusetts. From Green- 
wich Village, or North Parish, it ran to Greenwich South Parish, where 
it joined the Belchertown and Greenwich Turnpike; thence across En- 
field and through the westerly part of Ware, following Beaver Brook 
valley and passing on the west side of Beaver Lake, through Palmer 
Center and Tennyville, after which the road followed the route after- 
wards chosen by the New London Northern Railroad through the town 
of Monson to the Connecticut line. 

We learn from Temple's " History of Palmer " that the turnpike 
was promoted by men in Norwich, Connecticut, who thought to rival 
Hartford by paralleling the water route by the Connecticut River. The 
road was almost exclusively a freight road, very few stages using it, and 
It carried a heavy traffic for many years, but not enough to make it a 
profitable investment. 

The town of Ware voted in 1806 to expend two hundred dollars on 
road construction along the line of the turnpike, the resulting road to 
be given to the corporation If It completed the whole project, as Chase 
recites In his " History of Ware." 

The length of road was about forty-one miles and the cost of build- 
ing $14,317.17, or about $350 a mile. Temple is authority for the date 
of the road becoming free, which he states as 1819, which gives the 
turnpike a life of only ten years. This turnpike did not die from rail- 
road competition, as the New London, Willlmantic, and Palmer Rail- 
road, the predecessor of the New London Northern, was not built until 
thirty years later. 

THE UNION TURNPIKE 

March 2, 1804, the Union Turnpike Corporation was formed and 
authorized to build : 

from where the Cambridge and Concord Turnpike Road terminates in Concord, in 
the most convenient and direct route, to the place where the Fifth Massachusetts 
Turnpike Road terminates, in Leominster. 

[133] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

This turnpike was intended to form a link in a system of such roads, 
which was a predecessor of the FItchburg Railroad. Thus, it is readily 
seen, the Hoosac Tunnel line was anticipated by the route over the 
Cambridge and Concord, Union, Fifth Massachusetts, Fourteenth 
Massachusetts, Second Massachusetts, and Williamstown turnpikes. 

Petitions for location were duly entered with the Worcester and 
Middlesex courts in 1805, and the layout was made in Worcester in that 
year. But not until September, 1806, was the layout reported from the 
county line to Main Street in Concord. It does not appear that the 
Cambridge and Concord or the Union ever built as far as Concord 
Common, although allowed to da so by their charters. At the Septem- 
ber, 1808, term of the Middlesex court the company reported that its 
road was completed and asked for a committee to view and accept it. 
That the road was accepted Is evident from the fact that the company 
filed returns of business done in 1809. 

The turnpike started at the corner of Main and Elm streets in 
Concord and followed the lines of the present Elm Street along the 
northerly wall of the reformatory, and then directly to West Acton, 
straight across Boxboro to the westerly side of that town, where it 
curved slightly to the northwest. It ran northwesterly across Har- 
vard, where the road long since disappeared, and, crossing the north- 
erly part of Lancaster, to Leominster Village, where it connected with 
the Fifth Massachusetts. The length was about twenty-two miles, and 
the cost was $35,483.71, or about $1600 a mile. Returns filed of busi- 
ness done from 1809 to 18 14, inclusive, showed an excess of expendi- 
tures over receipts of $9660.35, which causes wonder that operations 
were continued for sixteen years more. 

By an act of the legislature passed In 1809 the corporation was 
allowed to incorporate " the present travelled county road " in Leomin- 
ster into its turnpike, and in 1 8 10 the time limit was extended to March 2, 
1 812. By this it is seen that the portion in Worcester County was not 
built as early as that in Middlesex. 

Promptly upon the opening of the turnpike the following petition 
was entered with the Middlesex court, which is here introduced as 
showing the manners of a century ago. 

Petition of Ephraim Wood and others, " shewing that whereas a Turnpike-road 
known by the name of the Union Turnpike is laid out and made and now travelled 
upon through the westerly part of Concord in said County on and near the county 
road where it was heretofore travelled and has rendered a part of said County road 
useless and unoccupied as to any public travel to wit from the dwelling house of 
Ephraim Wood, Esq. on westerly to where said Turnpike-road comes into said 
County road near where the late General James Colburn deceased lived, it being 
one hundred rods and praying that the section of the County road above described 
and thus rendered useless may be discontinued." 

In March, 18 10, the road was discontinued as requested, and the 
records show that the committee to whom the matter was referred 

[134] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

recommended such discontinuance upon the understanding that no gate 
should be erected to take toll from those who might have used the dis- 
continued part. There is no evidence that the corporation had a dif- 
ferent understanding of the matter later. 

The proprietors were released in 1819 from their liability to main- 
tain the easterly end of their road, apparently that portion between the 
reformatory and Concord. 

The legislators of 1804 seem to have had a fear of monopolies, for 
they inserted a provision in the charter of this company that no one 
stockholder should cast more than ten votes regardless of how many 
shares he owned. In 1826 this provision was repealed. 

The original location of the turnpike passed through the village of 
Harvard and then bore due west for about a mile and a half, bringing 
it a short distance south of the summit of Prospect Hill. Then It de- 
flected slightly to the north and, descending abruptly, went straight 
across the valley of the Nashua River, climbing the steep banks on the 
westerly side through deep cuts, and then on in the same direction 
through the town of Lancaster. ToUgates were usually erected on or 
near the bridges, for the reason that opportunities for going around 
them did not so conveniently exist, and it is probable that the Union 
had its gate in the vicinity of the bridge over the Nashua River. 

WlUard's "History of Lancaster," published in 1826, says that a 
serious freshet on the Nashua In 181 8 damaged all the bridges over that 
stream and carried away most of them. The turnpike bridge went 
downstream with the others, and the corporation, with expenses exceed- 
ing its receipts, as we have already seen, found Itself unable to meet the 
expense of a new one. A county bridge less than a mile up-stream 
from the turnpike was soon rebuilt, and toward It the corporation cast 
covetous eyes. 

January 31, 1820, an act was passed by which the corporation was 

authorized to alter their road by leaving its original route, near Benjamin Willard's 
in Lancaster, thence running in the most direct and suitable course to where the 
county road leading to Harvard, crosses the Nashua River, thence in or near the 
course of said county road so as to reunite with said turnpike near Jonas Bateman's 
in Harvard. 

The section of the original turnpike which was thus cut out measured 
about two and a half miles, and extended from the corner of the roads 
a mile west of Harvard Village to the corner of the roads at the old 
Lancaster almshouse. Of this section only about a half mile exists 
to-day as a public road. Now one following the course of the old turn- 
pike comes to an abrupt stop on the brink of Prospect Hill, where a 
magnificent view Is had of the broad valley of the Nashua, and where 
the Lancaster Road meets the turnpike at right angles. Thus It was 
with a party of investigators in the early fall of 191 6, when the author, 
with two sympathetic companions, sought to trace the road abandoned 
ninety-six years before. 

[135] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

At first no sign was seen of a continuation straight ahead ever hav- 
ing existed, but gradually the eye picked out a growth of trees running 
across the valley, which was strongly suggestive of the parallel rows 
of elms which we had seen on either side of the road for so many miles. 
Passing through the farm gate opposite the end of the road which we 
had been following, we noticed a rough cart path inclosed by stone 
walls leading straight ahead down the hill. Following this we found 
unmistakable indications of an old road, the stone walls on either side 
and the comparatively even grade on which we walked mutely testifying 
to that effect. At the railroad we found where the old road had passed 
on a high ridge, through which the railroad builders had ruthlessly dug 
a deep cut for their track. At the easterly end of this ridge was ob- 
served an old cellar close to the turnpike remnants, and it required little 
imagination to picture that as once having been covered by the tollhouse, 
with the gate close by. Beyond the railroad the ground was low and 
swampy, and as far as we penetrated we saw the remains of the banks 
and causeways over which the old stages had passed. 

Passing around through the village of Still River and crossing the 
Nashua where the turnpike crossed after the act of 1820, we renewed 
our search on the westerly bank of the river, in the town of Lancaster, 
and on the crest of the bank which rises from the river bottom we soon 
found a cut so deep that it plainly was never made by a landowner for 
his private use. Following this clue we found a continuous grade which 
brought us to the bank of the Nashua, where, although all signs of a 
bridge have long since disappeared, the graded banks of the roadway 
leading to it on both sides could be distinctly traced. 

Having climbed the grades up the bank of the Nashua we easily 
followed the embankment of the old road across the slightly rising 
ground until at the summit a wall-like ledge of rock crossed the line at 
an abrupt height of five or six feet. Through this ledge the early public- 
utility constructors had blasted a cut for their road with perpendicular 
walls. In which the old drill marks are still plainly visible. 

Farther west, at the corner where stands the large farmhouse for- 
merly used to shelter the poor of Lancaster, the path of the turn- 
pike Is so smooth and plain that, with the trees removed from Its 
limits, one could safely drive over it. At the old poor farm the spirit 
of the turnpike again asserted itself, and from there to Leominster It 
Is still in existence as a public road, except where modern engineering 
has made deviations. 

The old residents know this abandoned section as the old turnpike, 
and several of whom we inquired, verified our conclusions regarding the 
origin of the traces through the woods and swamps. 

The road became free In Worcester County In 1829, but In Middle- 
sex that formality was delayed until 1830, as the corporation neglected 
for two terms of the commissioners' meetings to obey the orders rela- 
tive to advertising a hearing. 
[136] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



THE TAUNTON AND NEW BEDFORD TURNPIKE 

The Taunton and New Bedford Turnpike Corporation, created by 
act of March 3, 1804, planned to build from Taunton Green to the 
head of Acushnet River, on the way to New Bedford. The road was 
to pass through the towns of Berkley and Freetown and the village of 
Assonet. No records have been found, and personal knowledge of the 
country allows the assertion that there are no roads there which can 
be imagined as ever having been turnpikes except a short piece in Taun- 
ton. A straight street stretches from the Green to Weir Village, which 
is known as Weir Street, locally pronounced " Ware." A map was 
found in the Bristol County Registry of Deeds, dated In 1846, on 
which Weir Street was marked " Turnpike from Greene to Weir." The 
length of that street Is a little less than a mile, so It was not much of a 
turnpike, if it was ever so operated. In 1 808 the time limit was extended 
to 1 8 12. 

THE BLUE HILL TURNPIKE 

On the seventh of March, 1804, the Blue Hill Turnpike Corporation 
received its charter to build 

from Randolph meeting-house, in the county of Norfolk, through Scotch Woods, or 
the Blue Hills, so called, in the most direct and convenient route, to Joseph Bab- 
cock's, in Milton. 

But the location described did not satisfy the proprietors, so they 
secured the passage of another act, in June, 1805, allowing them, 

instead of laying out and making the same from an apple tree in the land of Ezra 
Coates in said Milton, to the house of Joseph Babcock, to lay out and make the said 
turnpike-road from said apple tree, to, or near to, the guide post in Milton at Swift's 
Corner, so called, near to the house of John Swift in Milton. 

The apple tree in question has not been Identified but the location 
of the road is well established. The legislature, in 1830, required all 
towns to file with the secretary of state a map of their territory, and the 
one filed by Milton shows the Blue Hill Turnpike plainly. It extended 
nearly due south from Milton Lower Mills until it reached the Quincy 
line; crossing the west end of that town it curved slightly, and then bore 
about south-southeast to Randolph Center. It is known to-day as Ran- 
dolph Avenue in Milton, and as North Main Street in Randolph. The 
layout was partly made In 1804, and the balance in 1805. 

Two returns were made of the cost of construction, for what reason 
is not apparent, the total being $78,302.68. The length being about 
eight miles gives a per-mlle cost of about $9800. This Is a pretty high 
figure, and the work must have been heavy. On this question we quote 
from Teele's "History of Milton," which says: 

[137] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Like most of the turnpike enterprises of that period the road had limited uses 
for travelling. Its location was principally through wild land or woodlands, with 
a succession of heavy grades, long steep hills and narrow viaducts, requiring frequent 
and expensive repairs. 

Returns of business done were filed from 1816 to 1849 inclusive, and 
show net income averaging between one and two per cent, with a maxi- 
mum of about two and a half per cent in 1 834. 

In 1 8 15 the company was allowed to hold real estate not exceeding 
ten thousand dollars in value, and a penalty was laid upon any persons 
who turned off the road at gates to avoid payment of tolls. By the 
last it is evident that the Blue Hill had to compete with a " shunpike." 
Evidently at first there had been but one gate erected near the halfway 
point, and much of the travel used only one end of the road without 
passing the gate at all, for we find an act in 1807, allowing the corpora- 
tion to erect two half-gates instead of the one whole one, provided 
neither was put up where an old road had been taken. 

The Norfolk county commissioners laid the turnpike out as a public 
highway in 1848. By its connection, or close to a connection, with the 
Dorchester Turnpike at Milton Lower Mills, this road gave through 
communication between Boston and Randolph, the travel of which was 
absorbed by the railroad which passes through Brockton. 

No records have been found of any work done by the Springfield 
and Longmeadow Turnpike Corporation, which was chartered the same 
day as the Blue Hill. 



THE HARTFORD AND DEDHAM TURNPIKE 

The next was planned for through travel rather than local, as the 
Hartford and Dedham Turnpike Corporation, chartered March 9, 
1804, was designed to close the gap left by a Connecticut corporation, 
the Ninth Massachusetts, and the Norfolk and Bristol, In a through line 
between Hartford and Boston. The road was located over the present 
High Street from Dedham Center to Westwood Center, thence through 
Westwood and Dover over Hartford Street, through Medfield by 
Cedar Hill and Main streets, over the Main Street of Millis and Med- 
way to the northeast corner of Bellingham, where it joined the road of 
the Ninth Massachusetts. The centers of Dedham, Westwood, Med- 
field, Millis, and West Medway are located upon the line of the old 
turnpike. 

The town records of Medway show that in 1803 the town was asked 
to give its suffrage to a turnpike, but declined. The " History of Med- 
way," published by the town, states that the petition for legislation es- 
tablishing the Hartford and Dedham was signed by sixty-nine citizens, 
and was opposed by others who sought to build a road between the same 
[138] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

terminals, but through Frankhn, North Wrentham, and Walpole. Al- 
though unsuccessful in their opposition, these parties succeeded the next 
year in securing a charter for their route in the name of the Winsocket 
Turnpike Corporation. 

The road was about sixteen and a half miles long, and cost about 
$1940 a mile, or $32,029.50 all told. Returns were filed for the years 
1808 to 1 8 12, both inclusive, during which time the net earnings aver- 
aged one half of one per cent per annum. 

Medfield saw good prospects in the proposed turnpike, for that town 
in 1803 voted seventy to eight, for indorsement of the project says 
Tilden's " History of Medfield," which also informs us that the stock 
sold for a few years at fifty dollars, but quickly declined to ten dollars, 
and was soon worthless. 

In 1830 the portion in Dedham, Dover, Medfield, and Medway 
became free, and in 1838 the balance was thrown open. Medfield was 
assessed thirty dollars, and Medway one hundred and sixty dollars, as 
their respective portions of the damage to be paid the corporation for 
its road. 

One tollgate stood where the railroad now crosses the old road at 
Millis, another barred the way at the corner of Main and Bridge streets 
in Medfield. The last was located under authority of an act passed 
April 12, 1836, but it would seem that the gate had been established 
there for some time previous to that date, for the act further relieves 
the corporation from any liability on account of its being illegally 
placed. 

An increase of twenty-five per cent in the rates of toll on one-horse 
vehicles was granted in 18 13, which might have served as a warning 
to the electric railway company which secured a franchise over the same 
road three quarters of a century after the abolition of tolls. That com- 
pany, unable to exist on five-cent fares, sought to assess six instead, and 
when threatened with legal process to restrain It therefrom gave up 
running its cars until the increase was allowed It. 

The Connecticut corporation which provided the road to complete 
the system from the westerly end of the Ninth Massachusetts to Hart- 
ford was the Boston Turnpike Company. This public utility was in- 
corporated by the Connecticut legislature in October, 1797, with a 
capital of 4800 pounds, and a franchise to build a road 

from Hartford through the towns of East Hartford, Bolton, Coventry, Mansfield, 
Ashford, Pomfret, and Thompson, to the Massachusetts line, 

a distance of approximately forty-eight miles. In the usual language 
of the early acts, it was authorized 

to erect and establish four turnpikes on said road, 

one of which was to be 

at or near the notch of the mountain in Bolton, 
[140] 





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where the trains between Willimantlc and Hartford pass through a cut 
of solid rock with perpendicular walls seventy feet high. 

In May, 1798, the company was released from its obligation to 
build between Bolton and the Connecticut River, but in 1 8 1 2 it secured 
a renewal of the privilege, and connected with the Hartford and Tol- 
land Turnpike In East Hartford, over which and the East Hartford 
Ferry travelers from Boston reached Connecticut's capital. 

The Salem and Chelmsford Turnpike Corporation and the WIscasset 
and Dresden Turnpike Corporation, chartered on the same ninth of 
March, seem to have failed to carry out their intentions. The former 
looks like an attempt to divert from Boston the trade of the southern 
New Hampshire towns, which was flowing down through Bedford and 
BlUerlca, and to lead the same to the markets and ports of Salem; but 
If such was the Idea the promoters lacked the courage of their convic- 
tions. The two WIscasset turnpikes which we have already noted were 
links in a system of through roads, and prospects justified their con- 
struction, but a road from WIscasset to Dresden was only a local affair 
connecting the county seat with a small adjacent village. 

The Sheffield and Tyrlngham Turnpike Corporation, June 23, 1804, 
probably was designed as a portion of a route from the upper Housa- 
tonlc Valley to Hartford, but no evidence has been found that It ever 
constructed Its road. 



THE DORCHESTER TURNPIKE 

In 1805 the South Cove District of Boston and the Commonwealth 
Flats In South Boston were under water, and the present Fort Point 
Channel was a portion of so broad an expanse of the harbor that that 
restricted name had not been applied to It. The northerly point of 
South Boston, known as Nook Point, barely reached north of Fourth 
Street, hence the first bridge connection from Boston to South Boston 
was on the line of the present Dover Street. 

March 6, 1804, the Proprietors of the Boston South Bridge were 
Incorporated for the purpose of building a bridge from Front Street, 
now Harrison Avenue In Boston to Foundry Street. In South Boston. 
The bridge was opened for public travel October i, 1805, and was 
operated as a toll bridge for twenty-seven years, being sold to the City 
of Boston April 19, 1832. By vote of the city council it was named 
Dover Street Bridge In 1857. Approach to the South Boston end was 
had over the road now known as West Fourth Street. 

While the bridge was under construction a proposition for a turn- 
pike to lead from it was brought forth, and in consequence the Dor- 
chester Turnpike Corporation was created by act of the legislature 
March 4, 1805, with a franchise to build a road from 

[141] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

the bridge over Neponset River, commonly called Milton Bridge, to Nook Point, so 
called, in Boston. 

The northerly part of South Boston had been annexed to Boston in 
1804, hence the charter of 1805 speaks of Nook Point as in Boston. 

Under the authority thus given, the Dorchester Turnpike was laid 
out and built from the bridge at Milton Lower Mills to Fourth Street 
in two straight stretches, passing through Ashmont, Harrison Square, 
Savin Hill, Washington Village, and South Boston. At Milton Lower 
Mills, except for a short Intervening distance, it connected with the Blue 
Hill Turnpike. As Dorchester Avenue the Dorchester Turnpike is 
known to-day for its entire length. 

In Orcutt's " Good Old Dorchester " we read that the road cost 
more than was anticipated, which obliged the corporation to charge 
higher tolls, thus making the road unpopular, many preferring to go 
without toll by way of Roxbury. The charging of higher tolls is open 
to doubt, as we have seen that rates of toll were fixed in the act of 
incorporation and could be changed only by subsequent legislation, and 
no act authorizing higher rates has been observed. But beyond a 
doubt the road cost more than expected. 

The cost of this road was $43,686.20, or a pro rata of about $8740 
for a length of about five miles. Returns were filed intermittently at 
first, but continuously after 1825. These are plotted on the accompany- 
ing chart and show the Dorchester to have been one of the best paying 
of the turnpikes. Receipts began to climb in 1826 and reached their 
peak in 1838, in which year the gross earnings were fourteen per cent 
and the net about nine. In the last years before the railroads the earn- 
ings were heavy, but dropped at once upon the opening of the Old 
Colony Railroad In November, 1844. In 1852 the corporation was the 
loser In a lawsuit for damages on account of an accident on Its turnpike, 
and was assessed the sum of $2215.06 in consequence. In its return 
for that year that Item was rendered separately, with a pitiful cry of 
Injustice and claim that the accident was through no fault of the 
corporation. 

The maps of to-day would give one the impression that the turnpike 
continued straight to the present bridge over Fort Point Channel, but 
as already seen it ended at the road leading to the Dover Street Bridge. 
The Federal Street Bridge, which Is the one over Fort Point Channel, 
was built In 1827 and 1828 by the Boston Free Bridge Corporation and 
deeded to the city of Boston September 26, 1828. Included in the 
bridge layout was the portion of what is now Dorchester Avenue be- 
tween the end of the bridge and West First Street. From the end of 
the Dorchester Turnpike to the approach to the bridge at West First 
Street a street was built near the close of the year 1828, which was 
named Turnpike Street. This was done by the municipal authorities 
of Boston, and that street was never a part of the turnpike. 

The Dorchester Turnpike was laid out as a public way April 22, 
[142] 







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1854, Orcutt says, by public subscription, and was then named Dorches- 
ter Avenue, which name had been given to Turnpike Street about a 
month earlier. In 1856 the name was changed to Federal Street, but 
" Dorchester Avenue " was restored in 1870. The entire length of the 
Dorchester Turnpike is now included within the limits of the city of 
Boston, while if built one year earlier it would then have laid wholly in 
the town of Dorchester. Dorchester Neck, as South Boston was for- 
merly called, was annexed to Boston on March 4, 1804, Washington 
Village being added in 1855, and the balance of Dorchester becoming 
a part of Boston in 1870. 

By its connection with the Blue Hill and the latter's connection with 
the Taunton and South Boston, the Dorchester Turnpike offered a 
direct and improved road all the way from Boston to Taunton, which 
in those days was foremost in the production of brick and iron as well 
as a shipping port of prominence. So it is easy to imagine a heavy 
traffic over the turnpikes named, in which we are confirmed by a his- 
torian of one of the towns along the Taunton and South Boston. 

Only two years after the corporation relinquished its control over the 
Dorchester Turnpike, horse cars appeared on the new public street, and 
a portion of the taxpayers, who now maintained the road, continued 
to pay toll for riding upon It. 

Although a committee was appointed In 1805 to lay out the Tyring- 
ham and Lee Turnpike, the corporation for which was chartered March 
15, 1805, no further record of the road has been found and. In the 
absence of any roads on the ground suggesting turnpike principles. It Is 
concluded that this turnpike was never built. It evidently was de- 
signed to connect with the Sheffield and Tyrlngham In that part of 
Tyringham now called Monterey, and open Intercourse between the 
upper Housatonic Valley and Hartford. But neither company seems 
to have done any construction. 

THE BATH OR GOVERNOR KING'S TURNPIKE 

Maine claims our attention again, for we find the Bath Bridge and 
Turnpike Corporation formed March 15, 1805, to build a road in a 
straight line from Bowdoln College in Brunswick to Bath, with a bridge 
over New Meadows River. This corporation, which was principally 
owned by Governor William King, promptly built Its road of about 
eight miles at a cost. Including the bridge, of $16,840.20. As the bridge 
was the chief obstacle to a free highway, it is probable that a large part 
of the cost was due to such construction, so a pro-rata cost per mile 
would be misleading. We gather from Wheeler's " History of Bruns- 
wick " that 

This turnpike was well made, and the roadbed was hard and smooth. It went 
through the woods nearly all the way east of Cook's Corner. The bridge over the 

[144] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Xew Meadow-s River \\as a few rods south of where the Maine Central Railroad 
now crosses, and the gate and toll house were at the west end of the bridge. 

According to Lemont's " Historical Dates of Bath," there was an- 
other turnpike between Bath and Brunswick, crossing the New Meadows 
River at Brown's Ferry. Wheeler disputes this, however, saying: 

there is no e\-idence that another turnpike was built in Brunswick. The bridge at 
Brown's Ferrj- was built previous to that of Governor King, and only the abutments 
and piers remained in 1808. It is more probable that what Lemont calls the second 
turnpike was a " shunpike " as it is w-ell known that, to avoid pajing toll, travellers 
from Brunswick left the turnpike at Cook's Corner and crossed the river at Brown's 
Ferry. It was owing to this fact that Governor King established a gate on the 
turnpike west of Cook's Comer. That expedient proved of no avail however, as 
travellers thereafter drove across the plains to Cook's Corner, and then down to 
Brown's Ferr}-, thus avoiding both toll gates. 

This turnpike followed the lines of the present Bath Street in Bruns- 
wick, and Center Street in Bath, the westerly terminus being on High 
Street on the north side of the courthouse. Connecting by means of 
Day's Ferry across the Kennebec with the "Wiscasset and Woolwich 
Turnpike, which in turn connected with the Wiscasset and Augusta, it 
opened improved communication between Portland and the town which 
was to be the capital of the new state. 

An act defining the general powers and duties of turnpike corpora- 
tions was passed March 16, 1805. Hitherto each act of incorporation 
had been a dreary repetition of those before, each petty detail of 
powers and liabilities being set forth at length. But after this act every 
company incorporated was to have such powers and be liable for speci- 
fied things under a general law. No more charters were to be granted 
until the route desired had been viewed at the expense of the petitioners, 
by a committee of the legislature, of which view public notice was to 
be given. The charter was granted, the road to be laid out by a com- 
mittee consisting of five disinterested freeholders, residents of the 
county in which the road was to be built. All future roads were to be 
twenty-four feet wide, in the improved portion, and four rods alto- 
gether. Rates of toll were fixed for all comers, leaving the adjustment 
of earnings to be regulated by the location of the gates. Permission was 
given to commute tolls. One half rates only could be collected on 
wagons having " fellies " six inches or more in width. Treble toll 
could be demanded of vehicles which damaged the road, and on the 
other hand the corporation was liable for from two to ten dollars in 
damages for delaying travelers or demanding excess toll. The liability 
of the- corporation for defects in Its road was clearly stated. A gate 
could be moved by permission of the court of common pleas ; three dis- 
interested freeholders being appointed a committee to give a hearing, 
relocate the gate, and report to the court. If the road was out of re- 
pair, upon complaint a justice of the court of common pleas could 

[145] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

order the gates to be opened if after ten days' notice the repairs had 
not been made. When any road was made free, all land owned by the 
corporation reverted to the former owners, even if the same had been 
purchased in fee. A new feature was introduced in section eleven, which 
provided that the legislature might dissolve any corporation thereafter 
established " after the expiration of twenty years, or sooner if it shall 
appear to their satisfaction that the income of said road shall have 
compensated," etc. And any charter was to be void if the road was not 
completed within five years. This appears to be the earliest general 
corporation law. 

The locations of some of the earlier corporations are found on the 
county records, and some are not. The law which empowered a com- 
mittee of the legislature to lay out a road did not require any record 
of that committee's proceedings in a county office, but many of the 
companies seem to have been unable to get away from precedent, and 
their enterprise being a road they recorded it the same as was customary 
with roads. Other roads were " viewed " by a legislative committee, 
and more definitely located later by a committee of the court of ses- 
sions, as was the Cambridge and Concord, for which the court committee 
located the road along the same line as had been viewed by the " solons 
of Beacon Hill." But from now on we expect to find all following the 
same procedure. 

The first production under the new law was the Winsocket Turnpike 
Corporation, incorporated before the general act was twenty-four hours 
old. This was the company desired by the opponents of the Hartford 
and Dedham, and its route connected practically the same terminals; 
but since the other road was built, courage was lacking for this, and the 
franchise was never used. 

The Blandford and Russell Turnpike Corporation, created the same 
day, seems to have died in infancy. 



THE BRUSH HILL TURNPIKE 

The Brush Hill Turnpike Corporation, also of the sixteenth of 
March, built its road 

between Davenports Corner, so-called, near the west end of Blue Hill in Milton, in 
the county of Norfolk, and near the four mile stone in Roxbury, near the dwelling- 
house of Ebenezer Seaver Esq. as follows : Beginning at said Davenports Corner, by 
the most favorable route, to the Upper Bridge, so-called, near Boies' Mills, from 
thence, by the most favorable route, at or near the said four mile stone. 

It will be noticed that the usual straight-line requirement is left out 
of this franchise, and yet the resultant turnpike stands out prominently 
on the map on account of the rigidity of its alignment. 

[146] 










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An interesting paper on " Milestones in and near Boston " was read 
before the Brooldine Historical Society by Charles F. Read, from which 
we obtain information regarding the " four mile stone " mentioned as 
the end of the turnpike franchise. 

In stage-coach days nearly all the important routes were marked with 
milestones, and at the opening of the turnpike era Massachusetts was 
liberally supplied with them. The work was commenced in 1707 by 
Judge Samuel Sewall, whose diary is familiar to all students of Boston's 
early days, and by him were set the first two milestones, measuring the 
distance along Newbury Street, as Washington Street was then called, 
from the " Boston town house." From a point beyond the second and 
not far enough for the third, five roads radiated, and the work for a 
few miles along each of these was continued by Paul Dudley, afterwards 
chief justice of Massachusetts Bay, in 1734 and 1735. 

The " Upper Road " to Quincy followed practically the present lines 
of Warren and Washington streets through Roxbury and Dorchester 
to Milton Lower Mills, and thence over Adams Street through East 
Milton. The " four mile stone " mentioned in the charter of the Brush 
Hill Turnpike was on this road, and is still standing on Warren Street 
opposite number 473, and between Harrishof and Wyoming streets. 
It is marked 

B 4 
1735 
PD 

At the inception of the Brush Hill Turnpike Bugbee's Tavern 
stood near this milepost, the first resting place on the tiresome journey 
to Quincy. 

The turnpike was located, according to Norfolk County records, 
in 1805, but the corporation did not improve its franchise as far as the 
" four mile stone," ending its road at the square now known as Grove 
Hall, nearly a half mile' from the stone. The broad boulevard, called 
Blue Hill Avenue, extending from Grove Hall past Franklin Park to 
Mattapan, and the beautiful road through Milton to the westerly foot 
of Great Blue Hill is the legacy left us by the Brush Hill Turnpike. 

Teele's " History of Milton " tells us of a town meeting at which it 
was voted 

that we do highly disapprove of a turnpike being made from the road at the west 
end of the Blew Hills to the upper bridge, as petitioned by Samuel Leonard and 
others. 

But high disapproval did not prevail and the road was completed by 
1809. No returns of cost or business done were ever made by this 
corporation. Apparently the free list, as originally made up, had over- 
looked military and spiritual preparedness, for in 18 10 an act was 
passed applying to this road, providing that the corporation should not 
collect toll " from anyone on military duty, on religious dutv, coming 

[147] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

to or from any grist mill, or on the common or ordinary business of 
family concerns, or from anyone who had not been out of town with 
a loaded team or carriage." 

An interesting comparison with later days may be drawn from a 
legislatui-e's assuming that every toll gatherer would be able to tell the 
nature of his customer's business and how far he had been or was going. 
To those of us who have spent much time in certain of New England's 
rural regions, that assumption may not seem so very unreasonable, 
after all. 

It is hard at the present time to see what prospects of financial 
success this road ever had. It was not projected as a through route to 
any large place. Beyond Mattapan, which was but nothing then, the 
route led through and ended in unbroken woods. Canton, for whose 
business the road must have looked, lay five miles beyond the authorized 
southern terminus. True the turnpike was built in the route of the 
" Old Bay Road," which was the earliest line of travel between Boston 
and Taunton, and it may have been expected that travelers would follow 
the old lines, thankfully accepting as much turnpike improvement as 
was given them. Another turnpike, the Stoughton, was authorized a 
year later, which commenced two miles south of the southerly end of 
the Brush Hill and ran thence to a junction with the Taunton and South 
Boston, in Easton, thus opening a through route, except for the two 
miles noted, frorti Boston to Taunton. But evidently the combination 
was not a paying one. 

In 1857 the Brush Hill corporation was allowed to surrender its 
road in Milton without receiving compensation for the same being made 
a free highway. That It was not a road of much public value is evident 
from the fact that the town of Milton neglected to lay it out until 
prompted by the legislature, which set February 26, i860, as the limit 
within which the road could be publicly laid out without compensation 
to the corporation. A portion in Milton and Dorchester had been laid 
out by the county commissioners in December, 1849, and in October, 
1856, the corporation relinquished its rights on the northerly end as 
far as Grove Hall, and the commissioners accepted that part of the 
road for the county, naming It Grove Hall Avenue, by which name it 
was known until 1870. 

The custom of placing milestones was revived after turnpikes had 
opened new lanes, and the Brush Hill received attention from John 
McLean. He was the Boston merchant who bequeathed one hundred 
thousand dollars to the Massachusetts General Hospital, and for whom 
the McLean Asylum was named; and just before his death, in 1823, he 
commenced the erection of milestones to mark the distance along the 
Brush Hill Turnpike. The work not being completed when he died, 
was continued by his business partner, Isaac Davenport. The measure- 
ments commence with Dudley's " four mile stone," the first stone being 
set where Harvard Street now intersects the old road and marked 
[148] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

BOSTON 

5 MILES 

J. MCLEAN 

1823. 

The McLean stones are uniform, except for the figure indicating the 
distance, and may be seen to-day along the road, the last, the ten mile, 
being safely set in the stone wall of a private estate not far from the 
boundary line between Milton and Canton. 

At the Upper Mills stood an old bridge, built by the towns of Dor- 
chester and Milton in 1733. Far out in the wilderness as it was, the 
towns gladly allowed the Brush Hill Turnpike to assume Its mainte- 
nance. At the northerly end the corporation was allowed to incorporate 
into its toll road about three thousand feet of the old Canterbury Street, 
but elsewhere the turnpike broke its way through unopened districts. 

The Fryeburg, Baldwin, and Portland Turnpike Corporation, 
March 16, 1805, although it had the privilege of improving the road 
and collecting tolls on the much-traveled route from northern New 
Hampshire and the upper Connecticut Valley of Vermont, to Portland, 
never improved the opportunity. 

The Williamsburg and Windsor Turnpike Corporation, the fifth 
created on that sixteenth of March, proposed to build a road twenty- 
five miles long over a route which so far has not attracted railroad 
capital. Its franchise extended across the towns of Williamsburg, 
Goshen, Cummington, and Windsor to the east line of Cheshire. The 
region Is rough and mountainous and the route closely paralleled the 
Third Massachusetts, and, since we can find no records beyond the In- 
corporation, we can readily conclude that this road never materialized. 

The Ossapee Turnpike Corporation was the sixth of that day's grist. 
This was projected In connection with the Great Ossipee Turnpike 
Corporation of New Hampshire to connect Saco, Maine, with Sand- 
wich, New Hampshire, by way of Effingham, but we have been unable 
to find that it ever built Its road. 



THE ANDOVER AND MEDFORD TURNPIKE 

The Andover and Medford Turnpike Corporation was Incorporated 
In the following June, on the fifteenth, with authority to build from 
a point In Andover to the Medford market place, but, as already noted 
in connection with the Essex Turnpike, it Improved Its franchise only 
as far as the line between Reading and Stoneham, leaving the portion 
In Essex County to be built by the Essex corporation. 

The cost of this road was $48,920.95, or a pro rata of about $8150 
for a length of about six miles. Returns were filed for only two years, 

[149] 



(/ 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

1807 and 1808, the showing for those years being an algebraic sum 
of minus $250. 

The location was duly made by a committee of disinterested Middle- 
sex freeholders, who reported to the court in September, 1806, and 
the road evidently was promptly built. Three miles was saved in the 
hauling of ship timber and country produce from New Hampshire 
points, the road forming a link in the through and direct route to Con- 
cord and other New Hampshire towns, as well as to the southwestern 
part of Vermont. But according to Brooks in his " History of Med- 
ford " the receipts did not compensate for the outlay. Brooks' further 
statements regarding the efforts of the corporation to give away its road 
In 1830 appear to be at variance with the records in East Cambridge, 
which show quite a contest over taking the franchise away. 

A petition entered by various citizens for the freeing of the road in 
May, 1833, met with sufficient opposition to cause it to drop out of 
sight, and not until January, 1836, did the road become free of toll. 
Then the county commissioners declared the road public, and the cor- 
poration was allowed until the eighteenth of that month to remove its 
gates and other personal property. Three thousand dollars was the 
amount which was allowed the corporation as damages for the loss of 
its privileges, from which the company appealed, making petition for 
a jury to decide that question. Upon the refusal of the commissioners 
to entertain the appeal the supreme court was asked to intervene with 
a mandamus, but that also was refused. The commissioners, thus sus- 
tained, dismissed the whole matter in May, 1837, and the Andover and 
Medford Turnpike passed into history. 

By the act passed on February 27, 1807, this company and the Essex 
were allowed to maintain one gate together where their roads joined 
at the county line. 

A beautiful ride is offered to-day over the old turnpike, traversing, 
as it does, the heart of the Middlesex Fells Reservation of the Metro- 
politan Park System and following close to the west shore of Spot Pond, 
as it was required to do, away back in 1805. Forest Street in Medford 
and Main Street in Stoneham are to be followed if one desires to trace 
the old Andover and Medford Turnpike. 

THE MIDDLESEX TURNPIKE 

The Middlesex Turnpike Corporation, chartered on the same day, 
appears to have been the most aggressive and the most antagonized of 
any of the companies. For over four years the battle raged over the 
location of the road, the diversion to private control of long-established 
public highways, and the erection of gates where all had been wont to 
pass without hindrance for generations, — the contest being carried from 
the county courts to the halls of legislation when necessary to override 
or change the existing laws. Only in the local histories of Arlington 
[150] 





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Near the Lexington-Burlington line 

At Turnpike Station, Billerica 

Old abutments at the crossing of the Concord River 

Plate XXXIX — Middlesex Turnpike 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

is any mention of this controversy to be found, while one impressive 
memorial history of a town, in which much of the trouble originated 
and where intense public feeling must have been aroused, makes no men- 
tion at all of the controversy or building of the road, the sole reference 
to the subject being the statement that of three great highways crossing 
the town the Middlesex Turnpike was one. 

The route specified in the charter began at Tyngsboro meeting- 
house and ran to Chelmsford, thence to Billerica, and thence to a point 
in Bedford described as " a stake in land of Abel Wyman, about twelve 
miles and one hundred and twenty rods from Boston." At the point 
thus precisely and definitely located the road was to divide, one line 
running to Medford Village by way of Symmes' Corner, and the other 
passing directly to " the rocks, so called, in Cambridge," thence over 
" the old road " to a point between the houses of Stephen Goddard and 
Walter Frost, probably near the center of the present Arlington, from 
which place the route was to run directly to a connection with the Cam- 
bridge and Concord near the westerly end of the West Boston Bridge. 

" The Rocks " mentioned In the prescribed route were situated on 
the present-day Massachusetts Avenue about a half mile toward Boston 
from Arlington Heights, where a tablet suitably inscribed may be seen 
by all who pass recording the location. The stake, so accurately 
located, might have " tossed up " to see if It would place itself in Bed- 
ford or Billerica, so close to the extreme northeast corner of Bedford 
did it come. It plainly was placed on a mathematically straight line 
between Tyngsboro and Medford, which evidently was intended to be 
the main line of the turnpike, while the portion through Cambridge 
was but a side issue. But the latter was the part which M^as built, the 
section between Bedford and Medford never getting beyond an appli- 
cation for a layout. 

A little common sense may be discerned in the foregoing description 
of the route, as it will be observed that the road was to pass through 
the centers of Chelmsford and Billerica, but that did not last long for, 
on June 23, 1806, the corporation secured an amendment to its charter 
allowing it to locate its road straight from the famous stake to " Buisket 
Bridge in Tyngsbury," thus leaving Billerica one mile to the east and 
Chelmsford about three quarters of a mile to the west. The total sav- 
ing in distance by this cut off could not have been over a mile, and it 
is of record that the bulk of the expected traffic refused to desert its old 
route, the drivers from New Hampshire towns preferring to put up 
at the taverns they had known so long. Had the road to Medford been 
built the result might not have been so disappointing, but the Cambridge 
route asked them to journey through regions hitherto unknown, and 
they declined. 

Not until February, 1807, did the corporation file its petition for a 
committee to lay out the route and assess the damages to landowners, 
and then the fun began. For nearly two years the committee labored 

[151] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

on its task, and it is easy to imagine the pressure brought to bear upon 
it to influence the location. The route finally decided upon by the 
committee followed the bank of the Merrimac River from Tyngsboro 
to about the line between that town and Chelmsford, thence it ran 
straight, crossing Nuttings Pond in the middle to a point in the north- 
east corner of Bedford, almost in Billerica. From that point it ran 
southerly across the western edge of Burlington until It intersected an 
old road near the house of Joseph Harrington in the northeast part of 
Lexington, and followed that old road to " the rocks." Then it fol- 
lowed an old county road along the north bank of Mill Brook to 
Stephen Goddard's house, about in Arlington Center now. From that 
point the route ran as straight as could reasonably be expected to the 
Cambridge and Concord Turnpike at West Boston Bridge. According 
to Parker's " History of Arlington," construction along the north bank 
of Mill Brook would have destroyed every mill in that vicinity, which 
fact naturally aroused intense opposition, which was supported by simi- 
lar feelings in Lexingtpn over the appropriation of a part of their old 
town road. 

So all these Interested parties were on hand In December, 1809, when 
the report of the locating committee was received by the court, and so 
strenuously did they fight the proposed location that the report was 
rejected in toto, and the matter again referred to the same committee 
for further action. Immediately upon the rejection of the report 
various Lexington citizens entered a petition for a layout of a county 
road from Joseph Harrington's house to " the rocks " over their exist- 
ing town road. Apparently there had been for many years a town road 
leading from " the rocks " across the easterly corner of Lexington Into 
the western edge of Woburn, and thence to Woburn Center, and It was 
over a part of this road that the corporation desired to build Its turn- 
pike. Following the rejection of the report Including such part in the 
turnpike, the effort was made to further embarrass the movements of 
the corporation by giving that piece of road the prestige of a county 
layout. A committee was at once appointed to view the route and 
report. 

We are told in Cutter's " History of Arlington " that a special town 
meeting followed, at which a committee was chosen to effect a reconcilia- 
tion between the corporation and the landowners, and to try to locate 
the turnpike where it would do the most good and the least damage. 

The corporation, unable to obtain what it wanted from the county 
court, went higher and appealed to the sovereign people themselves, as 
represented at the state house. Mindful of Its own Interests, the town 
of West Cambridge, by which name Arlington was known until 1867, 
instructed Its representative to endeavor to have the turnpike located 
" at the foot of the rocks and at no other place." The resultant act, 
passed March 6, 18 10, seems to have been a compromise. West Cam- 
bridge secured the location at " the foot of the rocks," but the corpora- 
[152] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

tion scored by having the town obliged to improve " the great road " 
from the " foot of the rocks " to what is now Arlington Center, and 
contribute it for the turnpike; and further, the town was to pay all 
damages caused by abandoning the portion of the original route for 
which the " great road " was substituted. To Lexington it was granted 
that the turnpike should be located from Harrington's to the " foot of 
the rocks " at the " great road." This " great road " was the one over 
which the British troops marched in the early morning hours of the 
memorable nineteenth of April, and it was at Arlington Center, then 
known as Menotomy, that a plucky force of old men, beyond the years 
of active service, waylaid and captured a train of supplies on its way 
to relieve the harassed soldiers of the king later In the same day. 

Spurred by the legislative action, the Middlesex court of sessions 
reconsidered its rejection of the report made in December, 1809, and 
in March, 18 10, accepted the same except the portion between Joseph 
Harrington's and " the rocks " in the old road. The effort to forestall 
the turnpike by making a county road over that section was still alive, 
and during the same month the committee reported in favor of such 
proceeding, and another committee was appointed to proceed to lay it 
out. In June that committee reported, the road was accepted, and 
hurry-up orders were Issued to the towns of Lexington and West Cam- 
bridge to build the road and close all accounts within ninety days. 

In September, 18 10, the corporation made petition for approval of 
the portion of its road that had been completed, and to have the location 
of its gates determined. The ninety days within which West Cambridge 
and Lexington were to build the new county road from Ha,rrIngton's 
to " the rocks " having expired without the building of the road, the 
turnpike corporation now renewed its application for the court's ap- 
proval of its layout over that section, but In December, 18 10, the court 
dismissed the application. 

At the same term, December, 18 10, the corporation entered a new 
petition. West Cambridge had not completed the " great road " and 
paid the damages as required by the legislative act of the sixth of the 
previous March, and the turnpike company demanded that It be allowed 
to go ahead and build the road Itself. But it appeared that West 
Cambridge had completed the road, or much of it at least, but that the 
road was a county road, and hence beyond the power of the town to 
convey to the company. So appeal was again had to the legislature, 
and on February 28, 181 1, the state cut the Gordian Knot, by decreeing 
that the road should be taken from the county and given to the turnpike 
corporation. Therefore the company withdrew its petition to build 
that section Itself. 

The injustice of the foregoing is plainly to be seen and suggests a 
powerful lobbying force in behalf of the corporation. Because the town 
objected to having the larger part of its mill Interests destroyed and 
prevented the turnpike from so locating as to accomplish that result, 

[153] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

the legislature loaded it with the expense of building a mile and a half 
of improved road, took away from it its long-established free highway, 
and obliged it to pay the costs which the corporation had prematurely 
incurred before it had legal right to do so. Considering the power 
which towns and counties had to lay out free roads which would divert 
travel from the turnpikes, and the need which the turnpikes ever felt 
of the good will of their communities, it causes wonder that the Middle- 
sex Turnpike Corporation should ever have pursued such high-handed 
methods. The cash payment by the town for damages on account of 
the abandoned location was $516.49, according to Parker. 

Definite progress appeared in the report made to the court in June, 
181 1. The road, twenty-six miles in length, was almost completed and 
four gates had been erected, and the court was asked to give its final 
approval so that the road might legally be operated. One of the gates 
was located in Lexington five rods south of the house of Reuben Reed, 
who owned land adjoining that of Joseph Harrington on the south 
side.^ This gate was on the section over which Lexington had made 
such a determined fight, and it appears that the corporation had finally 
succeeded in getting its franchise over that portion. But the fight was 
not over yet, for Lexington citizens entered their protest, declaring that 
the road had not been built as required by law, and demanding that the 
gate should not stand in its location, 

which place is part of an ancient highway over which they and all the citizens of the 
Commonwealth have from time immemorial had a right to pass and repass free of 
toll or any toll whatever. 'And on which they conceive by law no toll gate can 
rightfully be erected. 

This report was recommitted. 

By this diversion from public to private ownership of the road in 
Lexington and the " great road " in West Cambridge, a large number 
of people living In Lexington and towns beyond, with a few In Woburn, 
were cut off from free travel over their natural routes to the Boston 
markets and obliged to travel over the same roads but to pay toll there- 
for. Their grievance being placed before the legislature, and the mani- 
fest injustice shown, an act was secured on June 21, 181 1, whereby It 
was provided that all the inhabitants of Lexington and five of Woburn, 
" their families and future occupants," should pass free of toll over such 
portions of the turnpike. The towns beyond Lexington had their choice 
of other routes and were not included In the benefits of this act. 

Matters being thus adjusted the road received its legal sanction and 
proceeded to do business. By the act of March 6, 18 10, authority had 
been given to extend the turnpike from Tyngsboro meeting-house to 
the New Hampshire boundary, where it connected with the road of 
the Amherst Turnpike Corporation, a New Hampshire company operat- 
ing a road from the Massachusetts line to a junction with the Second 

1 Middlesex County Registry of Deeds. 
[154] 




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New Hampshire in Amherst. The Second New Hampshire, incorpo- 
rated in 1799, had built its road from Amherst to the " lottery bridge " 
in Claremont, and thus improved connections were had all the way from 
Boston to the lower Connecticut Valley towns of Vermont and New 
Hampshire. 

The Middlesex Turnpike was destined to be of less use a century 
after it was built than at its completion, and much of it to-day is dis- 
continued. To follow the old road at the present time one would start 
in Cambridge at Mechanic Square and pass over Hampshire Street and 
its continuation as Beacon Street. 

At the corner of Beacon and Washington streets a tollgate for- 
merly stood, and it was over this Washington Street that the Conti- 
nental troops passed on their way to fortify Bunker Hill after prayer 
for their success had been made by the president of Harvard College. 

The line of Beacon Street is continued in Somerville Avenue and 
Massachusetts Avenue through North Cambridge to Arlington, where 
the successor of the old turnpike passes by the Soldiers' Monument and 
the venerable Cooper's Tavern, and continues as the main street of 
Arlington to the " Foot of the Rocks " near Arlington Heights. 

At the " Foot of the Rocks " the old turnpike left the " Great Road," 
and as Lowell Street and Westminster Street it is perpetuated to-day. 
A nice macadamized road, with an easy, inviting down grade, it often 
lures motorists from the better road only to heartlessly abandon them 
some miles away In a sandy grass-grown path. For a few miles the 
road Is smooth and well kept, but about the time that Lexington's juris- 
diction Is left grass appears In the middle of the track and the bushes 
crowd closer to the sides of the vehicle. This condition prevails through 
the town of Burlington, but in Billerlca the old road assumes an air 
of more importance. 

Nuttings Pond is crossed on a causeway which divides it almost 
equally, and that part of the road presents a busy appearance in the 
summer, especially on Sundays. An extensive colony of camps and 
bungalows has grown up around the pond, and the old turnpike is their 
only avenue. Over It the campers reach the little station, appropriately 
named " Turnpike," at the crossing of the Billerlca Branch of the 
Boston and Maine Railroad. 

A quarter of a mile farther and the road comes to an abrupt end, 
a fence barring the way, and for the next mile the old turnpike has 
reverted to private interests, except for the easement which the tele- 
phone company has improved in the erection of its line of poles. By 
those poles and the path followed by the line patrolmen the line of the 
turnpike can still be picked out. In the mile thus abandoned occurs the 
crossing of the Concord River, and the abutments and approaches of 
the old bridge are still to be plainly seen. Approaching the old bridge 
on an August Sunday in 19 17, the author, following the exact line of 
the old Middlesex Turnpike, walked through a field of newly cut hay, 

[155] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

climbed a wall, passed through a cornfield, then crept through a wire 
fence, and traversed a pasture in which many cows were peacefully 
grazing. 

For the next four miles to Chelmsford the road is still open for 
travel, but apparently little used. At one of the Billerica crossroads the 
turnpike formerly passed between a large farmhouse and its commo- 
dious barn, but the present proprietor has seen fit to place two hen- 
houses directly in the line of the road, and such travelers as use the road 
to-day must wind in and out to avoid the encroachments. 

Manning's Tavern still stands on the turnpike at the point nearest 
to Chelmsford Center, and opposite it may be seen a little house which 
formerly sheltered the toll gatherer and his family. Beyond the toll- 
house the road again disappears and for over two miles can hardly be 
traced at all. No help is had here from the telephone company, for its 
poles have left us, bearing off to the right on the way to Lowell. Usu- 
ally a road abandoned many years is easily detected, but this section 
of discontinued highway is the most completely obhterated that the 
author has ever seen. 

From North Chelmsford to the New Hampshire line, along the west 
bank of the Merrimac River, the turnpike has again assumed importance 
as one of the Lowell to Nashua boulevards. 

English's " History of Bedford " says that the turnpike enjoyed a 
measure of success for a while, but professional teamsters were slow 
to abandon the familiar routes and discard the hospitality of the long- 
established taverns of Bedford. No costs or returns were filed by this 
corporation, so nothing of Its financial affairs is known. 

In 1823 a county road was opened between Chelmsford and Bed- 
ford, which at once diverted a great deal of travel from the turnpike, 
even the stagecoaches forsaking it for the new road. That road 
paralleled the turnpike but a mile distant from it, and later was the cause 
of the complete abandonment of the portion of the turnpike between 
Chelmsford and North Chelmsford. 

When the turnpike was built Lowell was not even thought of, the 
system of locks and canals having originally been built for navigation 
facilities and not devoted to the production of power until 1821, but 
the road was convenient to the new city when it came and should have 
received a generous share of its travel. But until the day of railroads 
the Middlesex Canal served the mills of Lowell, and the business was 
not great enough to divide between turnpike and canal. 

The portion of the road over which so much controversy had been 
had in Lexington became a part of the public system in 1 840 and at about 
the same time portions of the road in Chelmsford and Tyngsboro, 
interfering with the location of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad, were 
sold to that company. March 13, 1841, upon Its own petition the 
corporation was dissolved by the legislature, and the balance of its 
road discontinued. But the county commissioners a year later revived 

[156] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

the roads thus abandoned and laid them out as county highways. In 
1846 the Nashua and Lowell Railroad Company was relieved from 
obligation to maintain its portion of the road, and that became free in 
some places and was discontinued in others. 

A paper read before the Lowell Historical Society says : 

at the time of the opening of the Boston and Lowell Railroad, there were from 
forty to forty-five stages, arriving and departing daily from Lowell, employing from 
250 to 300 horses, and that 150 of them were in service between Lowell and Boston. 
The freight rates were from $2.50 to $4.00 a ton, the stage fare $1.25. 



THE WORCESTER AND FITZWILLIAM TURNPIKE 

A charter was granted to the Worcester and FItzwilliam Turnpike 
Corporation June 15, 1805, to build a road from Worcester, through 
Holden, Hubbardston, Templetbn, to the line of . Fitzwilliam, New 
Hampshire. This project lagged, and five years later the company was 
granted additional time for building, but the route was cut down so 
that it only extended from the Fitzwilliam line to Baldwin's Mills in 
Templeton, now known as Baldwinsville. Another extension was 
granted, so that they ultimately had until June 15, 18 15, to complete 
the road. Construction was finally completed between the last-named 
points at a cost of $4300, or a cost per mile of about $500. The loca- 
tion of the road through Winchendon is shown on the 1830 map of that 
town at the state house. Worcester County records show the public 
layout through Royalston, Winchendon, and Templeton in 1834. 

The Norton Turnpike Corporation, February 11, 1806, planned to 
build from Warren, Rhode Island, through Norton and Sharon to the 
old Bay Road in Canton, over which it would have connected with the 
Brush Hill Turnpike, but no construction was ever done. Another 
company received a charter covering a portion of the same route two 
years later. 

THE ASHBY TURNPIKE 

Another spoke in the wheel-like system of turnpikes which radiated 
from Boston was the road of the Ashby Turnpike Corporation, the 
charter for which was granted also on the eleventh of February, 1806. 
This road started at the line between Ashburnham, Massachusetts, and 
New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and crossed the northeast corner of 
Ashburnham into Ashby, crossing that town easterly about in the middle 
and passing through Ashby Center and West Townsend to Townsend 
Plain, where it joined the road of the Third New Hampshire at the 
end thereof. Townsend must have been fortunate in its roads in its 
eastern part, for both the Third New Hampshire and the Ashby seem 
to have been satisfied to terminate their roads at Townsend Center, 
leaving their patrons to continue their journeys over the county road. 

[157] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

At the westerly end the Ashby seems to have been pointing toward 
Keene, New Hampshire, but no turnpike franchise has been found in 
that state which would complete the connection. 

Petitions for locating committees were made in Worcester and 
Middlesex counties in September, 1806, and in February, 1807, the lay- 
out was reported and approved. The land damages in Middlesex were 
divided among twenty owners and totaled $1475, which was about $155 
a mile. The road was completed in the summer of 18 10 and approval 
was asked in September of that year. Formal acceptance was had in 
December, and the corporation was allowed to transact business, the 
tollgate being located in Ashby, " near the old county road, and a little 
to the northward of the house of Jonas Hodgman." 

The toll gatherer continued to discharge his duties for twenty-three 
years, until the turnpike became free in 1833. 

THE WORCESTER AND STAFFORD TURNPIKE 

Direct through communication between Worcester and Hartford 
was provided by the Worcester and Stafford Turnpike in Massachu- 
setts, connecting at the state line with the Stafford Pool Turnpike, which 
went as far as the courthouse in Tolland, and thence over the Hartford 
and Tolland Turnpike, which led from the state house in Hartford 
to the courthouse in Tolland. The Massachusetts corporation received 
its charter February 15, 1806, but, like other enterprises at that time, 
found the financing a slow process. The road followed the straight-line 
principle in its original layout, and we find it was located over such a 
steep hill in Sturbridge that, before building the road, the company saw 
fit to petition the legislature for permission to so change the route as to 
pass around the objectionable hill. This was granted them in June, 
1809. 

In 1 8 10 the road was completed and accepted by the officials of 
Worcester County, and by the court of sessions of Hampshire County 
in behalf of the towns in Hampden County. Some delay occurred in 
consequence of the death of one of the committee whose duty it was to 
view and approve the road, objection being raised to the legality of 
proceedings by the rest of the committee without him; but the matter 
was cleared by legislative action March 6, 18 10, which confirmed the 
doings of the diminished committee, filled the vacancy, and allowed the 
work to be completed. 

The road commenced at a point on " the post road in the town of 
Worcester," about a quarter of a mile beyond the westerly end of the 
present Main Street, and led through Leicester, about a quarter of a 
mile from the Auburn line, to Rochdale ; thence to Charlton City, where 
a gate was placed; thence across the central part of Sturbridge, and 
diagonally across Holland to the boundary line between that town and 
South Brimfield, which it followed for about a mile. Then it made a 
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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

short cut across the southeast corner of South Brimfield, and in about 
five eighths of a mile reached the Connecticut line. South Brimfield 
will not be found on the maps of to-day, as its name was changed to 
Wales in 1828. 

No returns were ever made by this corporation and no items con- 
cerning it have been found in local histories, but that it was an im- 
portant road serving a prosperous territory is plainly evident. Much 
of the travel over the " northern route " from Boston to New York 
must have been diverted from the line over the First Massachusetts to 
this of the Worcester and Stafford, as the new route was much more 
direct between Worcester and Hartford than by way of Springfield. 

The turnpike was thrown open in Worcester County in 1834 and 
in Hampden County in October, 1835. It is known to-day in Leicester 
as Stafford Street, and in the other towns it seems to go by the name 
of " Old Turnpike." Portions were discontinued in Sturbridge in 1850 
and in 1868, and in Charlton in 1851, but these appear to have been 
minor changes, some due, no doubt, to improvements in railroad 
crossings. 

THE PLUM ISLAND TURNPIKE 

An informal organization was made in 1804 In Newburyport by 
certain gentlemen who had conceived the idea of developing a summer 
resort on Plum Island, in connection with which they proposed to build 
a turnpike between the two places. A committee, chosen to estimate the 
cost of such work, reported so favorably that an application was duly 
made for a charter, which was granted on the twenty-fourth of February, 
1806, incorporating the Plum Island Turnpike and Bridge Corpora- 
tion. This company was to be allowed to build its road from Rolf's 
Lane, now Ocean Avenue, to a point on Plum Island about one mile 
north of Sandy Beach. Following a careful survey the road was built 
in the summer of 1806, and continued its existence as a chartered invest- 
ment for a period of ninety-nine years, making it the longest-lived turn- 
pike in Massachusetts, and exceeded in longevity only by the Peru 
Turnpike in Vermont. 

Currier's " History of Newburyport " devotes quite a little space 
to this road, and we learn further from it that the company continued 
its operations in 1807 by building a hotel on the island, thus anticipating 
the policy put into effect a century later by the electric-car lines', which 
established places of amusement at the ends of their routes to Induce 
additional riding. 

No returns were filed by this company and Its monetary affairs are 
wrapped in mystery. Its career was uneventful until 1839^ when a 
severe storm washed away a portion of the road and badly: damaged 
the bridge. About this time the United States authorities construlcted a 
breakwater In connection with its improvements of Newburyport Harbor, 

[159] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

in consequence of which, in the winter of 1840, the ice was backed up 
against the bridge,, carrying nearly all of it away. Consequently a 
petition for relief was made to Congress, which on June 4, 1842, passed 
the " Act for the relief of the Plum Island Bridge and Turnpike Com- 
pany," giving the corporation eight thousand dollars in compensation. 

For many years the corporation was practically extinct, but in 1884 
the prospects seemed to justify further action, and business was re- 
sumed. In 1887 the property and rights were sold to a company which 
desired to operate a horse railway over the road, and that form of 
transportation continued until 1894, when the horses gave place to the 
buzzing trolley. 

By legislative act of May, 1905, the county commissioners were 
required to lay out the Plum Island Turnpike as a county road, not 
over six thousand dollars to be paid the company as damages. Essex 
County records show the finish of the old road on July 22, 1905, one 
hundred and one years after the project was first agreed upon by the 
enterprising Newburyport gentlemen. 

THE WORCESTER TURNPIKE 

Next, on March 7, 1806, came the Worcester Turnpike Corpora- 
tion with a franchise to build " from Roxbury to Worcester." 

In the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony there was but one 
road leading out of Boston, — the original of Washington Street, over 
the Neck. As we learned in connection with Judge Sewall's milestones, 
at points between two and three miles from the old Boston Town House 
five roads radiated and led to various adjoining towns. One of these, 
the Cambridge Road, had from the earliest days been a traveled path, 
forming the eastern end of the old Connecticut Path; and part of this, 
comprising what is now Roxbury and Tremont streets and Huntington 
Avenue to the Parkway near the Brookline boundary, was formally 
laid out as a public highway January 19, 1662. The portion lying be- 
yond Muddy River had been publicly dedicated some five years earlier. 

The portion of this " ancient Highway " between the present Dudley 
Street Station of the Boston Elevated Railway and Brookline* Village 
was monopolized by the Worcester Turnpike Corporation when its 
road was located in 1808, and the long-established free highway became 
a part of the privately owned toll road. In a paper presented to the 
Brookline Historical Society,^ the reader told of the peregrinations of 
the locating committee, which started from the Boston end and stopped 
for rest and refreshment at the Punch Bowl Tavern in Brookline. So 
far they had followed the old road, apparently lacking the courage to 
locate a road in a new and untried place; but after their reception at 
the tavern fresh courage arose, and thenceforth they paid no attention 
to old roads, but laid their compass for the longest possible straight 

^ December 26, 1906, "The Old Worcester Turnpike," by Edward W. Baker. 
[160] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

lines. So the turnpike left the " ancient highway " at what is now 
Brookline Village and blazed a new path through the woods straight 
to Mitchell's Tavern in Newton, then across the Charles River " near 
General Eliot's mills," now Newton Upper Falls, near the famous Echo 
Bridge of the Boston waterworks; thence across the town of Welles- 
ley, which was a part of Needham then, to the " Neck of the Ponds," 
which was the narrow part of Lake Cochituate in Natick; thence through 
Framingham, Southboro, Westboro, and Shrewsbury to Shrewsbury 
Pond, later known as Lake Quinsigamond, and then " to the street in 
Worcester near the courthouse." 

There were ancient milestones on the old road which was thus ap- 
propriated for turnpike purposes, two of which fell within the limits 
thus liable to toll. The first of these, the three-mile stone, has dis- 
appeared from its place on Roxbury Street, just beyond Eliot Square, 
but the four-mile stone may still be seen, directly opposite its original 
position, embedded in the wall surrounding the grounds of the House 
of the Good Shepherd, where it was set with the consent of the church 
authorities, at the solicitation of Mr. Irwin C. Cromack of the Boston 
Street Department. These were Paul Dudley stones, as attested by 
the initials " P D " on the one thus preserved. The turnpike itself was 
marked off in this manner in 1810, the measurements starting from the 
Boston boundary line. The first of the later ones may be observed near 
Roxbury Crossing, set in the wall in front of a schoolhouse. It is 
marked : 

To Boston 

Line I M 

1810 

Another stands in a location to which it was recently moved for preser- 
vation — at the corner of Boylston and Warren streets in Brookline. 

Smith, in the preparation of his " History of Newton," seems to have 
had access to first-hand information regarding this corporation, for he 
tells us that the first meeting of the stockholders was held in Concert 
Hall, on the corner of Court and Hanover streets in Boston, on Octo- 
ber 30, 1806. The capital stock was divided into six hundred shares 
of a par value of two hundred and fifty dollars each, making an invest- 
ment of $150,000 to build forty miles of road, which allowed about 
$3750 a mile. No further figures are available, for the company never 
filed any returns with the secretary of state, as it should have done. 
Smith also says that sixteen shares were taken by Newton men, and 
that there were few dividends, none amounting to six per cent. 

The fallacy of straight-line locations was thus observed by Lincoln 
in his " History of Worcester " : 

On this plan [straight line] the turnpike to Boston, going out from the north 
end of the village, went through a considerable eminence by a deep cutting, passed a 
deep valley on a lofty embankment, ascended the steep slope of Millstone Hill, 
crossed Quinsigamond by a floating bridge, and climbed to some of the highest ele- 

[161] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

vations of the country it traversed ; when an inconsiderable circuit would have fur- 
nished a better and less costly route. 

An act passed by the general court March 3, 1809, provided for 
changing the location of certain gates in order to, check the custom of 
" shunpiking " and also to protect the public from paying full tolls when 
it used the turnpike for only a part of the journey. The preamble is 
a dissertation on the " shunpike," which is worth reproducing. 

WHEREAS the said Worcester Turnpike Road, as the same is now located and 
made, makes such intersections of various old roads, over which the same crosses 
and passes, as to render it easy at all times for persons to travel on the same a greater 
part of the way, and by turning off on said old roads, near the several places assigned 
to receive toll, to avoid the payment of the same; and whereas there are several por- 
tions of said Turnpike Road, over which there would be a great travel, provided the 
said corporation were authorized to erect gates, subdividing the toll, established in 
and by their act of incorporation, which would be a great saving and convenience to 
many people who wish to travel on certain portions of said turnpike if it could be 
done without paying a full toll. . . . 

Consequently the justices of the court of common pleas were author- 
ized to make such changes in the gates, and signboards giving the sub- 
divided rates were to be erected. 

Many interesting taverns stood on the line of the Worcester Turn- 
pike. The Punch Bowl Tavern, which stood on what is now the corner 
of Washington and Pearl streets in Brookline, was a famous place of 
resort for gay parties from the surrounding towns, and even from 
Boston, and it was much frequented by the British officers before the 
Revolution. Drake, in his " The Town of Roxbury," thus describes it: 

It was of a yellowish color, and had a seat running along the front under an 
overhanging projection of a part of the second story, where loungers congregated 
to discuss the news of the day. In front and near each end were large elm trees. 
Under the westerly one stood a pump. The ancient sign, suspended from a high 
red post, had for its design a huge bowl and ladle, overhung by a lemon tree laden 
with fruit, some of which having fallen to the ground, lay around the bowl. This 
sign, known throughout New England, gave its name to the tavern and village. 

Originally it was a two-story, hipped-roof house, and many additions 
were made from time to time by the purchase of old houses in Boston 
and vicinity, moving them to the Punch Bowl and tacking them on to 
those previously assembled. Consequently the old house was a curious 
medley of rooms of all sorts and sizes, one of which was a large dancing 
hall. Opened as a public house prior to 1740, the Punch Bowl Tavern 
served the public for over one hundred years, being torn down in 1839. 

The Richards Tavern, built about 1770,^ faced Heath Street near 
where the turnpike crossed the Newton-Brookline boundary, and the 
turnpike was built directly behind it, so that became a turnpike tavern 
and was conducted as such until 1830. 

The Mitchell Tavern stood on the turnpike in Newton Highlands 

' "The Old Worcester Turnpike," Baker. 
[162] 





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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

on the present corner of Center Street. The Cook Tavern stood until 
the winter of 19 15-16 on the corner where Eliot and Woodward streets 
come together at the turnpike, and upon its demolition yielded an in- 
teresting collection of old coins and pewter ware, when its inner spaces 
were revealed. Prior to the widening of the street and the building 
of the Boston and Worcester trolley line, it was a fine old house, with 
beautiful trees draping over it and surrounded by lilac hedges, as shown 
in the picture which we reproduce. 

Another old tavern stood near the Charles River at the Upper Falls, 
and until the coming of the railway, about 1900, had before it a hand- 
some sycamore In which was still planted the Iron crane from which the 
sign of the tavern swung. 

In Westboro rest and refreshment were to be had at Forbush's 
Tavern, which stood on the corner of the street now called Lyman. 
This house had long been built when the turnpike came, but It had 
the good fortune to be located directly on the line of the new road, so 
had no difficulty in adapting Itself to the new conditions. 

One tollgate was located in the rear of the Richards Tavern near the 
Brookline-Newton line, and another was in Newton Upper Falls, sit- 
uated in a hollow between the two taverns which were about three 
quarters of a mile apart. A marsh and quicksand two hundred feet 
east of the gate obliged travelers to stay in the road, and prevented the 
much-practiced art of " shunpiking." The old tollhouse at this gate 
stood for many years on the bank above the street, where it was left 
by the grading incident to the trolley construction. Another tollgate 
stood in Needham, now Wellesley, just east of Blossom Street, accord- 
ing to Clark's " History of Needham." 

The operation of a toll road over the ancient highway In Roxbury 
could not have been remunerative, especially over the section between 
Walt's Mills, now called Roxbury Crossing, because twenty years ago 
a grade crossing of the railroad existed there, and the easterly end of 
the turnpike. There must have been a great deal of short-distance, 
travel over parts of that section, paying no toll at all but wearing out 
the road which the corporation was bound to repair. In 18 10 a 
turnpike charter was granted to the Boston Neck Turnpike Corpora- 
tion, which it seems must have been sought in the interest of the Worces- 
ter Turnpike Corporation, as the construction of that road would have 
given the latter company a better connection with the road leading into 
Boston. But the corporation was held strictly to Its obligations to 
maintain the ancient highway until the opening of the Punch Bowl Road 
of the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation. That road connected 
the Worcester Turnpike at the Punch Bowl Tavern with the westerly 
end of the road over the Mill Dam, and was opened for travel In 1821. 
By following this new route, over a mile was saved on the journey into 
Boston, and it can readily be seen that the operation of the ancient 
highway became still more a " labor of love," and we are not surprised 

[163] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

that the corporation now made earnest efforts to be rid of the burden. 
But not until 1826 did it succeed when, on February 15, an act was 
passed relieving the corporation of all of the road east of what is now 
Brookline Village, providing that it paid two hundred and fifty dollars 
to the town of Roxbury to recompense that town for assuming the road. 
The act declared that the easterly terminus of the turnpike should 




Courtesy of Edward W. Baker 
'the arch in brookline' 



thenceforth be at " the arch In Brookline." The arch spanned the 
turnpike where It left the old road and entered upon the new location. 
Overhead the traveler westward bound read "Worcester 18 10 40 
Miles." Just why this arch should have been built at this point, or 
why It should have been built anywhere, is hard to determine. Its loca- 
tion marked the dividing line between the new road which the corpora- 
tion built, and the ancient highway which it had appropriated, and It 
may be that the corporation, exasperated at the continual protests and 
faultfinding which always followed the passing of an old road into a 
turnpike, erected this arch to mark the beginning of the section on which 
It was morally as well as legally entitled to collect toll. 

The " ancient highway " at once became the Washington Street of 
Roxbury. In 1868 the name of part was changed to Tremont Street; 
in 1874 another portion was named Roxbury Street; and in 1895 the 
end at the Brookline boundary was called Huntington Avenue. 

Lake Quinsigamond, then called Long Pond, stretched its length 
about equally on each side of the air line which the turnpike surveyors 
felt obliged to follow and offered a serious engineering problem. The 
water was over five hundred feet wide at the desired crossing and from 
fifty to seventy feet In depth, and the early bridge builders, having no 
other material than wood, might have been excused for pronouncing 
[164] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

the task impossible. But turnpike builders overcame all obstacles when 
a straight line was to be attained, and a floating bridge was designed. 
The first was a short-lived structure, lasting only a few years. It was 
made of two or three tiers of round timber laid lengthwise and then 
crosswise, and then overlaid with a course of hewn timber covered 
with plank and fastened to large abutments at the shores. The cost of 
this bridge was about nine thousand dollars, and it was soon found to 
be too weak for safety, and work was started on a much more ambitious 
structure. 

Nine piers were sunk in the lake, on the line of the bridge, about 
thirty feet apart, the center one being sixty feet square and the others 
sixty by thirty. These piers were constructed separately in cob-house 
fashion. The first course was laid on the surface of the water above 
its ultimate resting place, and consisted of a mat of heavy timbers 
parallel to each other and covering a space the size of the pier. The 
second course was then laid crosswise on the first, each intersection being 
pinned by wooden treenails, and so on, the increasing weight causing the 
structure to sink gradually until the first course of timbers had found 
its resting place on the bottom of the lake, with several courses above 
the surface. It seems like a miracle that such construction remained 
perpendicular until the bottom was reached, but all the piers did so, 
and connections were made from one to the other by stringers covered 
with planking on which a heavy bed of gravel was placed. 

On account of the varying depth of mud on the bottom of the pond, 
the piers settled unequally and rapidly fell out of plumb. The buoyancy 
of the material caused such strains that many of the joints opened and 
timbers started from their fastenings. Efforts to remedy the trouble 
by piling on heavier loadings of gravel only hastened the end, and on 
the morning of September 19, 18 17, while the workmen were at break- 
fast, the buoyant piers tipped and broke apart, the uncompleted bridge 
fell in all directions, and the surface of the lake was covered with 
the wreckage. That fifty-four thousand feet of lumber had been used 
and the cost ran as high as thirteen thousand dollars is learned from a 
history of Shrewsbury, published in 1826 by Andrew H. Ward. 

In the spring of 1 8 1 8 another floating bridge which had been built 
on the ice along the west shore was towed into place. This bridge cost 
about six thousand dollars and, in 1826, was still well answering the 
purpose. 

Before the day of the railroad the old turnpike was ready to give 
up the struggle. Four and a half years before the opening of the 
Boston and Worcester Railroad, the corporation petitioned that its road 
between Kimball's Tavern in Needham and the Punch Bowl Tavern in 
Brookline might be taken off its hands; and a year later in January, 
1833, Middlesex County complied with the request as far as its juris- 
diction extended. Norfolk County also made the road free, except a 
portion in Needham adjacent to Newton Upper Falls. 

[165] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

The corporation was dissolved by the legislature March lo, 1841, 
and all of its road not previously thrown open was discontinued. Per- 
mission was given to Worcester and Shrewsbury, if they took over the 
bridge crossing Lake Quinsigamond, to collect tolls thereon under super- 
vision of the county commissioners, but whether they did or not has not 
been ascertained. 

Thus were left considerable sections of the old road which had no 
standing whatever, being discontinued as highways. The inhabitants 
of Framingham, in January, 1843, petitioned the county commissioners 
for a public dedication of the portion of the turnpike in their town, and 
in September of that year the westerly seven hundred and two rods of 
the Framingham portion became a county road. The Natick section 
had been so treated the year before and the short section remaining at 
Newton Upper Falls received the same degree in 1843 ^"d 1844. 
Worcester County took a hand in 1845 and laid out the road from 
Worcester to Lake Quinsigamond. 

The old Worcester Turnpike is known to-day as Boylston Street in 
Brookline and Newton; as Worcester Street in Wellesley and Natick; 
as Eastern Avenue in Framingham; as Belmont Street in Westboro and 
Worcester; while Southboro and Shrewsbury seem to know it by the 
name of Old Turnpike. For much of its length it is followed by the 
cars of the Boston and Worcester Street Railway. 

The passion for straight lines led this road apart from the previously 
beaten paths and it passed through no centers except that of Framing- 
ham. The prevailing impression at that time regarding turnpikes is 
echoed in the diary, kept by the author's grandmother during a journey 
which she took in 1829, the return being made over this road from 
Worcester to Boston. She wrote: "We rode principally on the turn- 
pike and did not see many villages." 



THE HOUSATONIC RIVER TURNPIKE 

Another project for connecting Hartford with the Hudson Valley 
was launched when the Housatonic River Turnpike Corporation was 
incorporated March 7, 1806. The road of this corporation connected 
with the road of a New York company, which led to Albany, at the 
state boundary near the northwest corner of West Stockbridge, and 
ran through West Stockbridge and Stockbridge to Stockbridge Center, 
whence it followed up the valley of the Housatonic River to the present 
East Lee Village, where It joined the road of the Tenth Massachusetts 
Corporation. 

The directors promptly entered petition with the Berkshire county 
court for a location for their road and a committee was at once ap- 
pointed, but progress was slow. In 1808 the land question was sub- 
mitted to a jury, and a year later the awards were made. In 1809, after 
[166] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

an alteration in the layout, the road was completed, accepted, and the 
location of the gates determined. 

The cost of the turnpike was given to the secretary of state as 
$16,647, which gives a proportion per mile of about $1260. A return 
was made in the year 18 18, only, which showed a net loss of $71.29. 
That the receipts were not satisfactory to the investors is plain from 
the fact that in 18 15 an act was secured from the legislature, allowing 
the collection of full tolls instead of fractional at the gate in Lee. That 
proving unsatisfactory, a general revision of gates and tolls was made 
by the act passed the next year. Two half-gates in West Stockbridge 
were moved so as to permit the erection of an additional half-gate in 
that town, which was to be " east of the road leading from Great Har- 
rington to the village of West Stockbridge." A new scale of collections 
at the Lee gate was given at length in the act, by which the former status 
of a half-gate was restored, although the allowed tolls became about 
twenty-five per cent higher than commonly authorized. 

The " History of the County of Berkshire," to which we have often 
referred, speaks of this turnpike as, by means of its connections, open- 
ing intercourse with Springfield, and states that it is a road " of great 
and increasing travel." 

Legislative permission was given in 1808 for a revision of the loca- 
tion, but it was expressly stated that no change was to be made at either 
end of the layout already made. Nevertheless the committee appointed 
for that purpose did make a change in the western end, at the New York 
line, and the court approved the same, and a compliant legislature, the 
next year, accepted the action and confirmed It. 

E. Kingsley entered a petition in 1837, in consequence of which the 
gates were ordered to be opened, probably until certain repairs had been 
made on the road. An act passed February 19, 1841, allowed the 
Berkshire county commissioners to throw open the western end of the 
road, but apparently they were not particularly keen to do this as no 
record of such action has been found, a suggestion which gains support 
when we read that in September, 1842, the commissioners dismissed 
a petition made by the corporation to have Its road discontinued. In 
July, 1 85 1, the company renewed Its effort to get rid of its road, but 
evidently without success, for we find another petition for a public lay- 
out made in July, 1853. As we do not find the road on the records 
again we conclude that the last is the date on which the road finally 
became free. 

The indications are that the old road was the original Albany Street 
and Stockbridge Street In West Stockbridge, but no name seems to 
follow It over the rest of its meanderings. 

A road having the precipitous Stockbridge and Deonkook Moun- 
tains across its path could not expect to adhere to the straight-line prin- 
ciple, and It is refreshing to find this turnpike winding in and out with 
some regard to resulting grades. 

[167] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE ALFORD AND EGREMONT TURNPIKE 

The Alford and Egremont Turnpike Corporation, March 13, 1806, 
was organized to build a road leading from the Twelfth Massachusetts 
Turnpike at South Egremont Village, northwesterly across the towns 
of Egremont and Alford to a connection with the New York corpora- 
tion's Hillsdale and Chatham Turnpike at the state line, passing through 
the villages of Egremont Plain and North Egremont. 

By a condition in its charter the company was required to divide with 
the Twelfth Massachusetts all tolls collected in the town of Alford, the 
Twelfth to have one fifth. This condition is hard to understand as the 
new road was to open a territory in which the Twelfth had not oper- 
ated, the nearest point in which was fully three and a half miles from 
any point on the road of the Twelfth, and, at this distance it looks like 
the price paid by the new venture to remove opposition by the old. But 
the onerous condition was cleverly evaded before the opening of the 
road by securing an innocent appearing act from the legislature, which 
allowed the erection of the gate in Egremont instead of in Alford, in 
consequence of which there were no tolls collected in the town of Alford. 

Between 1806 and 18 10 the company was busy with its legal prelimi- 
naries, and by 18 12 the road was in full operation, when certain roads 
in the two towns, made unnecessary by the building of the turnpike, were 
discontinued. 

The length of the road was about six miles, and the cost was returned 
as $8218.66, or about $1370 per mile. Returns were made of the 
operations for the first two years, showing net profits of $93 and $139 
respectively. 

Three quarters of a mile of the road was relocated in 1824, the act 
providing therefor giving the exact route by a surveyor's description. 

A bridge on this road was the cause of much concern to the patrons 
about 1839, and failing to convince the corporation of the possibility 
of accident they appealed to the county commissioners. That body 
decreed that, unless the bridge was put in safe condition by August 8, 
1839, the tollgate should be thrown open and no tolls collected, which 
action proved sufficient, for the record shows that the bridge was re- 
paired. The last record of this corporation is dated January, 1842, 
when one Forbes made petition to have the gate opened. This, we pre- 
sume, indicates the date at which the road became free. 

Tourists desiring to follow this road should proceed directly from 
South Egremont to Egremont Plain and then follow the road up the 
bank of the Green River to the New York line. 



[168] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



THE LANCASTER AND BOLTON TURNPIKE 

The road built by the Lancaster and Bolton Turnpike Corporation, 
under its charter granted March 13, 1806, was a small affair, but it 
seems to have filled a gap between two systems of good free roads. The 
location is noticeable because it extended from Jacob Fisher's in Lancas- 
ter to Jacob Fisher's in Bolton, and from the east end of Main Street 
in Lancaster to the west end of Main Street in Bolton. The road is 
known to-day as the " Seven Bridge Road," suggestive of the " straight 
line " disregarded for watercourses as well as hills. 

The Worcester County records show the location of this turnpike 
in 1806 " from Leominster road in Lancaster, through Bolton, to the 
County line," but the maps filed by the towns in 1830 show only about 
two and a half miles of turnpike between the limits as first stated, con- 
necting at the easterly end with the ancient " Great Road " to Boston. 
According to a paper in the Proceedings of the Fitchburg Historical 
Society the better grades on this road diverted a great deal of travel 
from the Union Turnpike. There seems to be good reason to believe 
that this was so, and it offers damaging evidence against the " straight 
line " obsession which was fatal to so many turnpikes. Over the Union 
and the Cambridge and Concord, turnpike improvements were offered 
all the way to Boston, but adherence to the " straight line " car- 
ried them, over so many hills that the old free roads through Stow, 
Sudbury, and Waltham were preferred. The principal lines of mail 
stages between Boston and Albany, through northwestern Massachu- 
setts, followed this route over the Lancaster and Bolton Turnpike until 
they were superseded by the railroad trains. 

Construction cost amounted to $6291.90, or about $2520 a mile, a 
figure which suggests that the Worcester record of the layout as ex- 
tending to the county line may be right after all. In that case the cost 
per mile would be reduced to about $900. But, as stated, the 1830 maps 
limit the road to two and a half miles, and no record has been found 
discontinuing any part of the turnpike prior to that date. 

The commissioners of Worcester County made the Lancaster and 
Bolton Turnpike a public road in 1847. 

Of the twelve turnpike charters, granted in. the year 1806 only two 
failed to result in a new road. The second of these was the Second 
Brush Hill Turnpike Corporation, chartered March 14, 1806. The 
road contemplated by this company was to form an extension toward 
Boston of the Brush Hill Turnpike which we have already noticed. It 
was to start at the easterly end of the Brush Hill and run thence in a 
straight line to Front Street in Boston. Front Street was the original 
name of Harrison Avenue, the change being made in 1841. Elaborate 
provisions were made for a bridge over theRoxbury Canal, the channel 

[169] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

by which it was hoped to make Roxbury a seaport, a draw being re- 
quired between twenty and thirty feet wide, which was to be opened 
without delay " except for pleasure boats.'" Although the time within 
which the road was to be built was ultimately extended for ten years 
no construction was ever done. 



THE WRENTHAM AND WALPOLE TURNPIKE 

After 175 1, at which time a new road was laid out by the town officials 
of Attleboro and Wrentham, connecting the old Boston Post Road, 
at a point near the upper end of the present North Attleboro Village, 
with the old Woonsocket Road near Wampum Station on the Wren- 
tham Branch of the New Haven Road, the main road from Boston to 
Providence passed through the centers of Norwood, Walpole, Wren- 
tham, and North Attleboro, along the lines of the present-day state 
highway. The Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike sought to divert travel 
from this route by building a road in a straight line from Norwood 
to North Attleboro, but the grades were steep, and the country un- 
productive, and travelers still held to the old lines. A seven-mile 
section of the old route led through wild woods and cedar swamps be- 
tween Walpole and Wrentham, and it is easy to imagine that the road 
was poor and soft. On March 12, 1806, the Wrentham and Walpole 
Turnpike Corporation was incorporated for the purpose of improving 
this part of the route. 

The general-law provision that five disinterested freeholders of the 
county should locate the road was brushed aside by the legislature two 
days later, when an act was passed providing that Eliphalet Loud, 
Elijah Crane, and Benjamin Randall should be the committee for that 
purpose. The location was made and damages were awarded and re- 
ported to the court in 1807. But some time elapsed without further 
action, and we find the company before the legislature of 1 8 1 1 asking 
for an extension of the time for completing the road. It was allowed 
until March 14, 18 12. Little seems to be known about the road. An 
old resident, one of the family which gave the name to Pondville, was 
once asked if that road was ever a toll road. After a brief hesitation 
he replied, " Yes, but it did n't last long." Norfolk County records 
show that it was laid out as a public highway in 1830. 

Anyone desiring to trace the old turnpike to-day should simply go 
from Wrentham to Walpole. There is but one road, and it cannot be 
missed, except in the edge of Walpole Center, where alterations due 
to grade-crossing abolitions have badly warped the original layout. 

THE STOUGHTON TURNPIKE 

The act incorporating the Stoughton Turnpike Corporation June 23, 
1806, is noteworthy for being the first one in which the judgment of the 
[170] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

persons investing the money is mentioned as a factor to determine the 
location of the road. This company was to build from a point in the 
" Old Bay Road " in Canton, about two miles beyond the westerly endt 
of the Brush Hill Turnpike, to a point on the Taunton and South Boston 
Turnpike in the town of Easton. It may be noted that the Taunton 
and South Boston, mentioned in this act, was incorporated a day later, 
and had no actual existence at the time, much less was there any such 
road. 

December 13, 1806, the five disinterested freeholders of Bristol 
County were appointed to locate the road, and in September, 1808, they 
reported, the section in Norfolk County being located at the same time. 
But work did not advance at once, and the company secured an extension 
of its time to June, 18 13. 

This turnpike is now the state highway known as Turnpike Street 
in Canton, and Washington Street in Stoughton and Easton. In its 
active days it offered a through route from Taunton to Roxbury, except 
for the two miles intervening between its northerly end and the end of 
the Brush Hill. At the southerly end, as stated, it connected with the 
Taunton and South Boston, which entered Taunton, and, by the con- 
struction of a later turnpike, through turnpike travel to Providence was 
provided. 

Such a franchise as that of the Stoughton Turnpike would be almost 
impossible to obtain at this time. It closely paralleled a direct route, 
half of which was already built or under construction, with the other 
half seeking incorporation and ready to proceed. It depended upon 
another company for entrance into Taunton and, by its connection, would 
take away one half of that company's through business. Evidently the 
principle of p^rotecting investments in public utilities was not then 
established. 

The Stoughton Turnpike Corporation was dissolved by act of the 
legislature in March, 1839, and its road was laid out as a county high- 
way in 1840, except a portion in Stoughton, which was so laid out in 
1856. 

THE TAUNTON AND SOUTH BOSTON TURNPIKE 

The Taunton and South Boston Turnpike Corporation was created 
by act of June 24, 1806, with the right to build a road 

from Taunton Green, so called, . . . nearly on a straight line to the crossway over 
the Great Cedar Swamp, so called, and from thence over said crossway near to the 
house of Joshua Gilmore in Easton, and from thence through the towns of Bridge- 
water and Stoughton, the most direct and convenient route to the Blue Hill 
Turnpike. 

Petitions entered late In 1806 resulted in the location of the road 
and in awards of damages during the year 1 807. The report of the com- 
mittee to locate the road and assess damages within the county of Bristol 

[171] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

is found in full on the records in Taunton, and gives some interesting 
data on a subject generally indefinite. 

The length of the road in that county was 9.11 miles, of which 3.08 
miles, or 333^0^ per cent, was built on land which the owners freely 
gave to the corporation. Twenty-three per cent of the right of way was 
obtained by purchase at an agreed price, details of which are not given; 
while, with the owners of 433?^ per cent of the needed land, no agree- 
ment could be reached, and the corporation was obliged to condemn the 
land and have the price fixed by the committee. That was done on 
twenty-nine parcels covering a length of twelve hundred and fifty-eight 
rods, on which the committee appraised the damage at a total of $2009. 
The corporation through a director, Samuel Fales, appealed from two 
of the awards and succeeded in obtaining a total reduction of twenty- 
five dollars. Thus, from the figures actually available, we see that the 
right of way in Bristol County cost about $505 a mile, or at the rate 
of about $63 an acre. 

Two hundred and seventy-five rods of the way was through the Great 
Cedar Swamp, which occupies portions of Bridgewater, West Bridge- 
water, Easton, Raynham, and Taunton, swinging in a big semicircle 
northerly and westerly from Nippenicket Pond in Bridgewater to 
Scadding Pond in Taunton. The cedar swamps of southeastern Massa- 
chusetts plainly were not designed for road building. The straight, 
slender cedars grow so thickly that only the fittest survive, and the ones 
that die are so tightly wedged in the living mass that they cannot fall, 
but continue to stand, ghostlike, greatly increasing the difficulty of cut- 
ting a way through. One may walk at one moment on firm soil and 
then suddenly step through a hole so deep that the length of his leg does 
not locate the bottom. Soundings have determined the hard bottom in 
several of these swamps to be anywhere from six inches to thirty feet 
below the surface, with water almost always within the depression made 
by a footstep. The surface Is composed of a network of large roots, 
generally so thickly woven that the soil Is held between them, but always 
liable to yield through a larger hole when a careless foot marks Its 
center. Through such an inferno the builders of the Taunton and South 
Boston Turnpike had the courage to make .86 mile of their road. And 
it was the obstacle presented by this cedar swamp to the building of 
earlier roads which gave the opportunity for a turnpike to be built 
where public funds could not be applied. 

Enough has already been said concerning the through route from 
Taunton to Boston offered by this road and its connections, the Blue 
Hill and the Dorchester. The junction with the Blue Hill was made in 
the northerly part of the town of Randolph at what is now the corner 
of North Main and High streets. Thence this turnpike followed the 
roads now known as High Street in Randolph, Turnpike Street in 
Stoughton, Pearl Street in Brockton, Turnpike Street in Easton, and 
Broadway In Raynham and Taunton. 
[172] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

A tollhouse long stood in Raynham, near the Taunton line, where it 
stood so many years ago in an official capacity. Respected for its old 
associations it was allowed to remain, even through state highway im- 
provement, and pushed its clapboards close to the macadamized portion 
until the road had been free for over sixty years. 

Twenty-one and a half miles were built at a cost of $34,434.61, or 
about $1600 a mile. Returns were made to the state house from 18 10 
to 1849, as shown on the chart herewith. The showing is remarkably 
poor, the gross earnings never running as high as three per cent, while 
the expenses were generally close to them and often in excess. 

An act passed in 18 17 shows that this road suffered, too, from 
" shunpikers," for a penalty is there laid for all practicing such evasions. 

Kingman's "History of North Bridgewater " (Brockton) testifies 
that at one time there was a heavy travel over this road, both of freight 
and passengers. 

April I, 1 8 13, Joshua Gilmore, agent for the corporation, made ap- 
peal to the court. The selectmen of Easton had laid out a new road, 
taking some of the corporation's land, refusing any compensation there- 
for. The records show that a jury summoned by Ablezer Dean, 
coroner, found for the corporation in the sum of $23.17 and costs. 

The Taunton and South Boston Turnpike became a public road 
throughout its length in 185 1. 

The Lancaster Turnpike Corporation, February 18, 1807, proposed 
to build over twenty-five miles of road from Fitchburg to Sudbury but 
never carried out its plans. In the act of Incorporation it was specified 
that, for affecting the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike, the company must 
erect a gate and tollhouse within two miles of the westerly terminus of 
its road and let the management of the Fifth collect and keep the tolls. 

February 28, 1807, the Stockbridge Turnpike Corporation was in- 
corporated to build a short road 

through the town of Stockbridge, so as to stand connected with " The Housatonic 
River Turnpike," and " The Fifteenth Massachusetts Turnpike." 

A committee to locate this road was duly appointed In Berkshire 
County, but probably nothing further was accomplished. 

We have already seen that the Fifteenth Massachusetts had a fran- 
chise to build to the southerly line of Stockbridge, but gave up the last 
three quarters of a mile of its location on account of an excellent public 
road which continued the journey to Stockbridge, so there seems to have 
been little encouragement for this proposition. 

February 28, 1807, the Sheffield and Great Barrlngton Turnpike 
Corporation was formed to build over twenty-one miles of road from 
the south line of Sheffield to the northerly part of West Stockbridge, but 

[173] 





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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

apparently the franchise was never used. No records whatever have 
been found, and since it was designed to lay the road between two 
parallel and active turnpikes, the Fifteenth Massachusetts and the 
Twelfth, which were only about five miles apart, it is easy to believe 
that second thought showed the futility of the idea. 

The Mashapog Turnpike Corporation, June 19, 1807, vainly hoped 
to build a road from the meeting-house in the town of Norton to a 
point near the end of the Brush Hill Turnpike. As stated before this 
same route had been granted to the Norton Turnpike Corporation less 
than a year and a half before. The route desired by these two com- 
panies has never been one of importance and cannot be said now to be 
even of local importance, but Norton, years ago, had some manufactur- 
ing ambitions, and the need of an outlet for its products to Boston may 
have been imagined. 

Another hope which did not end in fruition was that of the Westford 
and Lexington Turnpike Corporation, also incorporated June 19, which 
was to build from the southerly part of Westford to the meeting-house 
in Lexington. It evidently was intended as a link in a system by which 
to reach Milford, New Hampshire, entering Boston over the Middle- 
sex, while another company, incorporated later, was to extend to the 
New Hampshire line. 

Another product of the nineteenth of June was the Bethlehem and 
Tyringham Turnpike Corporation. This company proposed a road to 
run from the Tenth Massachusetts in Bethlehem to the county road 
between Stockbridge and Great Barrington. It would have been at least, 
fifteen miles long, over an exceedingly rough and hilly country, and 
the route would have closely paralleled that of the Housatonic River 
Turnpike. A committee was appointed by the Berkshire court in 1808 
to locate the road, but no further records appear. This, also, we have 
to include among those not built. 

Bethlehem became a part of Loudon in 1809 and Loudon became 
Otis in 1 8 10. 

No better fortune attended the Alford and West Stockbridge Turn- 
pike Corporation, created on June 20, 1807. Its franchise covered 
from the line of Hillsdale, New York, to the Housatonic River Turn- 
pike in Stockbridge, and its location was determined by the five disin- 
terested Berkshire freeholders in 1808. No further records appear and 
no returns were ever filed; and the map filed in 1830 by the town of 
Stockbridge, which essayed to show the turnpikes in that town, does not 
record the existence of such a one as this. Nor is there a road in ex- 
istence to-day which leads us to another belief than that the Alford and 
West Stockbridge was never built. This belief is strengthened by the 

[175] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

incorporation, in 1818, of the West Stockbridge and Alford Turnpike 
Corporation with a franchise covering practically the same route, which 
certainly indicates that the first company did not build. 

The road proposed by the Dalton and Middlefield Turnpike Corpo- 
ration was a real need, but the difficulties of construction were too great 
for the design to be carried into execution. The Eighth Massachusetts 
had already received a charter to build between the same terminals, but 
its route, through the northerly part of Becket, was too rough and con- 
struction was never attempted. The substitute route, offered by the 
Becket Turnpike, was too roundabout a way to reach Pittsfield from 
Springfield, and hope of a better line was exploited in the franchise of 
the Dalton and Middlefield, chartered June 20, 1807. But the route 
selected by this company was too difficult for the means of that time, 
and the road was never built. Not until the discovery of the pass 
through which the Westfield River makes its way between Becket and 
Middlefield, and its feasibility for a road, was this dream to be real- 
ized. It came many years after in the building of the Pontoosuc 
Turnpike. 

The charter of the Sturbridge and Western Turnpike Corporation, 
granted June 20, 1807, was a variation from the usual practice, as the 
company was allowed to vary its route from a straight line if necessary. 
But even that privilege did not enable the promoters to get their road 
on the map. The plan was to open a route from Providence to the First 
Massachusetts Turnpike in the town of Western, now Warren. 

The first charter granted by the legislature of 1808 shared the fate 
of all of the vintage of 1807. The Nashua Turnpike Corporation, 
created February 8, was to build from the house of Deacon John White, 
which stood where now is the westerly end of the Colonial Inn in 
Concord, through Acton, Littleton, and Groton, to Shirley; and by an 
amendment granted June 10, 1808, through Ashby and Ashburnham 
to the New Hampshire line. None of it was ever built. It would have 
made a through route, in connection with the Cambridge and Concord, 
from Boston to southern New Hampshire and to towns in the Connecti- 
cut Valley. 

THE HINGHAM AND QUINCY TURNPIKE 

Prior to the construction of the road of the HIngham and Quincy 
Bridge and Turnpike Corporation with its bridges, travelers between 
those towns were obliged to go around the heads of Weymouth Fore 
and Back rivers, over Paine's Hill and through Braintree, finding them- 
selves at the end of the trip only about half as far from the starting 
point as the distance they had covered. The corporation which was to 
remedy this difficulty was created by act of March 5, 1808, after a most 
[176] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

spirited opposition from representatives of the shipping interests and 
from residents of the section which expected to be left on one side if 
the new road was built. Most conspicuous In the opposition was MInot 
Thayer, who has been mentioned as " one of the most permanent and 
active members of the legislature," and under whose leadership his 
home town of Braintree made a strong protest. It is difficult, at this 
time, to understand the fear caused by the proposition to erect bridges 
across the rivers named, especially when it is borne In mind that they 
were to be equipped as drawbridges. But it seems to have been gener- 
ally accepted that such bridges would constitute a public nuisance, and 
even the people living on the land joined in the objections. Such strength 
In the hostile forces could not be altogether overcome, and before the 
passage of the act of incorporation the petitioners had to consent to 
three conditions : 

1 . Payment to all vessels which passed the draw. 

2. After 25 years and within 27 years the bridges might be removed as common 
nuisances. 

3. No land to be taken until payment was made or tendered. 

The third condition was but a just one and is practically what is now re- 
quired of railroads under the general law. The second may have 
seemed harsh, as it contemplated the summary removal of the bridges 
at the end of twenty-five years, but the natural developments within that 
time made this condition a dead letter. But the first condition was a 
real burden and was most unjustly borne by the company for twenty 
years. 

The section of the act of incorporation which prescribed this oner- 
ous condition required that the bridge at Fore River should have " a 
suitable drawer " not less than thirty-four feet wide, and the Back River 
Bridge, one not less than twenty-four feet. The payments were to be 
made to the master of each loaded vessel 

of more than fifteen tons burthen that shall pass through said Drawers respectively, 
for the purpose of unloading her cargo, three cents a ton for each and every ton, 
said vessel shall measure. 

It may well be queried, even by residents of the neighborhood of 
these bridges, what navigable streams of such great importance the Fore 
and Back rivers could be. A glance at the map will hardly explain the 
matter, for there one will see but two crooked salt-water creeks pene- 
trating hardly two miles inland, and the reader must bear in mind that 
the turnpike was yet In Its Infancy and that the early colonial dependence 
upon water transportation had not yet been displaced. To the Inhabi- 
tants of the town of Weymouth and of the adjoining parts of Braintree 
and Hingham these water routes must have seemed indispensable for 
the transport of their products to the markets of Boston. A suggestion 
of the extent of the commerce on these rivers Is found in the returns 
made by the corporation. It appears from the payments which were 

[177] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

made that 14,308 tons passed the two bridges in 1818; 18,006 tons in 
1 819; while, in 1824, 11,612 tons sailed Fore River and 2408 tons were 
warped through the draw of the Back River Bridge. 

In 1909 the United States Navy Department acquired the land along 
the easterly shore of Back River for a naval supply base, not anticipating 
serious disadvantages from the presence of a drawbridge below. But 
navigation had so fallen away from the old river that an antiquated 
form of draw was then in use which, it was said, only yielded to the 
combined strength of eight men, so the old bridge and its draw soon 
gave way to one more satisfactory to the navy's demands. 

Fore River Bridge has long had a modern opening, through which 
pass many vessels bearing supplies and raw materials for the great ship- 
building yards to which the river has lent its name, while it opens from 
time to time to let out a recently launched " mistress of the seas " or an 
unromantic " malasses tanker." 

But the corporation found that its troubles were not over with the 
securing of its franchise. It has been noted that of the ten turnpike 
corporations incorporated next preceding this one not one did any con- 
struction, and most of the companies seeking to build at this time were 
obliged to apply to the legislature for an extension of their time. The 
Hingham and Quincy felt the hard times with the others ^nd was a long 
time in raising the necessary money, but enough had been secured by 
February 3, 18 12, to justify holding the first meeting and developing 
the general plans, and the first ground was broken in Weymouth on 
June 3 of that year. 

At an early meeting of the board of directors it was voted to hire 
a superintendent, who should be paid seven shillings six pence a day. 
He was " to superintend the men and to work on the road to the best 
of his ability." Authority was given him to hire six men at a dollar 
a day, and seventeen more at twenty-two dollars a month. They voted 
to buy a scraper and a yoke of oxen and get ready to tear things gen- 
erally. A local builder contracted to erect the tollhouse at the Back 
River Bridge for five hundred dollars. 

Several committees were appointed to solicit subscriptions to the stock 
of the corporation, and one committee was intrusted with the single duty 
of so presenting the advantages of the- enterprise to Reverend Henry 
Coleman of Hingham as to induce him to give his aid and influence to 
the undertaking. 

Five miles of road, with two bridges of great magnitude for those 
days, were completed by November 19, 1812, on which day the courts 
of Norfolk and Plymouth formally accepted the road and allowed it 
to open for business. The cost was returned as twenty-four thousand 
dollars, but, on account of the two bridges, cannot be proportioned by 
miles. 

On the opening day Mrs. John Adams, wife of the second president 
of the United States, wrote : 
[178] 






*''X 



^■^'M 



tm 



^-<4- 



|j ,_;Mii!5i.. 



t» 





Plate XLIX — MapofBoston at the Beginning or the Turnpike Era, 1795 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

At twelve o'clock called for cousin Smith, by previous engagement, to accompany 
me to the bridge at Quincy Point being the first day of passing it. The day was 
pleasant; the scenery delightful. Passed both bridges and entered Hingham. Re- 
turned before three o'clock. 

Much more might have been expressed on the subject of making a com- 
plete journey between twelve and three which previously had required 
the greater part of a day. 

The next Issue of the Columbian Centinel, November 21, 18 12, 
announced : 

The Hingham and Quincy Turnpike Road which shortens the distance between 
the two towns nearly one half — presenting the finest of views, and the most delight- 
ful ride in the vicinity of Boston, is now open for the accommodation of the public. 

Through the first winter the Plymouth mall stage was allowed free 
passage over the new turnpike, but, April i, 18 13, that came under toll 
requirements also. 

The bugbear of the drawbridge 'did not materialize, but the fear 
died hard, and It was not until 1832 that It disappeared entirely. By 
that time the benefits of the road and bridges and the rights of travelers 
by land had become so well established that the legislature on March 12, 
1832, repealed the unjust provision, and relieved the corporation from 
further payments to masters of vessels. The company had made fre- 
quent efforts In previous years to obtain relief from this condition, and 
we learn from Nash's " History of Weymouth " that that town, in 
meeting on April 21, 1820, voted to appoint a committee to oppose the 
petition which had been made for that purpose. 

In the fifty years of the turnpike's operation but two accidents oc- 
curred, the first In 1824, for which Benjamin S. Williams recovered 
one thousand dollars, and the second In 1844, when Reverend Thomas 
Whittemore was paid one hundred and fifty dollars. 

A notable record of long service is shown by this company. The 
office of president was filled by Martin Fearing of Hingham for the 
forty-three years between 1820 and 1863; Lemuel Bracket of Quincy 
performed the duties of clerk for one year less from 1813 to 1855; and 
Thomas Cushing commenced his duties as toll gatherer November 20, 
181 8, only to relinquish them when the road and bridges became free 
July 4, 1864. Upon the dissolution of the corporation a gift of thirty 
dollars was voted to him. 

Returns of business done were made by this company from 1824 to 
the end of Its existence, as shown on the chart which Is here reproduced. 
The receipts did not drop off as abruptly upon the advent of railroad 
competition as did those of other companies. But that the management 
feared such a result appears from an Item of $84.08 for legislative ex- 
penses In 1845, "remonstrating against Railroad Petitions." A most 
noticeable drop may be seen In the expenses following the year 1833, 
when payments to masters of vessels ceased. The gross earnings of the 
Hingham and Quincy seem to have generally run from eight to twelve 

[179] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

per cent of the cost of the road, with the expenditures far enough below 
in most years to yield a fair dividend. But it must be remembered that 
this was more of a bridge proposition than a turnpike, and bridges were 
usually more profitable. 

The legislature of i860 provided for the laying out of this turnpike 
and bridges as a public highway by the county commissioners, if the 
corporation consented; but evidently consent was not forthcoming, for 
we find more drastic action two years later. April 30, 1862, the great 
and general court peremptorily laid it out as, and decreed that it should 
become on the fourth day of the next July, a public highway, except that 
the selectmen of the three towns were to collect tolls on the two bridges 
for two years more. As all the gates maintained by the corporation 
were the ones on the two bridges, matters were not much improved until 
the two years had passed. 

As the legislature did not provide any compensation for the taking 
away of the corporation's franchise and property, the supreme court, 
upon the company's appeal, appointed three commissioners who awarded 
damages to the amount of $17,810.15. In the final distribution of this 
amount each stockholder received $106.75 ^^^ ^^ch share of stock, 
this being the only case, as far as is now known, in which the original 
investment was recovered. 

In accordance with the above-mentioned act, the road and bridge 
passed into the control of the town officials July 4, 1862, and became 
free of all tolls July 4, 1864. 

The last echo of the company's affairs was heard In 1870, when the 
legislature enacted that the governor should appoint commissioners to 
determine which towns, and in what proportion, should bear the ex- 
pense of laying out the Hingham and Quincy turnpike and bridges. 

To-day the turnpike serves the public along the same old routes but 
without recompense. As Beal Street it is known in Hingham; as Bridge 
Street in Weymouth; and as Washington Street in Quincy. 

A history of the turnpike was published in the Quincy Patriot in 
February, 1864, from which several of the foregoing items were 
obtained. 

THE HUDSON TURNPIKE 

We have already seen that the road of the Housatonic River Com- 
pany terminated at the northwest corner of the town of West Stock- 
bridge, where it connected with a New York turnpike which continued 
the journey to Albany. There was another New York turnpike which 
came to its end at the West Stockbridge line, but a mile south of the 
junction made by the Housatonic River. This was the Hudson Turn- 
pike, and it came from the town on the river of the same name, and at 
its terminus found itself with an intervening distance of about two and a 
half miles In West Stockbridge from an Improved road or Important 

[181] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

center. So the Hudson Turnpike Corporation was chartered March 8, 
1808, possibly by the owners of the New York company, to build 

from the bridge at Thayer's Mills in West Stockbridge ... to the west line of this 
Commonwealth, in the same town ... in the most convenient place to accommo- 
date the public travel. 

As the road thus contemplated was only about two and a half miles 
in length, it does not seem probable that a separate corporation was 
financed for the purpose of building it, and on account of the similarity 
of their names it seems justifiable to assume that the Massachusetts 
Hudson company and the New York company of the same designation 
were children of the same financial parents. But if so; difficulties must 
have been encountered in administering the affairs of the two companies 
jointly, for the Massachusetts Hudson Turnpike became practically a 
part of the Housatonic River, and was treated and considered as a 
branch of that road. 

The Hudson Turnpike was located, built, and accepted in Berkshire 
County in 1808, and apparently was the road which to-day leads from 
West Stockbridge almost due west, passing south of Crane Pond to the 
New York line. 

It was laid out as a public highway, in connection with the Housatonic 
River Turnpike, in 1853. 

The Dartmouth and New Bedford Turnpike Corporation secured 
an act March 9, 1808, under authority of which it might have built a 
road seven hundred and ninety-two rods long from New Bedford to the 
village of Apponegansett, but there is no reason to believe that such a 
road was ever built. 

March 9 must have been assigned for consideration of New Bed- 
ford's interests, for the Middleboro and New Bedford Turnpike 
Corporation was enacted into life also on that day. This road was to 
run from Middleboro, " eastward of the long pond," to the head 
of the Acushnet River in New Bedford. Although there is a much- 
traveled road over this route, it follows the old road which has never 
known a gate, for the turnpike charter was allowed to lapse. Had such 
a turnpike been built it would have materially improved the business of 
the New Bedford and Bridgewater, for it would have met that road at 
its southerly terminus and given it a direct and improved connection with 
New Bedford. 

Two acts of incorporation were passed March 12, 1808, one forming 
the Brookfield and Charlton Turnpike Corporation, and the other, the 
Providence and Northampton Turnpike Corporation. The first evi- 
dently contemplated connection with a Rhode Island road so as to form 
a through route from Providence to Brookfield, Massachusetts; and the 
second was to form part of an interstate system running through Rhode 
[182] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, between the cities indicated in 
the corporate name. Neither of these seems to have ever carried out 
its plans, although the Brookfield and Charlton did have its road located 
by a Worcester County committee In 1808. 

THE DOUGLAS, SUTTON, AND OXFORD TURNPIKE 

The last act passed in 1808 incorporated the Douglas, Sutton, and 
Oxford Turnpike Corporation June 10. This company spent $6256.26 
in the construction of about eleven miles of road, or at the rate of about 
$570 per mile. By its charter it was authorized to commence its road 
at Douglas Center and run thence through the extreme southwesterly 
corner of Sutton, and into Oxford as far as the county road near where 
the Central Turnpike was later built; but the committee appointed by 
the Worcester court saw fit to amend the act of the legislature and 
proceeded to locate the road from a point on the Rhode Island line, 
where the Providence and Douglas Turnpike of Rhode Island termi- 
nated. From that point the road ran straight, in continuation of the 
line of the Providence and Douglas, for about five miles to Douglas 
Center; thence over the line of the present Northwest Main Street, 
winding around the easterly shore of Whiting's Pond in Douglas, and 
through Sutton, and into Oxford, as already explained. 

Only once did this company file a return, and that. In 1812, gave only 
the gross receipts, which were $186.47, — about three per cent on the 
cost of the road. 

Daniels, in his " History of Oxford," mentions this road, but only 
to state that It was finished In 18 10, and thrown open to the public in 
1834, which latter date is also found on the Worcester County records. 

We have already noticed In connection with the Westford and Lex- 
ington a plan to open a turnpike route from Boston to Mllford, New 
Hampshire. This was to use the Middlesex as far as what is now 
Arlington Heights and to continue on the Westford and Lexington, after 
a short distance over a good public road. Between Westford and 
Groton, apparently, the public road was good enough, but on March 3, 
1809, the Groton and Pepperell Turnpike Corporation was created to 
complete the route to the New Hampshire line. There must have been 
a great deal of prospective trade In that section of New Hampshire, for 
we have noted several turnpikes built with their gates at right angles to 
that direction, and many more that expired before maturity. As we 
have seen, the Westford and Lexington did not build its road. Neither 
did the Groton and Pepperell. 

Holland, In his " History of Western Massachusetts," gives some 
space to the Eleventh Massachusetts Turnpike, but as we have stated 
in the section devoted to that corporation, it does not appear that any 

[183] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

road was built by that company. Especially do we feel that such Is the 
case, because on June 20, 1809, the Granville Turnpike Corporation 
was formed and granted the privilege of a route almost word for word 
the same as that granted to the Eleventh, and stated to be 

in the same course and direction in which the road of the Eleventh Massachusetts 
Turnpike Corporation was lately located. . . . 

Hence we feel justified in asserting that the Eleventh Massachusetts 
was not built, although a committee made its location and awarded 
damages to property owners along the line, as appears by the records 
in Springfield and Northampton. 

It is doubtful If the Granville Turnpike Corporation ever did any 
construction either. No records have been found of any location or 
public layout, and no returns to the secretary of state were ever made. 
There was an old road following the same route, much of which the 
turnpike proposed to utilize, and over this road there was much early 
travel. It is mentioned by Sumner Gilbert Wood In his entertaining 
" Taverns and Turnpikes of Blandford," as the regular route from 
Blandford to Hartford, and on which stood the famous old hostelry of 
" Squire Stowe," In the northerly part of Granville. This old tavern had 
two distinctions, — it was painted white and had two stories, which 
made it a mark of Interest for miles around. 

In 1 8 12, three years after Its act of incorporation, the Granville 
Corporation secured from the legislature a modification of the require- 
ment as to width of its road, having the same reduced from twenty-four 
to eighteen feet. This clearly indicates two things: that the road had 
not then been even commenced, and that the promoters were finding it 
diflicult to raise money. We are open to conviction, but so far we be- 
lieve the road was never built as a turnpike. 

Three turnpike propositions were given a chance in the year 18 10, 
but not one of them fulfilled the expectations. The first was entitled the 
Boston Neck Turnpike Corporation, and was Incorporated on the third 
of March. The road of this company was to run from the corner of 
Suffolk and Lenox streets In Boston to " the angle of the old road, 
westerly of Walt's Mills In Roxbury." This route Is interesting because 
it would have run diagonally through the most congested part of the 
present Boston South End, cutting through Madison Square, the only 
breathing place in that section. According to the assessors' valuations 
for the year 19 15, a route along those lines, four rods wide, would cost 
about $1,500,000, but, in 1810, the road builders would have wrought 
their tvirnpike over muddy flats and tidal swamps, with hardly an acre 
of appreciable value. 

Suffolk Street was the name given, on paper, to a street which was 
proposed along the lines of the modern Shawmut Avenue, ^ while Lenox 
Street was an accurate forerunner of what later really appeared. 

' Record of Streets, City of Boston, 1910. 
[184] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Wait's Mills, in Roxbury, was a historic site, there having been a 
mill there for the grinding of grain since 1633, when Richard Dummer 
established the industry. Following the expulsion of the founder from 
the colony on account of his unorthodox religious views, the Pierpont 
family owned and operated the mill for more than a century, after which 
Samuel Wait acquired the plant early in the nineteenth century.^ The 
mill was driven by water power from Stony Brook, and stood on the 
ancient Cambridge Road, later the Worcester Turnpike, about where 
the police station at Roxbury Crossing now frowns upon evildoers. 
When the Boston and Providence Railroad was located the surveys 
started from this same. Wait's Mills, of which not a suggestion exists 
to-day. Stony Brook itself has disappeared, being now carried for sev- 
eral miles in an underground conduit, through which it flows for the 
balance of its journey after reaching Forest Hills. 

The object of this turnpike effort was clearly to relieve the congestion 
which must have existed, even at that early date, on Washington Street, 
the only free road into Boston, and the only road of any kind over which 
travelers from the westerly part of Dorchester, Roxbury, West Rox- 
bury, Dedham, or Brookline could enter the town. 

This turnpike would have been only fifty-seven hundred feet long, 
and the low rate of tolls which could have been exacted for so short a 
distance could never have paid a dividend on the expensive cost of 
construction. Then, too, there were plans already prepared for the 
extension of streets throughout this section, and the opportunities for 
" shunpiking " would have been too many within a few years. It is 
quite possible that this project was fostered by the Worcester Turnpike 
Corporation, as it would have given that road a better entrance to 
Boston, and relieved it of the troublesome section over the ancient road. 

On the same day the Worcester and Sutton Turnpike Corporation 
was given the privilege of building a turnpike in the town of Sutton, to 
connect over an existing county road, with Worcester. Just where this 
company expected to build is not clear to one not acquainted with the 
residents of Sutton a century ago, and since we have the authority of 
Lincoln's " History of Worcester " that the road was never commenced, 
we will not delve deeper into the question. 

Among the few writers who have touched upon turnpikes the ex- 
pressions of the " mania " or " craze " for turnpike investments have 
been almost stereotyped. While such expressions are unjust if generally 
applied, it must be admitted that any money Invested in the Woburn 
Turnpike Road and Dracut Bridge Corporation, chartered March 6, 
1 8 10, could have been attributed to such emotions. The gentlemen 
behind this enterprise proposed to build about sixteen miles of road, 
with an extensive and costly bridge over the Merrimac River, to tap 

1 "The Town of Roxbury," Francis S. Drake. 

[185] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

that El Dorado of turnpike promoters, the southern part of New Hamp- 
shire. Such a charter would never be issued to-day, both on account 
of the protection accorded to public utilities already established, and the 
paternalism which does not allow useless projects to be exploited on the 
public. 

As a turnpike proposition alone it would not have been advisable, for 
it reached for the same region that was already served by the Middle- 
sex and by the Essex turnpikes, and proposed to practically parallel 
those two roads at a distance of about five miles from each, while the 
total business was not enough to repay the investments already made. 
But in addition to the turnpike it was proposed to build a bridge which 
the legislature required should be at least twenty-two feet wide, and 
which should have one clear span of not less than one hundred and ten 
feet over the channel of the river. 

Evidently somebody had faith in the project for It was kept alive, by 
successive acts extending the time limit, until February, 1823, when 
it finally lapsed. 

The Tyringham and Sandlsfield Turnpike Corporation was incorpo- 
rated February 12, 1811, to open communication between the Housa- 
tonic River Turnpike in Lee and the center of Sandlsfield, passing 
through Lee, Tyringham, Otis, and Sandlsfield. The location was duly 
made, according to the Berkshire records, In 18 12, but no other records 
have been found. The incorporation of the Clam River Turnpike 
Corporation thirty years later, with a route practically the same as the 
one granted this company, shows that the need of improved roads in 
that section had not been met, and confirms our belief that the Tyring- 
ham and Sandlsfield is another of the " never-was " class. 



THE GREAT BARRINGTON AND ALFORD TURNPIKE 

One other company, the Great Barrington and Alford Turnpike 
Corporation, was incorporated In 181 1 on June 25. This company 
apparently built its road from the county road at the northerly end of 
the Fifteenth Massachusetts Turnpike, in Great Barrington, to the New 
York line, circling around the easterly and southerly side of Monument 
Mountain, and running westerly by Jacob Van Deusen's house, and 
south of Long Pond, and far enough Into Alford to enable it to turn 
a corner In that town; thence southwesterly across the town of Egre- 
mqnt, passing through North Egremont Village and south of Prospect 
Lake, and heading, at Its westerly terminus, for the village of Hudson 
on the Hudson River in the state of New York. 

The road described was about nine and a half miles in length, and 
cost, according to the return at the state house, $8798.71, or about 
$925 a mile. The location was made and the road built In 18 12, accord- 
[186] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

ing to the Berkshire records, and an old road was discontinued as a 
public highway on account of the turnpike having absorbed it. 

Returns of business done were filed for one year only, 1815, in 
which year the net earnings were $169.41, or a trifle less than two per 
cent on the cost of the road. 

A portion of the turnpike in Great Barrington was made free on 
petition of the corporation, April 26, 1831, the balance becoming a part 
of the public road system in 1846. Apparently the corporation was not 
the moving party at the latter date, for the records show that It made 
petition for a jury to estimate the compensation to be awarded it for the 
loss of its privileges. The petition was refused and the Great Barring- 
ton and Alford passed into public management. 

Only one ambition was given a chance In 18 12, that being the hope 
of the Worcester and Leicester Turnpike Corporation, which was 
launched on the twenty-ninth of February. The contemplated road was 
to connect the adjoining towns named, and would have been but a short 
one. To the observer looking backward this appears to have been a 
promising scheme, but we have the assurance of Lincoln's " History of 
Worcester " that construction was never commenced. 

The lone effort of 18 13 fared no better, for the Taunton and Dlgh- 
ton Turnpike Corporation, created February 27, has left no record of 
any work accomplished. This company proposed more than Its name 
Indicates, for it was the intention to build a road from Taunton to 
Warren, Rhode Island, " so far as this Commonwealth extends." Evi- 
dently there has never been a crying need for a road along such lines, 
for none has yet been built, but so many of the turnpikes are to-day 
grass-grown paths that we will not offer that in criticism of the pro- 
jectors of the Taunton and DIghton. 

The Sixteenth Massachusetts, incorporated In 1803, had made a 
long-continued effort to build Its road, a location having been asked and 
granted as late as 18 12. But apparently hope had given out, for we 
find the Granville and Tolland Turnpike Corporation allowed, on June 
13, 1 8 14, to build a road "on the route which the Sixteenth Massachu- 
setts Turnpike Corporation contemplated," etc. 

The route proposed by these two companies extended from that part 
of West Springfield which is now Agawam, through Southwick, Gran- 
ville, and Tolland, to a junction with the road of the Fifteenth Massa- 
chusetts in Sandlsfield. The Sixteenth, however, had the right to go a 
little farther and to reach the Twelfth Massachusetts Turnpike In 
Sheffield. 

The difficulties which prevented the building of the Sixteenth were 
great enough to have the same effect upon the Granville and Tolland, 
for we find no record of anything being done by that company. 

[187J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Up to this time the territorial rights of any established company, 
when protected at all, had been guarded by a provision requiring a 
division of tolls with the invaded road, but in the charter of the Wren- 
tham and Attleboro Turnpike Corporation, granted June 14, 18 14, 
a new method was adopted. This company was to build a road from 
Wrentham meeting-house to the line of Cumberland, Rhode Island, and 
it was forbidden to build 

in any place east of an air line from the meeting-house in said first parish in 
Wrentham, to the west side of the dwelling-house of John Fales, in the west corner 
of Attleborough. 

The line described practically paralleled the Norfolk and Bristol Turn- 
pike at a distance of a little less than two miles, and on its westerly side. 
No road was ever built under this charter. 



THE MILL DAM 

Although not a turnpike corporation, the Boston and Roxbury Mill 
Corporation, chartered June 14, 18 14, had authority to do a turnpike 
business on the mill dam which it was to construct, and it did operate 
one of the most important toll roads for many years. 

This corporation was organized primarily for the purpose of im- 
pounding the tidal waters in the basin known as the Back Bay, which 
lay on the westerly side of the original Boston peninsular, and by draw- 
ing off the same during low-water periods, to derive power for manu- 
facturing purposes. To accomplish this the corporation was authorized 
to build a dam from the present corner of Beacon and Charles streets, 
in Boston, to the upland in Brookline at Sewalls' Point, with two other 
dams tending to turn the water through the sluices provided in the main 
dam. This latter was to be not less than forty-two feet wide on the top, 
and was to be provided with locks sufficient in size to pass rafts of logs 
and lumber containing not over ten thousand feet. The capitalization 
of the corporation was not to be over two million dollars. 

The turnpike provision was found in section three of the act of in- 
corporation, which read: 

_ Be it further enacted, That the said Corporation shall have power to make and 
finish the dam, in this Act first mentioned and connect the different parts thereof 
by bridges and causeways, so as to render the same a good and substantial road, suit- 
able for the passing of men, loaded teams, carts, and carriages of all kinds, and shall 
open a road not more than eighty feet and not less than forty-two feet wide, from 
some point of said Dam, where it crosses the marshes in Brookline, to the end of the 
Worcester Turnpike, near the Punch Bowl Tavern, so called, in said Brookline, 
which road shall be made in a straight line, as nearly as can be done with conven- 
ience; and when the road on said Dam shall be finished, railed at the sides, and 
furnished with lamps to the satisfaction of the Selectmen of Boston, the said Cor- 
poration may receive toll for passing over the same, at the same rate which is now 
granted to the Proprietors of the West Boston Bridge. 
[188] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

A provision that no tolls should be collected until two of the dams were 
completed was amended two years later, when it was enacted that toll 
might be collected whenever either of the dams was finished sufficiently 
to yield a power equal to that required to turn twenty pair of common 
millstones, one half of which power was to be actually in use. 

" Boston's Growth," a pamphlet published by the State Street Trust 
Company, tells us that work was commenced on the main dam in June, 
1814, but Winship's "Historical Brighton" gives the date as 1818. 
The dam was built along the line of the present Beacon Street from the 
corner of Charles Street to the junction with what is now known as 
Brookline Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue; and Brookline Avenue 
was built by the Mill Corporation from the end of its dam at Sewalls' 
Point to the Punch Bowl Tavern, on the Worcester Turnpike, as re- 
quired in its charter. According to " Boston's Growth," the construc- 
tion of this mill dam furnishes the first record of the importation of Irish 
laborers. The required stone was obtained from the quarries on the 
adjacent Parker Hill, and the completion was made the occasion of a 
civic celebration comprising a parade and a reception by the town 
fathers. 

The importance of the turnpike provided by this improvement can 
be readily appreciated by reference to. the map. Previously the only 
access to Boston by land had been over the Dorchester Turnpike and 
the bridge in South Boston; over the Neck, along the present Washing- 
ton Street; and over the West Boston Bridge which connected the me- 
tropolis with Cambridge. Hence the large territory occupied by Wal- 
tham, Newton, and the country behind them had been obliged to make 
the wide detour either through Cambridge or Roxbury, while over the 
new IMill Dam Road its inhabitants could make a direct trip to the 
center of Boston. Naturally, as the operation of a toll road was but 
an incidental item in the larger scheme, and.since the length of the road 
was so slight, the allowed tolls were not to be like those on more ex- 
tended turnpikes. We have seen that tolls at the same rate as allowed 
on West Boston Bridge were to be collected, so let us look at the charter 
of that corporation. The proprietors of the West Boston Bridge were 
incorporated March 6, 1792, for the purpose of building a bridge be- 
tween Cambridge and Boston, on the site of the present monumental 
Cambridge Bridge. Three hundred pounds a year, later reduced to 
two hundred, was to be paid to Harvard College for assistance^of needy 
students. Tolls were to be collected as follows : 

Each foot passenger or one person passing, 2/3 of a penny. 

Single horse cart, sled, or sleigh, 4 pence. 

One person and horse, 2 pence, 2/3 of a penny. 

Each wheelbarrow, hand cart, and every other vehicle capable of carrying like 

weight, 1-1/3 penny. 
Each single horse and chaise, chair, or sulkey, 8 pence. 
Coaches, chariots, phaetons, and curricles, I shilling. 

[189] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

All other wheeled carriages or sleds drawn by more than one horse, 6 pence. 

Sleighs, drawn by more than one beast, 6 pence. 

Neat horses or cattle exclusive of those rode or in carriages or teams, 1-1/3 

penny each. 
Swine and sheep, 4 pence per dozen and proportionally. 

The dam was completed, and the road opened for travel July 2, 1821, 
and at once became a most important avenue Into Boston. It was con- 
sidered one of the grandest constructions in the world. The sides of 
the dam were built of solid stone for eight thousand feet in length, from 
three to eight feet in thickness and twelve to seventeen feet high, while 
the width between the walls varied from fifty to one hundred feet.^ The 
material was the local pudding stone of Roxbury and granite from Wey- 
mouth. Over a mile was saved for the travelers over the Worcester 
Turnpike by turning off at the Punch Bowl Tavern and taking the Mill 
Corporation's road to the Mill Dam, and thence into Boston, which was 
undoubtedly the cause of the Worcester company's being willing in 
1826 to pay the town of Roxbury two hundred and fifty dollars in con- 
sideration of being released from obligation to maintain its road east- 
erly of the point of diversion. This Punch Bowl Tavern was an ancient 
hostelry and stood in Brookllne for many years, between the present 
Brookline Avenue and Pearl Street on Washington Street. Another 
turnpike was soon projected, which led from the westerly end of the 
Mill Dam to Watertown, an Improvement rendered practicable only 
by the opening of the Mill Dam. 

A new corporation was created in 1824, the Boston Water Power 
Company, which took over all the holdings of the Mill Corporation 
south of the dam in 1832; the dam, road, and all holdings on the north 
side remaining with the original company. As an enterprise for the 
development of power, these projects were not phenomenally successful, 
but the subsequent filling of the Back Bay and the proceeds from sales 
of land made the investment most lucrative. 

June 9, 1854, the corporation made an indenture with the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts by which, it was agreed, among many other 
matters, that the corporation should convey to the Commonwealth the 
land covered by the Mill Dam "to be forever kept open as a public 
highway," but the agreement was not carried out for several years. In 
1856 it was enacted that the Mill Corporation might continue to collect 
tolls on the Mill Dam at the same rate as allowed on the West Boston 
Bridge, which rate had been reenacted and expressed in American cur- 
rency. In 1 861 the commissioners of public lands were authorized to 
arrange with the corporation about continuing the collection of tolls, 
which was to be done until the road was laid out as a public highway by 
the county officials. This occurred on December 7, 1868, when the 
Boston Board of Aldermen accepted the road as a public highway. 

Under the management of the Mill Corporation the Mill Dam Road 

' " History of the Granite Industry in New England," Brayley. 
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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

had been known as Western Avenue until 1865. Since that time It has 
borne the name of Beacon Street. 

The Mill Corporation followed the usual custom in locating its toll- 
house and gate and placed the same on the bridge over the main channel. 
Its site is now occupied by the parkway called Charles-gate. 

In 1824 various parties, acting in the interests of the Mill Corpora- 
tion, secured a charter for a turnpike to connect the westerly end of the 
Mill Dam with Watertown. This road, which will be treated more at 
length In its turn, caused a panic In the minds of the proprietors of the 
West Boston Bridge who foresaw a serious diversion of traffic from 
their bridge, and they sought to offset the advantage thus gained over 
them by building a turnpike of their own. This latter turnpike, being 
built purely as a feeder for the bridge, made no. claims of being a public 
necessity, which later gave rise to some unique legal questions. 

The history of the larger operations of the Mill Corporation and 
of the Boston Water Power Company is especially interesting to the 
student of Boston's development. The ebb and flow of the tidal waters 
in the ponded area soon gave rise to serious and unhealthy conditions, 
and many were the efforts to adjust between the public good and the 
corporate rights. It was finally settled that the entire area was to be 
filled with clean gravel, while satisfactory sewers were to be laid, and 
the resulting land was to be divided between the state and the two 
corporations. The filling was done between the years 1857 and 1894, 
the gravel being hauled In over the Boston and Providence and the 
Boston and Albany railroads, and distributed over spur tracks laid in 
all directions over the area. A large excavated pit can still be seen near 
Dedham Road Station of the Boston and Providence Railroad, which 
supplied much of the gravel. 

The West Stockbridge and Alford Turnpike Corporation was In- 
corporated February 16, 18 18, to carry out the plans which the Alford 
and West Stockbridge had abandoned. It may be remembered that the 
latter company had a franchise to build from the line of Hillsdale, New 
York, to the Housatonic River Turnpike in Stockbridge. But since the 
granting of that privilege the Alford and Egremont Turnpike had 
been completed, crossing that route near the New York line, so the 
route granted by the charter under present consideration commenced at 
that turnpike Instead of at the New York boundary. Another variation 
from the old route was that the last company was to connect with the 
Housatonic River Turnpike in West Stockbridge Instead of In Stock- 
bridge. Although the location for this road was made under authority 
of the Berkshire county court In 18 18, it does not appear that any 
building was ever done. 

An act passed June 16, 1820, created a corporation without giving 
It a name, but it was known as the company Intending to build the WIl- 

[191-] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

braham Turnpike. Although this company never carried out its plans, 
it is interesting to consider its aims. The northern route between Boston 
and New York, we have previously observed, passed over the First 
Massachusetts Turnpike, through the towns of Western, Palmer, and 
Wilbraham, to Springfield, where it followed the old post road down the 
valley of the Connecticut River to Hartford. Evidently the idea back 
of the Wilbraham Turnpike was to divert this travel at the end of the 
First Massachusetts, and to take it southerly through the town of Wil- 
braham, which then included the town of Hampden, to the Connecticut 
line at Somers. There it would have connected with the road of a Con- 
necticut corporation, the Tolland and Mansfield Turnpike Company, 
which would have carried it to Tolland courthouse, whence it would 
have reached Hartford over the Hartford and Tolland Turnpike. The 
improvement by a route going back as far to the east as Tolland court- 
house is not obvious, and it is not surprising that this project did not 
attract capital. 

THE BARRE TURNPIKE 

By the year 1820 the Massachusetts public had generally understood 
that turnpike investments were very unsatisfactory, and only nineteen 
companies were incorporated after that date, ten of which completed 
their roads. Of these the Barre Turnpike Corporation was the first, 
being chartered February 5, 1822, to build a turnpike from Barre Com- 
mon through Hubbardston and Princeton. 

This company filed no returns of its business, but on a plan of its 
turnpike which was filed at the state house, the cost is given as $10,000, 
and the length eleven miles, or about $910 a mile. The road of this 
company was laid out by the authorities of Worcester County in 1823, 
" from Barre meeting-house, through Hubbardston, to Edward Goode- 
now's, in Princeton," which apparently brought it within two miles of 
Princeton Center, and on the " Depot Road." The distance by the old 
route had been seventeen miles, so the turnpike reduced the journey over 
one third. 

At the opening of the year 1824 the turnpike had not been com- 
pleted, for on January 28 of that year an act was passed allowing the 
erection of one gate in Princeton upon completion of the road. But 
construction soon followed, and in 1826 the corporation again appeared 
at the state house, this time with a complaint regarding working con- 
ditions. It seems that the turnpike cut a straight line across the big 
letter " S " of the old road, and travelers were content to cut off the first 
half circle, following the turnpike where no gate opposed them, and 
then taking the longer route, which kept cut of sight of the toll gatherer. 
So another act was secured changing the first gate to a half-gate and 
allowing the erection of another half-gate on the westerly portion of 
the road. 

In 1832 the Barre Turnpike was laid out as a public highway. 
[192] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



THE CHESTER TURNPIKE 

We have seen that In the construction of the Eighth Massachusetts 
and the Becket turnpikes considerable difficulty was found in selecting 
a satisfactory location. As finally built the twd roads made a physical 
connection, but apparently that part of the road was poor and unsatis- 
factory, for on February 14, 1822, the Chester Turnpike Corporation 
was chartered for the purpose of making a better road than the existing 
turnpikes afforded, between Walton's Bridge In Chester to some in- 
definite point on the Becket Turnpike. The need of such Improvement 
must have been urgent, for three years earlier the persons who later 
were Incorporated as the Chester Turnpike Corporation had associated 
themselves and had built a section of the road now proposed for a turn- 
pike, and had had the same accepted by the court of common pleas 
as a public road. In 1822 they asked that they might be allowed to 
build farther along the same line and have their former effort and the 
new one combined in the Chester Turnpike. Their prayer being granted 
the road was at once built, and the Eighth Massachusetts was relieved 
from the maintenance of the now useless part of its road westerly of 
Walton's Bridge. 

This turnpike apparently extended from near the present Chester 
post office to the Becket line, and about an equal distance into the town 
of Becket. By an act passed In 1825 eighty rods was taken from its 
west end and annexed to the Becket Turnpike. 

The Chester Turnpike was made free in Berkshire County In Sep- 
tember, 1842, and In Hampden County In June, 1843. 



THE WATERTOWN TURNPIKE 

Until the opening of the road over the Mill Dam there was no en- 
trance to Boston between Washington Street, on the Neck, and West 
Boston Bridge, but the Mill Dam Road opened a direct route to and 
from a large number of towns, the Boston-bound travel from which 
centered In Watertown Square, and which had previously followed as 
best it could over the existing public roads to the West Boston Bridge. 
An attractive opportunity for another turnpike was thus offered, to 
connect Watertown Square with the Mill Dam Road, yielding revenue 
for itself and adding to the earnings of the Mill Corporation's road. 

So the Watertown Turnpike Corporation was created February 7, 
1824. While the persons incorporated are not the same as those form- 
ing the Mill Corporation, it was common knowledge, as brought out in 
legislative hearings In later years, that the two corporations were prac- 
tically one. The turnpike was to cross the Charles River close to the 
United States Arsenal, and the right to build a bridge was conditional 

[193] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

upon " the consent of the proper authorities of the United States, and 
not otherwise." 

The road was laid out by a joint committee of the senate and house 
May I, 1824, the report being filed with the Middlesex court by which 
it was approved in the same month. One tollgate was allowed at which 
the same rate of tolls was to be collected as had been allowed at the 
Bellingham gate of the Ninth Massachusetts, rather a lazy way of legis- 
lating. No returns were ever filed by this company and nothing has 
been found to give an idea of the business done. But the location was 
a good one, with populous towns to be served and no serious difficulties 
to impede construction or operation. Besides which the Brighton 
Abattoir was directly on this road, and with the heavy business in na- 
tive cattle, which was carried on years ago, must have added materially 
to a revenue which was well fed from other sources. 

Being a subsidiary of the Mill Corporation, the road of this company 
was included in the negotiations with the state over the Back Bay con- 
ditions, and it was provided for, as was the Mill Dam Road, in the act 
passed April 11, 1861. Provision was made therein that tolls were to 
be collected until such time as the local authorities should accept the road 
as a public highway. This was done by the town of Brighton November 
19, 1868, when the road became free. 

The Watertown Turnpike was known as Brighton Avenue under the 
Mill Corporation's management, and was named Avenue Street by the 
town of Brighton in 1840, although it was not a town road. Similarly 
it was named Beacon Street In 1846, and again changed to North Beacon 
Street in i860. To-day, commencing at the end of the old Mill Dam, 
the road is known as Commonwealth Avenue, then Brighton Avenue, 
and then North Beacon Street through the Brighton section of Boston 
and through Watertown. 

It is a busy and much-used thoroughfare and makes a striking con- 
trast with most of the other turnpikes, whose projectors did not so 
accurately foresee the tendencies of transportation. 

THE CENTRAL TURNPIKE 

It Is hard to understand how In 1824, when turnpikes had generally 
fallen into disrepute as investments, a comprehensive scheme for con- 
necting Boston and Hartford could have been exploited. But such was 
done, and the Central Turnpike Corporation was Incorporated on the 
twelfth of June in that year to build from a point on the Worcester 
Turnpike In Needham through Natick, Framlngham, Hopkinton, 
Upton, Northbrldge, Sutton, Oxford, and Dudley to the Connecticut 
line in the town of Thompson. The Center Turnpike Company was 
incorporated in Connecticut In May, 1826, to build from the Tolland 
courthouse through Willington, Ashford, Union, and Woodstock to 
the Massachusetts line in Dudley, where it connected with the road of 
[194] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

the Central Turnpike Corporation. From Tolland to Hartford the 
turnpike had been in existence for a quarter of a century. 

Thus was opened another improved route from Boston to Hartford 
over which passed the "Boston and Hartford Telegraph line" of 
stagecoaches in alternate direction daily, except Sundays. One toUgate 
stood in Wellesley on the north side of the road opposite Morse's Pond 
and about six hundred feet from the Natick line. 

The road was laid out in Middlesex County In January, 1826, and 
in Worcester County at about the same time, but the construction did 
not progress rapidly, for we find that it was not quite finished when 
the time limit approached. June 11, 1829, the legislature granted the 
corporation a further time of four months in which to finish the road, 
and an act passed March 5, 1830, plainly shows that it was completed, 
as it speaks of the road " as now made and traveled." 

The map filed in 1830 by the town of Needham shows that the Cen- 
tral Turnpike commenced near the present center of Wellesley, and not 
on the Worcester Turnpike. The act of 1830, just mentioned, recites 
that the layout committee had made some slight changes in the location, 
which were approved, and this was doubtless one of them. Starting, 
then, to-day from the Square in Wellesley, the old turnpike would be 
followed westerly over Central Street along the northerly side of the 
grounds of Wellesley College, over East and West Central streets in 
Natick, Waverley Street in Framingham, Union Avenue in Ashland, 
Main Street in Hopkinton, Oxford, and Sutton, and Sutton Road in 
Webster. 

This is one of the shortest-lived roads that we have noted. As stated. 
It was opened about 1830, and in January, 1836, upon petition of the 
corporation itself, was laid out as a public highway throughout its 
length in Middlesex County. The portion in Northbridge, Upton, and 
Sutton was made free in the same year; that in Dudley in 1838; while 
the last tolls were collected in Douglas and Webster in 1839, which put 
a period on the Central's operations. 

No financial returns are available, but from the above it is evident 
that the road was a failure. 

The Connecticut connection continued operations until 1853. 



TURNPIKE FROM CAMBRIDGE TO WATERTOWN 

We have already seen how the persons composing the Boston and 
Roxbury Mill Corporation, upon the completion of their Mill Dam with 
its road, built another road by which the travel which centered in Water- 
town Square was invited to use the Mill Dam for its entrance into 
Boston. Previously all persons thus inclined had found their only 
practicable route through Cambridge and over the West Boston Bridge, 
which connected Cambridgeport with Boston's West End. The revenue 

[195]! 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

from the bridge tolls, although quite remunerative, was evidently not 
sufficiently so that the proprietors could view the loss of this Water- 
town travel with unconcern. So in order to retain as much of that 
business as possible the bridge proprietors sought and obtained a charter 
to build a turnpike of their own, which should lead, not from the Mill 
Dam, but from their own bridge to Watertown Square. The route was 
first surveyed by William Taylor, and his plan, dated May 6, 1824, 
now in the possession of the Bostonian Society, shows the route " from 
the pump in Watertown to Cambridge, on the way to the pump in Dock 
Square." We have seen roads laid out by churches, by taverns, and by 
dwelling-houses, but this is the first instance of a road being built be- 
tween pumps. The charter for this road was granted June 12, 1824, 
and allowed it to be built through the towns of Cambridge, Brighton, 
and Watertown, with two bridges over the navigable waters of the 
Charles River. As the Watertown Turnpike skirted the Arsenal 
grounds on the southerly side so this turnpike did on the north, and the 
two rapidly converged as they approached their goal in Watertown 
Square. Plainly there was no crying need of this road from the public's 
point of view. The Mill Dam Road and its subsidiary were giving 
ample service, and the old public roads of Cambridge were still avail- 
able. It was simply and plainly a feeder for the West Boston Bridge, 
hence certain provisions in the charter, which have not been observed in 
those of earlier companies, were inserted. These were that the towns 
of Watertown, Cambridge, and Brighton should never " be compelled 
to support any part of said road or bridges without their own consent." 
Of this much was to be heard thirty-five years later. A further provi- 
sion was that the road could only be laid through land " bounding on 
the old road or square in Watertown," with the consent of the owners. 
If the new turnpike had been a public necessity it would have been em- 
powered to take the land. 

The road was promply built but, although allowed to collect the 
same tolls as were granted to the Watertown Turnpike, no gate was 
ever erected, and the owners never availed themselves of the privilege. 
In this we see a parallel with the case of the First Cumberland Turn- 
pike, which was leased by the owners of Vaughn's Bridge so that they 
might make It free of toll and a' better feeder for the bridge. The road 
thus built was four and one tenth miles in length, of which 3918 feet 
in Brighton was laid over an old county road. To-day the road Is 
known as Western Avenue in Cambridge and Brighton, and as Arsenal 
Street in Watertown. It commenced in Cambridge, on Main Street, 
2647 feet westerly of the intersection with the causeway of the West 
Boston Bridge, so that except for that half mile, the proprietors of the 
West Boston Bridge built and maintained a continuous highway from 
Boston to Watertown. 

As already stated, the proprietors of the West Boston Bridge were 
incorporated March 6, 1792, and their bridge was opened for traffic 
[196] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

November 23, 1793. In 1846 long-continued agitation, looking to the 
abolition of tolls on the Boston to Cambridge bridges, culminated in the 
incorporation of the Hancock Free Bridge Corporation, which was or- 
ganized for the purpose of purchasing the bridges and continuing to 
operate them as toll bridges until the purchase price was repaid. Then 
a fund was to be accumulated sufficient to provide for the maintenance, 
after which the bridges were to become public property. The Hancock 
Free Bridge Corporation, on July i, 1846, purchased the franchises 
and property of the proprietors of the West Boston Bridge for seventy- 
five thousand dollars, the deed expressly including the turnpike to 
Watertown. In 1852 the turnpike had fallen into such a bad condition 
that an indictment was secured against the Hancock Free Bridge Corpo- 
ration, its owners. In answer to this the corporation denied the owner- 
ship and claimed that the deed from the proprietors of the West Boston 
Bridge conveyed only the bridge structure extending from shore to 
shore, but the supreme court,^ in 1854, decided that the corporation 
did own the turnpike and was bound to keep it in repair. Apparently 
the corporation found means to evade its responsibilities even after that, 
for we find a competent witness testifying before a legislative hearing 
in 1859, that over ten thousand dollars would be required to put into 
proper condition the portion of the turnpike within the limits of Water- 
town. But before that the effort had been, made to get rid of the road. 

May 30, 1857, the Hancock Free Bridge Corporation secured an act 
of the legislature by which it was allowed, whenever it had the funds, 
to pay one hundred thousand dollars to the city of Cambridge, which, 
in return, was to assume full responsibility for the West Boston Bridge 
and the one between Cambridge and Brighton, taking them, with the 
Cambridge section of the turnpike, off the corporation's hands. By the 
same act it was provided that the corporation was to tender fifty-five 
hundred dollars to the town of Watertown, and sixty-five hundred dol- 
lars to the town of Brighton. Only that a tender of money was to be 
made was specified; the act did not provide anything to be done by 
the towns In consideration. But whether the towns accepted the money 
or refused it, the Hancock Free Bridge Corporation was to have what 
it desired; it was to be released from liability to maintain the turnpike. 

Satisfactory arrangements were promptly made with Cambridge, 
and that part of the turnpike became a public road, for which the city 
was responsible; but Watertown and Brighton viewed the proposition 
askance. July i, 1857, a Watertown town meeting voted to refuse the 
money which had been tendered it by the corporation in accordance with 
the act. Brighton, however, showed a little more shrewdness. There 
was nothing in the act imposing any obligation on the town if it accepted 
the money, and if it refused, the corporation got rid of the road just 
the same. So the astute Brighton citizens voted to accept the money, 

* 2 Gray, 59. 

[197] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

but specifically declared in the receipt which was given therefor that they 
did not accept the road and stood upon their rights as specified in the 
original charter, which provided that the towns should " never be com- 
pelled to support any part of said road or bridges without their own 
consent." 

So the turnpike became " Nobody's Road " in the sense of anybody 
being responsible for its maintenance, but the land over which it was 
built still belonged to the Hancock Free Bridge Corporation in fee. 
Many persons had bought land and built houses along the road, and 
such a condition could not last long, so, in 1858, James T. Austin and 
others petitioned the county commissioners for a layout as a county road. 
This was resisted by both Watertown and Brighton, and legal questions 
were raised regarding the authority of the commissioners to make a 
layout under the circumstances, especially as the road crossed navigable 
waters and provision had to be made for the care and operation of two 
drawbridges. Consequently the same petitioners next appealed to the 
legislature for a bill which would confer the desired authority upon 
somebody. The committee on roads and bridges, to whom the petition 
was referred, made a lengthy report, giving the history of the bridges 
and turnpike from the beginning. While conceding that the turnpike 
was not at first a public necessity, the committee logically concluded that 
it had become so by its long use and the establishing of homes upon its 
sides. The resulting bill, passed April 4, 1859, removed all technicali- 
ties and allowed the turnpike to become a county highway. 

An interesting side light is thrown upon legislative proceedings by 
the charter of the Watertown Turnpike Corporation and the one for 
the West Boston Bridge proprietors' road. The general law required 
that the location of turnpikes should be made by disinterested free- 
holders appointed by the court, but the legislature in each of these cases 
took that privilege away and conferred it upon a committee of its own 
body. These were rich companies, and the returns of many of the 
turnpike corporations give an item for " entertainment of locating 
committee." 

THE GORE TURNPIKE 

A road which would probably be classed by the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission as a " spur to an Industry " was that of the Gore 
Turnpike Corporation, chartered February 16, 1825. This road was 
evidently built as a means of access to Samuel Slater's cotton factory, 
near the shore of Lake Chaubunagungamaug, In Oxford, South Gore, 
now a part of the town of Webster. No details of Its business were ever 
made public. 

The Worcester County freeholders made the layout for the turn- 
pike In 1825 from Douglas meeting-house to Samuel Slater's in Oxford, 
over what is now Webster Street In Douglas, and Douglas Road in 

[198] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Webster. Operation as a turnpike continued for sixteen years, the 
Worcester county commissioners laying it out as a county highway in 
1 841. The road was about five and a quarter miles long. 

Two more charters were granted in 1825, both on the eighteenth of 
June, but no reason has been found to believe that a road was built in 
either case. The companies were named Tolland and Otis Turnpike 
Corporation and Sterling Turnpike Corporation. The Tolland and 
Otis did have its location fixed by the committee of Hampden County 
in April, 1827, through Granville, Tolland, and Blandford, but no 
record of anything further has been found.. 

THE PONTOOSAC TURNPIKE 

Judging by the turnpike efforts throughout the first quarter of the 
nineteenth century, the need of a road between Springfield and Pittsfield 
must have been great. The Eighth Massachusetts first made the at- 
tempt, coming to grief, as we have seen, on the construction difficulties 
through the town of Becket. The Becket undertook to remedy the de- 
fect, but its road, covering the portion omitted in the building of the 
Eighth, offered too roundabout a route. The Chester, following in 
1803, erred as much on the northerly side, and its road also was too far 
from the direct line. The Dalton and MIddlefield sought to attack the 
problem boldly, but its promoters lacked the courage to carry the project 
through. The trouble was in the exceedingly rough and hilly nature of 
the country' in that part of the Berkshires, which made construction very 
expensive and maintenance difficult and costly, and for many years no 
feasible route was known. 

Smith's "History of Pittsfield" tells us that, about 181 8, it was 
discovered that a good route could be followed through the " Pass of 
the Westfield," along Westfield River to North Becket, and thence over 
Washington Mountain to Pittsfield, but people generally refused to 
believe it. Certain " judicious and cautious citizens " of Pittsfield, 
Southwick, and Springfield, however, satisfied themselves on that sub- 
ject, and on February 15, 1826, obtained a charter for the Pontoosac 
Turnpike Corporation, although, as Smith says, " with few exceptions, 
turnpike stocks were then notoriously worthless." 

The route which this corporation was allowed started from the 
southeast corner of Pittsfield and ran through the towns of Hinsdale, 
Middlefield, Washington, and Chester, following all the way through 
Middlefield on the northerly bank of the Westfield River and keeping 
close to the same river in Chester, until it reached the " road leading 
from Albany to Westfield, at a point near the tavern house of Colonel 
Henry." This tavern is shown on Baldwin's map of the survey for the 
railroad from Boston to Albany, made in 1827 and 1828, and was 
located at the mouth of Walker Brook, on the westerly bank of the 

[199] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Westfield River. By this we see that the southerly terminus of the 
Pontoosac Turnpike was to be directly across the river from where the 
Chester Station of the Boston and Albany Railroad is now. 

That the incorporators of the Pontoosac were actuated by other mo- 
tives than hopes of financial profit is plainly to be seen. For nearly four 
years they postponed construction, hoping that the counties would under- 
take the work, but Hampshire, of which Middlefield was a part, bitterly 
opposed the plan, as it feared resultant diversion of trade to Spring- 
field. So the incorporators prepared to build the road themselves in 
1829, first getting an amendment to their charter by which specified 
points were omitted, and they were allowed to build from Pittsfield to 
the conjunction of the Westfield River and Mill Brook by any route 
they chose. 

The quaint " History of the County of Berkshire," to which we have 
frequently referred, was written about this time and has this to say of 
the Pontoosac: 

As it is to pass from the easterly part of Pittsfield through the low parts of those 
towns and around the hills, the ascents will in no place, it is said, exceed 5°, 
although it crosses the eastern range of hills. This road will greatly facilitate the 
communication between the middle part of the county and the middle part of the 
Commonwealth through Springfield. A part of this road is located along the line 
of the proposed rail road. 

At this time the state was intensely interested in the matter of rail- 
road construction, by means of which it was hoped to offset the advan- 
tage given to New York by the Erie Canal, which had been completed 
about four years and was turning the increasing western trade to that 
city. Surveys had been made for roads from Boston, to Providence and 
to Albany, but many people still maintained that such methods of trans- 
portation were wild and impracticable. Of that class must have been 
the promoters of the Pontoosac Turnpike, for they located and built 
their road for nearly ten miles along the Westfield River, where they 
must frequently have seen the stakes set by the railroad surveyors two 
years or less before. Had they not felt sure the railroad was a wild 
dream they would hardly have dared to build their turnpike at all, much 
less to set it where the later construction of the more up-to-date road 
would obliterate much of their work. 

The route was surveyed early in the life of the charter, but not until 
1829 was construction begun, and the road was completed about Octo- 
ber, 1830. Hampden County seems to have been the interested section, 
with Berkshire indifferent, and Hampshire openly hostile. On this 
account the incorporators again petitioned the legislature and secured 
the passage of an act whereby the Hampden county commissioners 
were authorized to " examine, accept, and establish the turnpike road " 
in their own and in two other counties. Consequently we fail to find 
any record of the establishing of this road in Pittsfield or Northampton; 
and do find In Springfield a record of the acceptance of the road from 
[200] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Colonel Henry's to PIttsfield, which carried it through three counties. 
This acceptance was made in December, 1830, after the road was com- 
pleted, and no record has yet been found of its location in accordance 
with the law. It seems fair to assume that the promoters did not aban- 
don the idea of having the counties assume the expense of building the 
road and take it as a public highway until they were well along toward 
its completion. Then, in order to get back some of their outlay, they 
concluded to operate it as a turnpike, and having neglected to comply 
with the preliminary formalities for turnpikes, secured the act above 
recited to properly establish them. 

The Western Railroad Company was chartered by the Massachu- 
setts legislature on March 15, 1833, to build what later became the sec- 
tion of the Boston and Albany between Worcester and the state line. 
By the first of January, 1837, its surveys had been completed and much 
of the road was under contract. The location had been made through 
the " Pass of the Westfield," conflicting with the Pontoosac Turnpike 
in many places, and in 1839 alterations were made in the toll road to 
allow the railroad to be built. 

No records are known to exist of the money affairs of the Pontoosac, 
but it does not seem possible that it ever could have begun to pay. After 
nine years the railroad came, and practically paralleled it, as well as 
connecting the same terminal points, so its life must have been short. 
Nothing has been found to show when it became free. In 1842 a peti- 
tion was entered in Berkshire for the discontinuance of the turnpike and 
the laying out of the same as a county road, but it was dismissed. The 
section of road through the " Pass of the Westfield " has now dis- 
appeared from the map, only short stubs of roads showing at either end 
where corners were formerly made with other roads. 

Travelers through the Berkshires over the Boston and Albany line 
follow close to the old road's path for many miles. Passing through the 
bowl in which lies the village of Chester, the old Pontoosac can be seen 
on the opposite side of the little river, and running northerly from 
Chester's main street, where it formerly terminated. A sandy country 
road now, it keeps along close to the railroad until the narrow semi- 
circular valley prohibits the existence of two distinct routes of transpor- 
tation. At the boundary line between Chester and Middlefield, where 
the steep slopes of Gobble Mountain run straight into the river, sug- 
gesting unfathomable depths, the old road ceases to exist, but traces 
may be seen, now on one side and again on the other, all the way to 
North Becket. 

The Wilkinsonville Turnpike Corporation was created March 3, 
1826, to build a road from a point in Westboro, through Grafton 
to the Wilkinsonville Factory in Sutton, but no records of any work 
done have been found, and there seems good reason for concluding that 
no road was built by such a company. 

[201] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE TAUNTON AND PROVIDENCE TURNPIKE 

The next charter granted was for a short road between two thriving 
towns, the Taunton and Providence Turnpike Corporation being in- 
corporated on the same third of March, and authorized to build 

from Taunton Green, in Taunton, in the county of Bristol, in the most convenient 
and suitable direction to Seekonk River, in said county, so as to connect the said 
town of Taunton and the town of Providence, in the state of Rhode Island, by the 
most convenient and practicable route. 

Operations began promptly, as the corporation entered petition for 
a locating committee at the April term of the court of sessions. The 
committee was appointed and performed its duties during the summer, 
the surveying being done by " Squire " George Walker, who lived at 
Westville on the line of the proposed road. A full report was rendered 
to the court at the September term in 1826, giving a complete surveyor's 
description of the route and an award of land damages. The location 
was 11.52 miles in length, terminating at " the northerly side of a well " 
which stood on the easterly side of Watchemocket Square, in what is 
now East Providence, Rhode Island. The award for land damages 
amounted to $7604.92, or about $662 a mile. 

The authorized route as fixed by the act of incorporation extended 
from Taunton Green to the Seekonk River, but the locating committee 
commenced their labors at a distance from the Green of one hundred 
and thirty-five rods, starting from the " northerly side of the road lead- 
ing from the Green to the Paper Mill," and they ended at the well be- 
fore mentioned, " which is about twenty-five rods southeasterly from the 
easterly end of India Bridge at Seekonk River." 

A year later, at the September term of 1827, the corporation made 
a new petition, reciting that the location did not commence at the Green, 
as required by the charter, and that they were afraid of illegality on 
that account. Hence would the court call back the committee and have 
them complete their work? This was done and the committee's report, 
filed in May, 1828, shows a location for the turnpike from the easterly 
end of its first location to Taunton Green, where it ended at " the south- 
easterly corner of the bar room of George B. Atwood." Then with 
a bar room at one end and a well at the other, the corporation seems to 
have rested content. 

When it is noticed that the original location did not go as far westerly 
as the charter required, and that, consequently, if illegal at the Taunton 
end it was equally so at the Seekonk River, one may reasonably doubt 
if fears of illegality were really at the source of the movement. Taun- 
ton was an old town and doubtless closely built around the Green. The 
second location covered a length of one hundred and thirty-five rods and 
the land awards amounted to $1437, or at the rate of about $3400 a 
[202] 







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THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

mile, and it seems much more probable that fear of this expense caused 
the promoters to have the location of that part delayed until they could 
raise some more money. 

The road is conspicuous on the map to-day on account of its direct 
alignment. It must have been a much-needed road, and it is strange 
that it was so late in being built. It is now a state highway and is oc- 
cupied in part by a high-speed interurban electric-car line which could 
not find a more direct route. Since 1826 the boundary between Massa- 
chusetts and Rhode Island has been shifted easterly from the Seekonk 
River, so that, although the turnpike was entirely in Massachusetts at 
first, about two miles of what was its westerly end are now in Rhode 
Island, in the town of East Providence. 

At the meeting of the county commissioners In June, 1846, a petition 
was presented signed by Charles F. Davenport, of Davenport and 
Mason's express, and others asking for a public layout of the Taunton 
and Providence Turnpike from Taunton Green to the Rev. Alvan Cobb's 
meeting-house, which was in Westville, about seven hundred feet from 
the crossing of the Three Mile River. The records show that the road 
was laid out as asked, and, in December of the same year, a section In 
Seekonk became free also; and in December, 1849, the portion between 
Palmer's River, in Rehoboth, and Three Mile River, in Taunton, was 
thrown open. The records show that the corporation did not appear to 
offer objection to the proceedings In 1846, so It is possible that the road 
had been abandoned and that tolls had ceased to be collected prior to 
that date. 

In East Providence the turnpike is called Taunton Avenue, and Win- 
throp Street, In Taunton. 

Although the Norfolk and Middlesex Turnpike Corporation, cre- 
ated by an act of the same March 3, had a committee appointed, which 
made the location for the road and assessed the damages, and had the 
same approved by the courts of Norfolk and Middlesex counties, no 
further records have been found, and we have to conclude that nothing 
more was done. The route allowed this company started at Ichabod 
Hawes' tavern in HoUIston, and ran through Dover, Needham, and 
Newton to " the northwest corner of Samuel G. Perkins' garden, In 
Brookline." No continuous road along this route is to be found on 
the maps to-day, which confirms the opinion that the turnpike was 
never built. 



THE HAMPDEN AND BERKSHIRE TURNPIKE 

The fourth turnpike act of the third of March, 1826, incorporated 
the Hampden and Berkshire Turnpike Corporation, with the right to 
build a road from a point In Russell, through Blandford Center, to 
the westerly end of the Becket Turnpike in Becket. This road was 

[203] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

plainly projected as an improvement on the route between Springfield 
and Albany, over the Eighth Massachusetts and the Becket turnpikes, 
and the Hampden and Berkshire was commonly referred to as the turn- 
pike between those cities. 

A location was promptly secured, and it was approved at the Septem- 
ber term of the Hampden court of sessions, at which time the change 
in the law went into effect, whereby the approval of road locations be- 
came a duty of the county commissioners. The turnpike was laid out 
and built from a point on the Eighth Massachusetts on the westerly 
bank of the Westfield River, about opposite where the Fairfield Station 
of the Boston and Albany Railroad now stands, and followed up the 
valley of Potash Brook to Blandford Center. Thence it continued to 
North Blandford, and from there over what is now called the Lee and 
Westfield Road, through the northeastern part of Otis, into Becket, to 
a junction with the Becket Turnpike, about a mile and a quarter south- 
east of West Becket Village. A saving of about five miles and a half 
was made by this route over that previously followed, which was ample 
reason for its adoption by the stages. Figures of cost and earnings of 
this road would be especially interesting, but none are to be found. 

In one of the few books essaying to treat of turnpikes, "The Tav- 
erns and Turnpikes of Blandford " by Sumner Gilbert Wood, we natu- 
rally find much of interest concerning this road. From it we quote : 

This turnpike shortly revolutionized the traffic of the country hereabout. Two 
of the four daily stages which had run for years by the Boston and Albany road, 
were transferred to this turnpike, while an immense and incessant traffic of business 
and pleasure developed and continued until, gradually, the railroad (which followed 
the lines of the Eighth Massachusetts and Pontoosac) brought quiet and solitude 
again. What commotion this new line of travel stirred within the town itself by 
way of adjustment to new conditions is dimly echoed in the county records. A net- 
work of crooked roads had pervaded the Gore ; now there was a thoroughfare. The 
old post road itself was in large part side-tracked by the new turnpike. The select- 
men of the town petitioned the court in this year 1829, to discontinue some of these 
roads, or sections thereof, a thing which was shortly accomplished. . . . 

There was one toll gate on this 'pike within the limits of the town, about a mile 
below the village. Later there was another, succeeding the first one, a little lower 
down. That house is still standing, familiarly known as " the gate house," at the 
junction of the old mountain road and the newer one under review. 

An aged Blandford resident said : 

As compared with the modern country road, the turnpikes were rough and miry, 
" all chomped up." You could n't look out of the window, hardly, but you would 
see a team. Team after team of lime, drawn by four horses each, passed along from 
the Berkshire limekilns. Great droves of cattle, sheep, and hogs were driven to the 
Brighton market. Stages here, as everywhere throughout the country, were often 
getting stalled in the mire, when passengers had to get out and the men, with the 
help of the neighbors, would help the tired and overburdened horses lift the vehicle 
up and on to more solid ground. 

Many are the stories of the old taverns, but the book mentioned gives 
us a unique method by which one landlord eked out an additional in- 
[204] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

come. His specialty, it seems, was to entertain swine and their drivei-s, 
and his barn was ingeniously fitted for that purpose. A dropping trap- 
door in the floor, operated from a distant viewpoint, would open at the 
psychological moment, and a good fat porker would be added to the 
landlord's herd below. 

The length of the Hampden and Berkshire was about sixteen and a 
half miles, and according to the book quoted, it was opened for business 
in 1829. It is interesting to note in this connection that the Becket 
Turnpike went out of existence at its own request three years later. 

In 1832 the Hampden and Berkshire was allowed to change the loca- 
tion of its road by running around two hills in the town of Russell in- 
stead of continuing over them in a straight line. It is indeed strange 
that a road built as late as 1826 should have been subject to the old 
delusion of going straight over all obstacles. 

The record of the public layout of this turnpike Is doubtless to be 
found In Springfield, If one knows how to find It, but we will rely upon 
the statement of Mr. Enos W. Boise, an old resident and town clerk 
of Blandford, who advises us that It became free In 1852 or 1853. He 
clearly recalls that In 1851 a spirited pair of horses owned by his father 
ran away on the turnpike and smashed the gate. 

This was the last turnpike charter granted in Massachusetts, under 
authority of which a road was built. Six more acts of Incorporation 
were passed but none bore fruit. Another road was built in connection 
with a toll bridge. 

The Pawtucket and Taunton Turnpike Corporation, March 4, 1826, 
had the right to build from a point In Seekonk, near Pawtucket Village, 
through Seekonk and Rehoboth to Taunton Green. 

Nothing more has been found concerning such a road. 

The Hoosac Mountain Turnpike Corporation was the lone product 
of the year 1827, being incorporated on the twenty-third of February. 
This company proposed to build a road In rivalry of the Second Massa- 
chusetts, which was still In operation. Its turnpike was to start from a 
point In Charlemont " at a large rock on the north bank of the Deer- 
field River," then to cross the river and follow the valley of Cold Brook 
to the tavern of one Haskins, " on the top of the mountain," then down 
the North Branch of the Hoosac River to " the north village of 
Adams." It is unlikely that Mr. Haskins had found encouragement to 
open his tavern at any point on the top of the mountain except on the 
existing turnpike, and It seems plain that the projectors of the new road 
proposed to cross the Second Massachusetts at Its highest point, then 
to descend the westerly slope of the Hoosac Range by a diagonal north- 
erly course which would have brought them about to the present village 
of Briggsvllle in the town of Clarksburg, and on the banks of the North 
Branch of the Hoosac River. 

[205] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Another echo of the railroad agitation of the twenties Is found in 
section three of the charter of this company, In which It is provided that 
the state may at any time appropriate the whole or any part of the 
route for railroad purposes. In 1828 the company secured the passage 
of an act releasing it from its obligation to build outside of the valley 
of Cold Brook, In the towns of Florida or Savoy. Plainly the project 
was In dire need of encouragement, for the allowed tolls were increased 
about 40 per cent by the same act, but that was not enough, for the road 
was never built. 

One company was Incorporated in 1829 on the eleventh of June, — 
the Providence and Bristol Turnpike Corporation, with authority to 
connect the two towns named. As required by law, this company's 
route was gone over by a viewing committee of the legislature previous 
to the Introduction of the bill, and the report of that committee may be 
seen in the state archives accompanied by a plan. The plan Is a good 
map of the roads existing at that time in the region to be traversed, and 
the " contemplated turnpike " Is shown thereon by a single line, drawn 
with a ruler from India Point to the line of Barrlngton, Rhode Island, 
in a direct aim for Bristol. 

The Hoosac Rail or McAdamlzed Road Company, incorporated 
February 25, 1832, was a hybrid, either turnpike or railroad, as Its 
promoters should " deem expedient." Nine private corporations had 
been chartered prior to the date of this act for the purpose of building 
railroads, but so far none of them had sufficiently won the public con- 
fidence to enable the raising of the necessary money, except the Granite 
Railway of Quincy, although the Providence, Worcester, and Lowell 
roads later succeeded. This Hoosac company secured a charter closely 
following the lines of the one granted for a railroad to the Boston, 
Providence, and Taunton Railroad Corporation March 12, 1830, but 
apparently the incorporators were faint-hearted on the railroad ques- 
tion and had an alternative form of construction allowed under which 
they could build an old-fashioned turnpike. 

What they were driving at Is hard to conjecture. Their route was 
from the north line of Wllllamstown to the north line of Cheshire, with 
the right to extend to the source of the Hoosac River. A glance at the 
map will show such a line to be most unpromising and discouraging, and 
it is no wonder that no road was built. 



THE GRANITE TURNPIKE 

The granite quarries of Quincy first came prominently before the 
country when It was decided to construct the Bunker Hill Monument 
from their product. They were four miles from tidewater, and the only 
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means of transporting the blocks of stone was over the roads of that 
period, of which but a few miles tributary to the quarries were turn- 
pikes. To reach Boston required a roundabout journey either by way 
of the Neponset Bridge or by way of Milton Lower Mills, and there 
was no satisfactory way of reaching Charlestown, where the monument 
was to be built. Hence a railway was conceived by which the stones 
were carried down hill to the tidewater of the Neponset River at Gul- 
liver's Creek, where they were loaded on to barges which were floated 
around to the dock in Charlestown. This served very well as long as 
the stones were wanted at points accessible by water, but an early de- 
mand arose for building stone to be used in the new parts of Boston; 
and a more direct route was needed. 

April 13, 1837, the proprietors of the Granite Bridge were incorpo- 
rated for the purpose of building a road from the old county road at 
or near the store of I. Babcock, Jr., in Milton and running thence north 
ten and three quarters degrees west, about two hundred and seventy-two 
rods; north nineteen degrees west, about fifty-six rods; north twenty- 
five and one half degrees west, about one hundred and twenty-eight rods 
to the Neponset River, " and to locate, build, and construct a bridge 
across said river in continuation of said last-mentioned line of said road 
to Dorchester"; and thence to continue the road north eight and three 
quarters degrees west, about one hundred and eight rods to the " lower 
road " in Dorchester on or near the land of Rev. Ephraim Randall. 
A draw not less than thirty-one feet wide was to be located by commis- 
sioners appointed for that purpose, and wharves or piers seventy-five 
feet long were to be built on each side to assist vessels in passing through 
the opening. The total cost of bridge and road was not to be in excess 
of fifteen thousand dollars and the management was not allowed to 
incur annual expenses of over fifteen hundred dollars. 

Plotting the description of the route of the road plainly shows that 
it began in the center of East Milton Village adjacent to the crossing 
of the Granite Railway by Adams Street, the old county road and the 
old colonial road to Plymouth. Thence it marked out the lines of the 
present-day Granite Avenue across the marshes and river to Adams 
Street in Dorchester, the " lower road." 

This " lower road " was an ancient institution at that date, having 
been an alternate route by which the bridge over the Neponset at 
Milton Lower Mills was reached from Boston, the other road passing 
through Grove Hall and following the Washington Street of to-day. 
The " lower road " commenced at the corner of Washington and Eustis 
streets near the boundary at that date between Boston and Roxbury, 
and followed over what are now known as Eustis, Mall, Dearborn, 
Dudley, Stoughton, Pleasant, Bowdoin, Adams, and Washington streets 
to Milton Lower Mills. At its beginning is found one of the oldest 
cemeteries in New England, interments having begun there in 1633 ^i^d 
continued until 1854. At that point, also, was the first barricade erected 

[207] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

by the Americans to prevent the British troops from making a sortie 
during the siege of Boston. 

As the road built by the bridge company commenced almost on the 
location of the Granite Railway and was only a few hundred feet away 
from it at the railway's terminus, It may not be amiss to consider here 
the cars and track which became so familiar to the turnpike workmen. 
When the bridge and turnpike were built the Granite Railway had been 
in operation about eleven years and the railroads from Boston to Provi- 
dence, Worcester, and Lowell about two years. 

The track of the Granite Railway was originally composed of stone 
crossties bedded in the ground at Intervals of eight feet with wooden 
rails faced with a bar of iron on which the wheels ran. By 1837 the 
wooden rails had been replaced with stringers of granite hammered 
smooth on the upper face and having similar bars of Iron pinned to their 
tops. It was officially stated that the maintenance costs on this form 
of track had not amounted to ten dollars a year, and the track continued 
In use until 1871, when It was sold to the Old Colony Railroad Company 
and replaced by a modern railroad construction. The first car had 
wheels six and a half feet in diameter with the load carried on a plat- 
form running just clear of the rails and hung from the axles by chains. 
The capacity was about six tons. 

In 1846 the Granite Railway Company was authorized to extend 
its road, crossing the Neponset River not over five hundred feet below 
the Granite toll bridge and uniting with the newly chartered Dorches- 
ter and Milton Branch Railroad in Dorchester. It was also given 
authority to sell Its road to the Old Colony Railroad Company, a privi- 
lege which was renewed In 1848 but which was not utilized until 1871. 
Then the Old Colony introduced a curve in the track at the foot of the 
hill on the edge of the marshes and carried the track easterly along the 
southerly bank of the river to a junction with Its main line at Atlantic. 
The section running out over the marsh and the pier at Gulliver's Creek 
were thus left out of the reckoning, but the pier Is still to be plainly 
traced, and on it can be seen to-day about two hundred feet of the old 
granite rails still In the place where they carried the cars of stone. The 
Iron plates which received the tread of the wheels are gone but rust 
clearly shows where they were, and the pins which held them are yet 
In place. 

It would seem that the drivers of teams which passed over the 
Granite Bridge were not satisfied with the capacity of the railway car, 
for the company was obliged to aSk the passage of an act In 1845 by 
which the owner of a load of over seven tons was made liable for any 
damage done to the bridge. 

With Yankee shrewdness the company reported the bridge and road 
as costing fifteen thousand dollars, all that the law allowed, which does 
not seem to have been an unreasonable figure. There was consider- 
able difficult construction of the road across the soft marsh and the 
[208] 



THE TURNPIKES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

bridge abutments must have been costly to build. The corporation made 
returns of business from 1840 to 1854, but complete for only eleven 
years. For those years the net earnings were about three hundred and 
seventeen dollars on an average, or two and eleven hundredths per cent. 
The gross receipts ran from five hundred and fifty to fifteen' hundred 
dollars, but generally around seven or eight hundred. In one year only, 
1852, was a loss reported when the business ran behind to the amount ; 
of three hundred and sixty-three dollars. 

May 4, 1865, the Norfolk county commissioners were authorized 
to lay out the bridge and road as a public highway. The property had 
fallen into a bad condition and the commissioners were required to put 
the same into proper repair, after which the towns of Dorchester and 
Milton were to assume the maintenance. The commissioners, under 
that authority, laid out the road and bridge September 8, 1865. 

The present bridge was in part built under the provisions of an act 
passed June 13, 1913, by which a commission was provided for the 
purpose of constructing a new bridge with suitable approaches, sub- 
stantially replacing the old bridge. Seventy thousand dollars was to be 
advanced by the Commonwealth to be repaid later by Suffolk and Nor- 
folk counties, Milton, and Quincy. The control is now vested in the 
mayor of Boston and the chairman of the selectmen of Milton. 

We have previously noted the effort to build a road by the Tyrlng- 
ham and Sandisfield Turnpike Corporation and concluded that the effort 
was in vain. In 1841, February 27, the Clam River Turnpike Corpora- 
tion was formed to carry out the same purpose. The route allowed this 
company was from New Boston "in Sandisfield to Hubbard's cider mill 
in Tyringham, following up the Clam River and down Hop Brook. At 
the date of this charter there were several railroads actually built and 
in operation in Massachusetts, and the builders of the Western Railroad 
were then cleaving the Berkshires. The day of the turnpike had passed 
with the demonstration of the success of the locomotive, and this corpo- 
ration was born too late. Not even a location by a committee of the 
court was secured and the whole enterprise faded away. 

That there was some need of a road in the route specified is evident 
from the fact that the local authorities later did build a public road be- 
tween West Otis and Tryingham on the line allowed the Clam River 
Corporation. 

Twenty-seven years later, March- 23, 1868, the Chelsea Beach and 
Saugus Bridge and Turnpike Company was incorporated, the last in 
Massachusetts. Its proposed road was to lead from the Ocean House 
in North Chelsea, now Revere, to the Salem Turnpike in Saugus op- 
posite the junction with the Saugus Road. Apparently this road was to 
be about a mile long, starting at the outer end of the Point of Pines, and 
running straight, as was a turnpike's wont, across the marshes to the 

[209] 





Turnpike Drive and Meguntilcook Lake, Camden, Maine. Camden Turnpike 
Southgate Farm, Scarboro, Maine. First Cumberland Turnpike 

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Salem Turnpike near the Saugus and Lynn boundary. It does not 
appear that anything beyond securing the charter was ever done. 

Although the turnpike era was long past, this corporation does not 
altogether stand alone. Its purpose plainly was to give entrance to a 
pleasure resort, and many similar turnpike charters are found on the 
New Hampshire legislative records at the same and later dates, provid- 
ing for roads to the summits of several of the noted mountains of that 
state. 



THE TURNPIKES OF MAINE 

Upon the severance of Maine from Massachusetts in 1820, the turn- 
pike inheritance consisted of five roads: The First Cumberland Turn- 
pike, in Scarboro; the Bath Bridge and Turnpike, from Brunswick 
to Bath; the Wiscasset and Woolwich; the Wiscasset and Augusta; and 
the Camden turnpikes. Each of these has been treated in its order in 
the Massachusetts section. 

Evidently anticipating considerable business in forming corporations 
for that purpose, the new state adopted a comprehensive code of general 
laws closely following the Massachusetts practice, in which the pro- 
cedure in such cases was fully outlined. The only radical departure 
frorh Massachusetts custom was in delegating to the county commis- 
sioners instead of to a committee appointed by the court the duty of lay- 
ing out the line of the road. But the labor of preparing these laws was 
wasted, for only one company was formed by the Maine legislature and 
that company failed to carry out its plans. 

An act was passed in 1822 which from its title would seem to be the 
formation of a turnpike corporation, but it was not; for by it was cre- 
ated the company which built and operated for many years the Machias 
Toll Bridge across Middle River in Machias. 

Two sets of petitioners besieged the legislature of 1833, ^^^h asking 
for a turnpike franchise from Bangor to Levant Village. Committees 
were appointed on each petition to view the route proposed but no fur- 
ther action has been found on the records. 

March 9, 1863, the Milford and Princeton Turnpike Company was 
chartered to build 

from some point on the road in Greenfield in the county of Penobscot, to near the 
depot of Lewy's Island Railroad in Princeton. 

Whipple's " Geological View of the District of Maine," published 
in 18 16, tells of great pains taken in Penobscot County in the location 
of roads, and that many had been built by the state and by various land- 
owners, from which it may be inferred that the field had not many open- 
ings for turnpike improvement. However that may be, the project of 
1863 does not seem to have offered any great inducements. 

In 1866 action was taken to assist the company to construct its road. 

[211] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

The legislature resolved that thirty thousand dollars should be appro- 
priated from the sale of public lands and timber, and that as fast as the 
corporation had expended thirteen thousand dollars of its own money, 
the state should contribute ten thousand dollars of the appropriation 
to continue the work. 

The name of the corporation was changed in the same year to 
Granger Turnpike Company, and under that name aired its difficulties 
before the legislature of 1870. Certain sums of money had been set 
aside by the state, in consequence of the resolve of 1866, which had not 
been paid to the company, and in 1876 the state treasurer was directed 
to turn such funds back into the treasury. 

So it is clear that the only company ever formed In Maine did not 
succeed in carrying out its plans. 



[212] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMSPHIRE 



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THREE days behind Massachusetts, New Hampshire set the 
turnpike movement going on the fourteenth day of June, 1796, 
when the " Proprietors of New Hampshire Turnpike Road " 
were incorporated. It would seem that the promoters of this road did 
not anticipate the eighty-one other corporations which were to follow 
them when they chose a name with so little to distinguish it and so little 
suggestive of the road's location. But the movement grew, two more 
being incorporated in the same century, while forty-seven appeared on 
the statute books during the first ten years of the nineteenth. In this state 
the agitation for turnpikes continued long after It had been looked on as 
a thing of the dim past in the others. Seven acts of incorporation were 
passed in the sixties, seven In the seventies, three In the eighties, and one 
in 1893, nearly all of which were exploited In the interests of summer 
tourist travel. 

As in Massachusetts, the custom in New Hampshire generally called 
for the location and building of entirely new roads, although there 
were cases in which old roads were utilized. But in the matter of tolls 
the Granite State followed the lead of Pennsylvania and adopted a 
system which has stood the test of time, It being on a mileage basis. 
Under this system the gates and tollhouses could be erected at any suit- 
able points, and the rates for collection scaled according to the distance 
to the adjoining gates. The rates of toll granted to the first company 
were as follows : 

Per mile. 
Cents. 

Every ten sheep or hogs i 

Every ten cattle . . 2 

Every horse and his rider, or led horse i 

Every sulkey, chair, or chaise, with one horse and two wheels 1 14 

Every chariot, coach, stage, waggon, phaeton, or chaise with two horses 

ana four wheels 3 

Either of the carriages last mentioned with four horses 3 

Every other carriage of pleasure the like sum according to the number 
of wheels and horses drawing the same. 

Each cart or other carriage of burthen drawn by one beast i 

Each waggon, cart, or other carriage of burthen drawn by two beasts . . 1% 

If by more than two, one cent for each additional yoke of oxen or horse. 

Each sleigh drawn by one horse 114 

By two horses 2 

If by more than two, one cent for each horse. 

[215] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Per mile. 
Cents. 

Each sled drawn by one horse i 

Each sled drawn by two horses or yoke of oxen .• • • '"'•d 

If by more than two horses or a yoke of oxen one cent for each pair of 
horses or yoke of oxen. 

One might wonder after inspection of the above how a toll gatherer 
would compute the lawful toll on a flock of turkeys such as were often 
driven over the roads in the old days, but the schedule seems to be very 
complete otherwise, and it is a source of surprise to learn that there was 
an omission which gave rise to much trouble. The vehicle which was 
not classified was the " sleigh of burthen." Consultation of the dic- 
tionary leaves us with the feeling that between sleds and sleighs of vari- 
ous horse power the " sleigh of burthen " would hardly have found a 
vacancy on the above list, but such vacancy was found. It would seem 
that " sleigh of burthen " must have been a local name for what we now 
call a " pung," and that it was considered neither a sled on low solid' 
runners, nor a sleigh for pleasure riding. 

Whereas impositions on the publick have taken place in consequence of the 
omission of the words " sleigh of burthen," after the word " sled " in several acts 
passed for the purpose aforesaid ; for remedy whereof — 

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in general court convened, 
That from and after the passing this act, every sleigh of burthen shall pay no more 
toll than is charged on a sled drawn by the same number of beasts, although the 
words " sleigh of burthen " are not inserted in said act or acts, 

after the passage of which on June 17, 1806, we hope there was no more 
trouble. 

The straight-line requirement does not appear in any of the New 
Hampshire charters, due no doubt to the rugged topography which for- 
bade such a layout. From first to last the authority to build and main- 
tain a road was expressed as follows : 

And be it further enacted, that the said Corporation are empowered to survey, lay 
out, make, and keep in repair, a Turnpike-road or highway of four rods wide in such 
rout or track as, in the best of their judgment and skill, will combine shortness of 
distance with the most practicable ground from to 

Combining shortness of distance with the most practicable ground is 
certainly an acceptable definition of a modern scientific location, and 
has been met before in connection with the Lancaster Turnpike of 
Pennsylvania. 

Special acts were passed in nearly every emergency in New Hamp- 
shire, only four general acts being found. Three of these appear in the 
Revised Statutes of 1830, but they had disappeared in 1842. One was 
the act just quoted; another, passed in 1806,^ allowed the proprietors 
of turnpike roads and toll bridges to reduce their tolls whenever they 
wished and as much as they wished, a most inestimable privilege; the 

1 Volume i6, page 383, New Hampshire Acts. 
[216] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

third ^ provided that alterations in a road might be made upon applica- 
tion to the court of common pleas, and upon its order. In the revision 
of 1857 a new law appeared providing that the franchise of any corpo- 
ration entitled to collect toll might be seized on execution and sold at 
auction. Bids were made in units of time, the successful bidder being 
the one offering the shortest time, and being entitled to collect tolls 
during the period named in his bid, in return for which he paid the judg- 
ment. Except for these few laws each corporation was controlled by 
special acts passed in reference to it. 



THE NEW HAMPSHIRE TURNPIKE 

As already stated the first company was entitled the Proprietors of 
New Hampshire Turnpike Road. The petition for incorporation set 
forth that communication between the seacoast and the interior parts 
of the state might be made much more easy, convenient, and less expen- 
sive than hitherto by a direct road from Concord to the Piscataqua 
Bridge; but that "the expensiveness " of such an undertaking would 
render it difEcult of accomplishment " otherwise than by an incorporated 
company " to be " indemnified by a toll for the sums that should be 
expended " by it.^ 

This company's road was promptly completed, covering a distance 
of thirty-six miles and passing through the towns of Durham, Lee, Bar- 
rington, Nottingham, Northwood, Epsom, Chichester, Pembroke, and 
Concord. Its eastern terminus was at the Piscataqua Bridge, which 
connected Durham and Newington over a half mile of water, and was 
considered in those days a marvel of bridge building. The western end 
was at the " Federal Bridge " over the Merrimac in Concord, and the 
road there is now known as Portsmouth Street.* In 1803 an additional 
act was passed which allowed the building of a branch turnpike leaving 
the main road on the " Dark Plains," about two and a half miles from 
the " Federal Bridge," and running southwesterly to the Concord 
Bridge. 

No tolls were to be collected on any mile until six hundred dollars 
had been expended thereon or a proportionate sum upon several miles 
covered by one gate. Miss Thompson, in " Landmarks In Ancient 
Dover," says that proposals for construction were invited in Ports- 
mouth October 3, 1800, and that March 19, 1803, public notice was 
given that the required sums had been expended and that the company 
would avail itself of the privilege of collecting tolls on and after April i 
of that year. Miss Thompson states the cost of construction as having 
been nine hundred dollars a mile. 

' Volume 21, page 121, Acts of 1818, amended Volume 24, page 147, 1827. 
^ McClintock's " History of New Hampshire," page 456. 

' " History of Concord, New Hampshire," City Historical Commission,. James O. Lyford, 
editor, 1896. 

[217] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

As rates of toll were by the mile the company was at liberty to erect 
as many gates as it saw fit, and it appears that there were three within 
the limits of the town of Durham. The first was near Johnson's Creek; 
the second a little below Durham Corner; and the third at Mast Road 
crossing. A short distance farther and within the town of Lee another 
gate was found at the Oyster River Bridge. By an act passed June 14, 
1824, the corporation was allowed to sell its road to the various towns 
through which it passed. Concord's history tells us that that town voted 
in the same year to purchase its portion of the road if the price was not 
over five hundred dollars, and from a communication to the New Hamp- 
shire Gazette of October 26, 1824, we learn that Portsmouth had ap- 
propriated a sum not in excess of four thousand dollars for the same 
purpose. Wadleigh's " Notable Events in the History of Dover " 
gives January 28, 1825, as the date on which the road became free 
to all. 

The following notes from the first New Hampshire charter will be 
interesting. 

Every twenty years an account of the receipts and expenditures was 
to be rendered to the judges of the supreme court, neglect to result in 
" forfeiture of the privileges of this act in future." This was better 
than the Massachusetts acts which provided no penalty and hence were 
generally disregarded. 

If the net profits shown by such account were in excess of twelve 
per cent the judges were to reduce the rates of toll, but if less than six 
per cent they were to be increased. 

The limit within which the road should be completed was set at ten 
years. The corporation was to be liable to indictment, and fine, as were 
the towns, for failure to keep the road in good order. 

The section forbidding the collection of tolls until six hundred dollars 
had been expended on one or several miles is inconsistent with the pur- 
pose of building a " direct road," as expressed in the petition for in- 
corporation, and the conclusion Is readily reached that the clause was 
Inadvertently Inserted. At that date the only charters available for 
guides short of New York or Pennsylvania were four which had been 
granted in Connecticut and two in Rhode Island, all of which had been 
granted for the purpose of making turnpikes of existing roads; so it Is 
easy to Imagine how the mistake occurred. 

Visitors to Concord see many neat granite stones marking spots of 
historical Interest; and If one will go to the east end of the Pennecook 
Street Bridge over the Merrimac he will find there such a marker. 
From it he will learn that there Is the site of the first ferry which was 
established by Captain Ebenezer Eastman In 1727, and that Tucker's 
Ferry was In operation there In 1785, the Federal Bridge appearing In 
1798. Another note should be cut on that stone as It also marks the 
westerly terminus of the First New Hampshire Turnpike In 1798 or 
about that year. 
[218] 






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Lottery Bridge, Claremont, N. H. Second Xew Hampshire Turnpike 

Plate LVII 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Passing over the bridge and taking the first road to the right brings 
one to Portsmouth Street, the old turnpike as It was first built. This 
route made the terminus on the Merrlmac nearly two miles north of the 
business center of Concord, and the turnpike proprietors must have only 
waited the completion of the Concord Bridge to secure a better entrance 
to Concord. As stated, this was done in consequence of an act of 1803, 
a new road being cut from a point on the Dark Plains straight to the 
Concord Bridge. That road now enters Concord as Bridge Street and 
leads the traveler to Main Street nearly opposite the state house. It 
is a state highway, but Portsmouth Street is a neglected sandy track 
through the woods. 

Both the Federal and Concord bridges were authorized by acts of 
incorporation passed in 1795, the Federal being opened in 1798 and the 
Concord a few years later. 



THE SECOND NEW HAMPSHIRE TURNPIKE 

The Second New Hampshire Turnpike Corporation was created In 
1799 and lasted until 1837, when its charter was repealed. Its route 
was " from lottery bridge in Claremont to the plain In Amherst, near 
the Court House." The matter of this turnpike was considered at an 
Antrim town meeting November 18, 1799, and a vote of "no objec- 
tion " was passed. Cochrane wrote in his " History of Antrim " that the 
road was built across the eastern edge of that town in 1800 and for 
twenty-five years carried an enormous traffic of farm products and 
timber to Boston, the teams returning with loads of rum and store goods. 
The gates were about eight miles apart, there being two in Francestown 
and one at Hillsboro Upper Village. Although not obliged to do 
so by its charter this company fell into the prevailing error and made Its 
road too straight, for Cochrane tells us that free roads in better loca- 
tions cut deeply Into Its earnings. 



THE THIRD NEW HAMPSHIRE TURNPIKE 

The Proprietors of the Third Turnpike Road in New Hampshire 
were incorporated December 27, 1799, to build " from Bellows Falls 
In Walpole, on the Connecticut River, through Keene, toward Boston, 
to the Massachusetts line," and in 1808 were allowed to build a short 
branch in the town of Marlboro. Cutter tells In his " History of 
Jaffrey " that when the turnpike became available it soon became the 
common practice for most people to carry their products to Boston In 
their own teams, after snow fell, and It was not uncommon to see from 
twenty to forty traveling together. 

The corporation was organized In February, 1800, at a meeting held 
in Major William Todd's tavern in Keene, and construction was started 

[219] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



the same year we learn from Griffin's " History of Keene." The turn- 
pike did not enter the center of Keene, that is Central Square, but curv- 
ing to the west passed around it. In 1808, at the solicitation of Keene's 
selectmen, a revision of the line was made in that village and the present 
straight lines of Court Street became the new turnpike limits. 

In December, 1803, Dearborn Emerson started a line of stages over 
this road, running between Boston and Bellows Falls. Under earlier 
conditions it had cost six dollars to be carried from Keene to Boston, 
but Mr. Emerson's enterprise reduced the fare to four-fifty. 

June 18, 1 801, this corporation obtained from the Massachusetts 
legislature an act granting it the right to extend Its road about four miles 
into that state. By 1821 the business had become so poor that the 
owners had practically abandoned the road, and we find the town of 
Keene voting In that year to keep the old turnpike In repair. Two years 
later the town laid It out as a public highway. 

In 1824 the corporation was allowed to surrender Its charter and turn 
Its road over to the municipalities, which It had already done apparently. 
July 4, 1837, the legislature repealed the act of Incorporation. 

The location of this road at Bellows Falls was determined by the 
fact that a bridge across the Connecticut, the first one erected over that 
river, was already in place. Another turnpike company was Incorpo- 
rated In Vermont six weeks before the act creating the Third New 
Hampshire, which continued the line of travel from the bridge at Bel- 
lows Falls well along toward Rutland. That company was the Green 
Mountain, and in connection with it in the Vermont section some notes 
on the Bellows Falls Bridge are given. 

The Third New Hampshire Turnpike was the predecessor of the 
Cheshire Railroad, now the Cheshire Branch of the FItchburg Division 
of the Boston and Maine Railroad. But while the turnpike had dared 
to cross the foot of Monadnock's steep sides, the railroad engineers 
used better judgment and bore their road well to the south. 

THE FOURTH NEW HAMPSHIRE TURNPIKE 

The Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike Corporation was formed in 
1800 with authority to build from " the east bank of the Connecticut 
River in Lebanon, nearly opposite the mouth of White River, to the 
west bank of the Merrlmac River in Salisbury or Boscawen; and a 
branch running to it southeasterly from White River Falls Bridge In 
Hanover." Boscawen was selected for the easterly terminus and the 
road began there at the bridge from Fishervllle, according to Coffin's 
" History of Boscawen and Webster," which also notes that turnpikes 
were built in response to the increasing demands of travelers, due to the 
rapid advance of civilization northward to northern New Hampshire 
and Vermont. 

Directly opposite to the Massachusetts custom, the Incorporators of 
[220] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

New Hampshire companies were allowed to lay out their roads in ac- 
cordance with their own judgment, a much more equitable method and 
which, subject to approval by a public-service commission, now prevails 
generally in provisions for railroad locations. In this connection it is 
interesting to note a statement in an article on this corporation in the 
Granite Monthly for March, i88i,^ that this road was located by a 
committee selected entirely from men outside of New Hampshire. 
McClintock says the estimated cost was six hundred dollars a mile, but 
the road actually cost $61,157, or over $1200 a mile. 

Eastman's " History of Andover " recites that completion of the 
road was delayed by the competition between the south and center vil- 
lages of Salisbury, which was finally compromised by building through 
both. The Andover section was built by Captain Stephen Harriman of 
Vermont, who gathered quite a remarkable contractor's outfit. A light 
frame house was built on trucks for the accommodation of himself and 
family, which was moved as the work progressed by eight yoke of oxen. 
The twenty men who composed his force were accommodated in tents, 
and two daughters of the boss prepared their meals by means of a large 
iron-hooped brick oven built on a solid platform on wheels. The road 
was completed and opened in the fall of 1804, and the toll gatherers 
installed, being sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties and giving 
sureties for five hundred dollars each. 

As In the country served by the Third New Hampshire, the custom 
soon prevailed in the section of the Fourth of making annual fall trips 
to Boston for the disposal of products. On many a pleasant winter 
evening the Common, east of Moulton's Tavern in Andover, might have 
been seen covered with parked sleighs and sleds of many varieties, from 
the huge van drawn by eight horses to the little one-horse pung filled 
with the butter, cheese, poultry, etc., of the New Hampshire or Ver- 
mont farmer seeking a market " down below." 

In 1833 changes in the road were allowed In Lebanon and Enfield, 
and in 1840 the road became free, Andover paying five hundred and 
sixty-six dollars for the privilege of owning the portion in that town. 
Eastman says that travel thereupon Increased and continued In a steady 
stream for about seven years, or until the Northern Railroad was opened 
between Concord and White River Junction. A line of freight wagons 
was run by Balch, each team composed of eight well-groomed white 
horses, one seat being occupied by a stalwart negro, a striking figure 
and unusual in those days. Heavy pieces of single freight were taken 
by four- or six-horse teams; while the miscellaneous travel was carried 
in three-horse or " spike " teams; two-horse or " pod " teams; and one- 
horse teams or pungs in winter. 

The Fourth New Hampshire was the predecessor of the Southern 
Division of the Boston and Maine from Concord to White River Junc- 
tion, but took a much more direct course. Travelers by rail to-day may 

1 By John M. Shirley, Esq. 

[221] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

observe the old turnpike close beside the track between Andover and 
Potter Place stations and again in Lebanon, but elsewhere the two are 
far apart. 

The Fifth New Hampshire Turnpike Corporation hoped to build 
about forty miles of road from Piscataqua Bridge to Meredith Bridge, 
connecting Portsmouth with Lake Winnepesaukee. A five years' exten- 
sion of time was secured in 1810 but nothing further has been found. 

The Sixth New Hampshire Turnpike Corporation, chartered in 1802, 
appears to have been primarily a toll-bridge corporation, although it 
had authority to build about ten miles of turnpike through Hinsdale 
and Winchester to connect with the branch of the Fifth Massachusetts 
which was built to the state line prior to 1806. The New Hampshire 
corporation had authority to build a toll bridge across the Connecticut 
River in Hinsdale and completed the same in 1804. The bridge was 
almost immediately destroyed and was rebuilt in 1805, this time stand- 
ing until 1807, when it was seriously damaged by a freshet. To enable 
the company to finance the repairs the legislature of 1807 gave sanction 
to a lottery by which eight thousand dollars might be raised. The name 
of the corporation was changed In 1852 to Hinsdale Bridge Corpora- 
tion, which justifies the supposition that the turnpike had been previously 
abandoned. 

THE BRANCH TURNPIKE 

The Branch Road and Bridge Corporation was granted Its charter 
in the same year to build from the north line of Fitzwilliam to a road 
between Keene and Swanzey. This seems to have been a part of a 
scheme of which the Worcester and Fitzwilliam was to form the Massa- 
chusetts section, but the New Hampshire people had better luck, for the 
" History of Keene " tells us that construction was commenced in 1803 
and carried through. 

A bridge that would stay In place had never been built across the 
little river at the foot of Keene's main street, so town and turnpike 
united, the town contributing four hundred dollars, and built the first 
" permanent " bridge in that location. 

Another corporation was later formed which built a section of the 
same route extending about halfway across the town of Fitzwilliam, 
leaving the balance to be traveled over the public road. 

From Keene to the Massachusetts line these two turnpikes followed 
closely along the route later adopted by the engineers of the Cheshire 
Railroad, and while the Third New Hampshire anticipated that line in 
its general plan the Branch and the Fitzwilliam were its predecessors 
in their limited locality. 
[222] 







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THE ORFORD TURNPIKE 

The Orford Turnpike Corporation followed In 1803 with a fran- 
chise to build from Orford Bridge on the Connecticut River, through 
Orford and Wentworth to Aiken's Bridge on the Baker's River. The 
power to take land was not granted in the original act of incorporation, 
and two years later they were back asking that that omission might be 
remedied. The request was granted and we may suppose that they then 
proceeded to build. No records nor references to this road have been 
found, except one act of the legislature which speaks of the Orford 
Turnpike as an existing road. 

THE TENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE TURNPIKE 

The Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike Corporation, chartered In 
1803, was the means of bringing all the north country into communi- 
cation with the seaports and of stimulating settlement and development 
to a greater extent than any other New England road. 

Following the Revolutionary War settlements began to creep up the 
valley of the Connecticut, and by 1785 a considerable number of people 
had made their homes as far north as Lancaster, New Hampshire. But 
their zeal had exceeded their prudence and once settled there they 
found themselves practically Isolated, the only means of communication 
with the older parts of the country being by way of the Connecticut 
River which, for all reasonable purposes, was passable only in winter 
when frozen over. Much trapping was done, the accumulated skins 
being sent down the river when the traveling became good. It Is related 
that Emmons Stockwell, a leading pioneer of Lancaster, on such a trip 
lost his horse and a valuable load of furs and almost his life by break- 
ing through the Ice. As late as 1791 the legislature was accustomed to 
refuse a seat to the representative from Coos County on account of lack 
of evidence of his election, due to the difficulties of communication. 
Southeasterly to southwesterly, except through the Connecticut Valley, 
the mighty towering ranges of the White Mountains seemed to shut off 
all possibility of northern Coos obtaining any direct route to the southern 
part of the state. The Crawford Notch had been discovered In 1771 
by Timothy Nash, one of the pioneers of Lancaster, who had trailed 
a moose up one of the ravines, and he had noted the existence of an old 
Indian trail, but no thought was given for many years to the chance that 
a route might be found in that direction. Gradually, however, a rough 
pioneer road was developed, which was very difficult to keep in repair, 
and In 1803 the corporation was formed to improve the same as a 
turnpike. 

The description of the route, as contained in the act of incorpora- 
tion, read " from the uper line in Bartlett through the Notch in the white 

[223] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

hills, containing twenty miles." In such brief words was expressed the 
location of a road which for scenic grandeur has few equals in the 
world. Winding down through the bottom of that gigantic cleft in 
the mountains, with the peaks towering thousands of feet almost directly 
overhead and often hidden from view by the clouds, the builders of 
this road must have felt a reverential awe, as if in the immediate pres- 
ence of Divinity itself. The scene is thrilling enough to-day when viewed 
from passing railroad train or automobile; even more so when seen, as 
by the writer, from on foot; but who can conceive the feelings of one 
who looked upon those mountain sides a century ago when in their 
primeval glory, and who was unprepared by painting or written descrip- 
tion for the scene which burst upon him. Through such grandeur the 
Tenth New Hampshire thrust its road, which immediately became an 
avenue of great importance, and over which a heavy stream of traffic 
flowed for many years. 

The " History of Coos County " says of this road: 

This furnished an avenue to the seaports and became one of the best paying 
roads in all northern New Hampshire. Until the advent of the railroad, this was 
the great outlet of Coos County, and the thoroughfare over which its merchandise 
came from Portland. In winter often, lines of teams from Coos, over half a mile 
in length, might be seen going down with tough Canadian horses harnessed to 
pungs or sleighs, loaded with pot or pearl ash, butter, cheese, pork, lard, and 
peltry, returning with well assorted loads of merchandise. 

In the heart of the Notch between the stupendous mountain sides the 
Willey family made their home beside the turnpike, and were widely 
known for several years among those traveling the road. One June 
morning in 1826 the father of the family witnessed one of the landslides 
which have left such deep scars on the slopes, and after that the family 
felt less secure in their home beneath the overhanging mountains. So 
when the furious storm of August 27 in the same year burst upon them 
their fears became more acute, and when above the roar of the storm 
they heard the grinding and crashing of another slide on its way down 
the mountain, a panic seized the entire family and they rushed forth 
from the shelter of the house directly into the path of the landslide, by 
which they were crushed. When traffic was resumed the first to pass 
found the Willey House standing as of old but without occupants. Vari- 
ous household articles were scattered around, as they had been dropped 
m the moment of flight, and the family Bible lay open on the table. For 
many days the fate of the family was unknown, but their bodies were 
finally uncovered by the work of repairing the road.^ 

The Tenth New Hampshire was a part of a comprehensive turnpike 
scheme which planned to connect Portland with Lake Champlain. We 
have already noted the incorporation of a company to build a turnpike 
through the Maine towns of Fryeburg, Baldwin, and Standish on the 

1 "The White Mountains," Harper's Monthly, Volume 55, page 327 
[224J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

way to Portland, and that the road did not appear in consequence of 
such incorporation. Such a turnpike would have been another link in 
the scheme. The Littleton Turnpike, incorporated later, was to connect 
the Tenth with the Connecticut River at Upper Waterford; and from 
there to Lake Champlain the Northern Turnpike of Vermont was to 
complete the route. But the Littleton did not materialize, and the 
Northern succeeded in building only about eight miles of its road from 
St. Johnsbury to Danville. So the great turnpike scheme failed of con- 
summation, but the public roads over the greater part of the route were 
sufficiently good to encourage the continuance of the heavy traffic de- 
manded by the trade of Coos County and northern Vermont. 

Certain doings of the corporation were confirmed by the legislature 
by an act passed in 1853, froi" which It appears that the turnpike con- 
tinued its collections for a full half-century and only ceased, like many 
of its Massachusetts contemporaries, when obliged to do so by the com- 
peting railroad. 

In turnpike days the travelers were stern and sober men Intent upon 
the hard problems of wresting a living from the pioneer soil, or those 
engaged in the weary and arduous task of teaming the necessary freight 
over the hundred miles of dusty roads. Seldom we can imagine did 
women or children pass over the turnpike, and but few sounds of mer- 
riment might be heard. To those who did pass, luxury was unknown, 
and the journey was made with the jolting and discomfort of " dead-ex " 
wagons. 

How different to-day is the personnel of travel. Almost entirely is 
it made up of light-hearted summer tourists, the gay dresses and laugh- 
ing voices of the fair sex predominating, as they whirl by in luxurious 
automobile or view the wonderful scenery from the specially fitted ob- 
servation car on the railroad. 

Along the primitive road through the Notch, which is said to have 
been built as early as 1785, a number of small taverns for the enter- 
tainment of travelers, including the Willey House, were built at an early 
date. But with the advent of the turnpike in 1803 the first real hotel in 
the White Mountain region appeared. It being erected near the site of 
the present Fabyan House. This was an ambitious structure of two 
stories and its opening marked an era In the development of transporta- 
tion to the north country. 

The storm of 1826, to which allusion has already been made, was 
almost a vital blow to the turnpike, many miles of the road being washed 
away and all but two of Its many bridges emigrating toward the ocean. 
Tradition tells us that the business men of Portland, appreciative of the 
great good done to that town by the Tenth New Hampshire, made a 
liberal contribution of cash toward the reconstruction of the road. 

The Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad, realizing the old turnpike 
ambition of connecting Portland with northern Vermont, completed its 
track through the Crawford Notch and commenced running its trains 

[225] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

in 1876, which is as near the date of the freeing of the Tenth New 
Hampshire Turnpike as we have been able to determine. Most of the 
authorities consulted agree that the road became free about the time 
that the railroad was opened. 

THE MAYHEW TURNPIKE 

The Mayhew Turnpike Corporation, created in 1803, built a road 
sixteen miles in length from the southerly part of Bristol to the westerly 
edge of Plymouth near the Rumney line. The charter did not confer 
the right to take land by condemnation, which delayed the beginning 
of the work. In 1805 that omission was remedied and the road was 
promptly built, being completed that same year. The turnpike ran 
through the central part of Bristol, skirted the eastern shore of New 
Found Lake, and crossed the eastern part of Hebron and the western 
part of Plymouth to a junction with the old " Cohos Road," which ran 
from Plymouth to Haverhill. 

We get some information regarding this road from Musgrove's 
" History of Bristol," which tells us that the southerly termination of it 
was at the " Peaslee Graveyard south of Smith's River." One tollgate 
was on North Main Street and was attended for many years by the 
Rev. Walter Sleeper and his wife. Mrs. Sleeper must have been a 
woman of spirit, for it is related that one day after a storm a traveler, 
complaining that the road had not been broken out, refused to pay his 
toll, upon which she refused to open the gate. Finally he threw a silver 
dollar at her feet in the snow. Returning from the house with the 
change in small pieces she made delivery to him as she had received 
the dollar. A deed found in the registry of deeds in Woodsville es- 
tablishes the location of this tollhouse. The land was conveyed to the 
corporation by Moses Sleeper and is described as a part of " lot 22 in 
the 3rd division," which lot lay across the outlet of New Found Lake 
about two thirds of the distance down to the confluence with the Pemi- 
gewasset River. It was then in Bridgewater, but Is now a part of Bris- 
tol, and In 18 16 the corporation was allowed to buy not over three acres 
near the tollgate, probably that the toll gatherer might have a garden. 

At the November term of court in 1839 ^ petition was entered for 
a public layout over this turnpike, and In September, 1840, the road was 
made free, the corporation being awarded sixteen hundred dollars' 
compensation. 

It is unlikely that this turnpike enjoyed a monopoly. Its object was 
to make a short cut across a long curve made by the road which followed 
the bank of the Pemlgewasset through Bridgewater and Plymouth. 
The westerly part of Bridgewater through which the Mayhew passed 
is rough and hilly, and the turnpike had many steep ascents which 
made it a weak competitor with the easy grades of the " River Road." 
The latter was an ancient thoroughfare, being the southerly contlnu- 
[226] 





Plate LX — Webster Tavern, Bridgewater, New Hampshire 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

ation of the old " Cohos Road," connecting that route with Concord 
and through that place with the Massachusetts region. 

As early as 1760 a house was erected on the "River Road," near 
the banks of the Pemigewasset in eastern Bridgewater, which soon after 
was in use as a tavern. That the travel over the old road was not to 
any great extent diverted by the opening of the turnpike seems evident 
from the fact that another and larger house was erected within a hun- 
dred yards of the first one in 1806, the year after the completion of 
the Mayhew, to meet the increasing demands for hospitality. Under the 
able management of the Webster family these taverns thrived until the 
railroads finally diverted the travel which the turnpike could not entice 
away. 

The Webster taverns still stand with barns of unusual capacity for 
keeping horses and wagons near by. Within, the old houses possess a 
wealth of articles of days gone by. The old four-post bedsteads are 
still in use, and light is often supplied by means of the old-fashioned 
dipped tallow candles. In the dining room an old-time brick fireplace 
has in recent years been uncovered from the board and wall paper which 
was thought preferable by an older generation and offers a most at- 
tractive picture to the fortunate guest. In and around it are grouped 
the various utensils by which the luxury of a century ago was produced; 
the tongs, shovel, and andirons for producing warmth and the warming 
pan by which that warmth would accompany the guest to bed. On the 
left may be seen the old Dutch oven, and in front of the coals stands 
the tin baker in which the direct and reflected rays from the fire produce 
heat enough to bake. To the right is the old tavern office and bar, the 
old bracketed desk seen through the open door, while the facilities for 
serving drinks are indicated by the halved door with a shelf on the 
lower portion. 

THE DOVER TURNPIKE 

The proprietors of the Dover Turnpike Road were incorporated also 
in 1803 and opened a road from Dover through Somersworth to Salmon 
Falls on the way to South Berwick, Maine, on May 17, 1805. We learn 
from Wadleigh's " Notable Events in the History of Dover " that the 
road became free February 7, 1840. 

This road was promoted in connection with the Maine Turnpike 
Association, which proposed to continue the work to the Kennebec River 
at Augusta, but as we have already seen, the Maine corporation failed 
to carry out its plans. 

The Coventry Turnpike Corporation was another product of the 
legislature of 1803. It is doubtful if anything was done by this com- 
pany on its route from Warren to Haverhill, as another corporation a 
few years later was allowed to build over the same route. 

[227] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

The Bath Turnpike Corporation was created in 1804 to build 

from the Connecticut River, near the south line of Lyman, through Lyman, Bath, 
Landaff, Coventry, Peeling, and Thornton, to the east line of Sandwich. 

At the time of the application for the charter of this company a 
bridge was under construction across the Connecticut River at Mclndoe 
Falls, which was the point described above as " near the south line of 
Lyman." The westerly part of Lyman was set off in later years as the 
town of Monroe, but then the two towns were one. The Lyman Bridge 
Company was Incorporated in 1803, and built its bridge during the fol- 
lowing year. The first structure lasted an even thirty years and was 
replaced by the present wooden-covered bridge in the summer of 1834. 
Although the turnpike was never built, it is of interest as a part of the 
larger scheme of which the bridge was a unit. 

The Lyman Bridge consists of two spans of wooden Howe truss 
with board siding and shingle roof. Some thirty years ago the safety 
factor was increased by the insertion of wooden-packed arch beams from 
which the floor system was suspended, thus taking all load off the trusses 
which have since served only to support the walls and roof. The struc- 
ture offers a most interesting study for the bridge engineer, the most 
striking point being the evidence of the youth of the iron and steel in- 
dustry. Throughout the bridge except in the roof not a particle of iron 
was used, the various members being fastened together by means of 
wooden treenails. The exception is found in the use of hand-forged 
nails which held in place the old-fashioned hewn shingles. 

At the beginning of the eighty-second year of the bridge's existence 
the entire structure was subjected to a most thorough inspection to deter- 
mine what renewals were necessary for absolute safety. Not a trace 
of weakness or decay was found above the floor, and only about one- 
third of the stringers carrying the floor planking were found unfit for 
further use. Immediately after the defective stringers were replaced 
and an entire new floor of plank was laid, thus starting the bridge on 
another long career of usefulness. 

In connection with its bridge the corporation found it necessary to 
build a road from Mclndoe Village in Vermont, and from the village 
of Monroe in New Hampshire, about three quarters of a mile in all. 
The tollhouse and gate have always been located on the Vermont side 
close to the bridge. 

Had the turnpike been built, thus putting the bridge on an important 
long line of road, the bridge corporation would doubtless have had a 
remunerative investment, but being left by itself the bridge and its con- 
necting roads have served merely as a local connection between two 
country districts. Consequently while the earnings have always com- 
fortably exceeded the expenses the property has never been a gilt-edged 
security, and of late years has not profited by the increased automobile 
touring. 

[228] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

A majority of the corporation's stock was acquired many years ago 
by the Van Dykes, who were then operating the lumber business and log 
drives on the Connecticut River. It is now entirely owned by the Con- 
necticut Valley Lumber Company. 

In 1804 the Union Turnpike Corporation was formed and given the 
privilege of building a road " from the Second New Hampshire Turn- 
pike, in Hillsboro, "through Heniker and Hopkinton, to Concord main 
street." No more has been found concerning this road, and since 
the official " History of Concord " fails to include It in a selected list 
of such roads which "were of direct concern to Concord" it is con- 
cluded that the road was not built. 

The Great Ossipee Turnpike Corporation, formed in 1804, was a 
part of the plan which we have already noted in connection with the 
Ossapee Turnpike Corporation formed in Massachusetts March 16, 
1805. The scheme was to connect Sandwich, New Hampshire, with the 
Maine port of Saco by way of Effingham, but it does not seem that any 
steps were taken toward construction of the road. 

We have seen the proposal to connect Lake Champlain with Port- 
land, Maine, by a grand series of turnpikes which included the Tenth 
New Hampshire. Preliminaries for another section were taken In 1804 
when the Littleton Turnpike Corporation was incorporated. No im- 
mediate results appeared, and in 1807 the corporation secured an act 
amending its original route, so that It then read " from the end of the 
Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike, near the Notch, through Bretton 
Woods, Bethlehem, and Littleton, to the Connecticut River opposite the 
Northern Vermont Turnpike." In 1808 and again In 18 12 extensions 
of time were secured, and the last time the company was allowed to 
terminate Its road in Bethlehem instead of at the Connecticut River. All 
of which plainly shows that difficulty was found In raising the necessary 
capital, and we are not surprised to learn from Bowles' " History of 
Bethlehem " that the turnpike was never completed. According to that 
authority James Turner of Bethlehem, under contract with the company, 
built a section of the road for which he never received compensation, as 
the corporation did not complete Its organization. 

As a part of the grand turnpike scheme which we have outlined the 
First Littleton Bridge Corporation was chartered in 1802 to build a 
bridge over the Connecticut River between Littleton and Upper Water- 
ford in Vermont. This it is readily seen was to close the gap left be- 
tween the Littleton Turnpike, which was to terminate on the easterly 
bank of the river, and the Northern Turnpike, which being a Vermont 
corporation began at the state boundary, which was the westerly bank. 
Or finding the bridge already there the turnpike projectors secured 
their charters so as to lead to it. 

[229] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

The First Littleton Bridge Corporation is still in active life, as many 
an automobile tourist can testify. Several bridges have yielded to decay 
and flood, the present structure, a steel truss of a span of two hundred 
and forty feet having been in its place since 1890. For many years the 
bridge collections languished at a starvation level, but since the advent 
of the automobile and its increasing tourist travel the stock has gone to 
a premium. This bridge offers the only means of crossing the Con- 
necticut River in the length of the Fifteen Mile Falls, and, except the 
occasional facility offered by Grant's Ferry at the head of the Falls, 
gives the only opportunity between the Stevens Village Bridge below 
Barnet and the ferry at Dalton, a distance of over nineteen miles. The 
bridge at Lower Waterford, although still shown on the road maps, 
went down the river over twenty-five years ago on the crest of a log jam 
and has never been replaced. 



THE JEFFERSON TURNPIKE 

The Jefferson Turnpike Corporation, formed by an act of 1804, con- 
nected the northerly end of the Tenth New Hampshire with the village 
of Lancaster. The public roads must have been good enough for the 
travel over them, for this road seems to have had little encouragement 
and did not last long. In 18 10 an act was passed extending the limit 
within which the road must be completed to 18 16. But it was finally 
built, and in true turnpike fashion, if we are to believe the " History of 
Coos County," which tells us that " up Israel's River it was as straight 
as a line, was well drained, and worked twenty-two feet wide." Ac- 
cording to the " History of Lancaster," the Jefferson was abandoned 
by its proprietors soon after the floods of 1826. 



THE GRAFTON TURNPIKE 

The Grafton Turnpike Corporation was formed by an act of 1804 
for the purpose of building a road from Orford Bridge to the Fourth 
New Hampshire Turnpike in Andover. As was the case with other 
corporations formed about this time, the right to take land was not at 
first conferred, and it was necessary to appeal to the legislature of 
1805 before the company could make headway in securing its right-of- 
way. We read in Wallace's " History of Canaan " that the stock was 
peddled out in small lots among the residents of the district to be served, 
and that a long hard job was made of it. In 1807 the promoters were 
still soliciting subscriptions. Of the capital stock of three hundred 
shares, one hundred and seventeen were taken by residents of Canaan, 
which town must have felt a vital interest in the success of the road, for 
at a town meeting in 1807 it was voted to turn all available resources 
into cash with which to invest in Grafton Turnpike stock. Fifteen shares 
[230] 





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Dalton Ferry, Dalton, N. H. 

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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

were consequently bought, which were sold four years later at a depre- 
ciation of one third. 

A meeting was finally held on July 4, 1 807, at the inn of Moses Dole, 
at which a contract was made with Thaddeus Lathrop and John Currier 
to build one hundred and thirty rods of the road for two hundred dollars 
payable in stock. The road was to be made thirty feet wide generally, 
but only twenty- four on causeways, and the surface was to have a 
crown of twenty-four inches. But as the expiration of the time ap- 
proached in 1808, it was seen that the work could not be completed 
within the time allowed, so an extension was secured for another three 
years. 

The road was finally completed, terminating on the Fourth New 
Hampshire at West Andover or Potter Place, as the railroad station 
is called, having passed through Grafton, Danbury, and South Danbury, 
" about as the main road is now travelled," says Eastman in his " His- 
tory of Andover." 

Wallace says the road was made free in 1827. The charter of the 
corporation was repealed by the legislature January 3, 1829. 



THE LONDONDERRY TURNPIKE 

The road of the Londonderry Turnpike Corporation, also incor- 
porated in 1804, ran as straight as it could be laid out from Butters 
Corner in Concord to the state line near Andover Bridge, where it con- 
nected with the Essex Turnpike of Massachusetts, and formed with 
that about as direct a line between Concord and Boston as one could 
reasonably wish. An additional act was secured in 1805 by which the 
erection of a toll bridge was allowed at " Islehookset Falls," where the 
turnpike crossed the Merrlmac River. 

The " History of Concord " says that this road was opened about 
1806, having its northerly terminus at the corner of West and Main 
streets, where a stone stood for many years marked with the inscription 
" Boston 63 miles." Passing southerly the road skirted the river 
through Bow, although forming a chord across a long bend of the 
Merrimac, and passed diagonally across the town of Hooksett. In 
Auburn it passed between the Massabesic lakes and over Mount Misery 
and Rattlesnake Hill, leaving the future city of Manchester four miles 
to the west, thence through Derry Center and across the northerly end 
of Canobie Lake to the Essex Turnpike at the Massachusetts line. This 
turnpike pointed straight for the top of the hill over which the Essex 
climbed in Methuen. Consequently we find that its last mile has given 
way to a detour which provides more distance for the rise. 

In 1807 the corporation was authorized to buy land for tollhouses 
and buildings for public entertainment, provided not over two thousand 
dollars was spent for land. 

[231] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE CROYDEN TURNPIKE 

The Croyden Turnpike Corporation, chartered in 1804, built its 
road from the point in Lebanon where the branch of the Fourth 
New Hampshire intersected the main road of that company, southerly 
through Lebanon, Enfield, Grantham, Croyden, and Newport to the 
Second New Hampshire in Lempster. This company also had to 
return to the legislature in 1805 to obtain the power to take land. 



THE CHESTER TURNPIKE 

The seventh company created by the legislature of 1804 was the 
Chester Turnpike Corporation which began in a small way, entirely 
within the town of Chester, its route being defined as 

from the highway leading to Pembroke, about a mile above Chester East meeting- 
house, unto Chester line, on a direction to Pembroke street. 

But courage grew rapidly, and at the December session they secured an 
amendment by which they could build all the way to Pembroke Street. 

In 1806 the corporation was authorized to buy land adjacent to the 
turnpike on which to erect houses for entertainment and accommodation 
of the public, provided it did not spend over six thousand dollars. 

The charter of this company was repealed in 1838. 



THE CHESHIRE TURNPIKE 

Another 1804 creation was the Cheshire Turnpike Corporation. 
This company built from the Connecticut River to Charlestown meeting 
house, thence through Charlestown, Langdon, Alstead, and Surrey to 
the courthouse in Keene, where its road joined the Third New Hamp- 
shire Turnpike. 

We learn from Saunderson's " History of Charlestown " that this 
road was built about the time that the First Cheshire Bridge was com- 
pleted. That bridge was also authorized by an act of 1804. From 
Saunderson we get the impression that the road was not popular, for 
he tells us that the gates were often stolen, — a crude way of expressing 
resentment which has not been noticed in connection with more than one 
other road. 

The Cheshire Turnpike became free in 1841, but the Cheshire Bridge 
is still collecting its tolls in this year 191 9. 



THE COOS TURNPIKE 

The Coos Turnpike Corporation was formed In 1805, and its road 
extended " from Haverhill Corner, through Haverhill, Piermont, and 

[232] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Warren, to Baker's River, near Merrill's Mills, in Warren." The pre- 
liminaries advanced slowly as we have noticed in most of the northern 
projects. The region was new and poor, while the country at large was 
far from affluent, and the fact that any such public improvements were 
undertaken with such poor chances of financial success testifies to the 
sturdy spirit of the northern pioneers. 

The route was surveyed in 1806 by Captain Benjamin P. Baldwin, 
and on December 3 of that year twenty-four landowners along the sur- 
veyed line executed a deed to the turnpike corporation, making con- 
veyance of whatever land was needed for the building of the road. As 
no consideration was asked, the land being given freely, we must add a 
tribute to the public spirit of those farmer settlers. 

Although Coos County had been given an outlet through the Craw- 
ford Notch over the Tenth New Hampshire, the old route down the 
Connecticut Valley still held its place on account of the ties which bound 
the Coos settlers to the lower valley towns from which many of them 
had come, and they all hailed with enthusiasm the coming of the Coos 
Turnpike.^ 

Bettinger's " History of Haverhill " states that the road was com- 
pleted in 1808 and was for more than a generation the great thorough- 
fare in northern New Hampshire, and made Haverhill during these 
years the most important and lively town north of Concord. 

This turnpike was the predecessor in the section which it covered of 
the Concord and Montreal Railroad, later the White Mountain Divi- 
sion of the Boston and Maine, and it continued Its operations well down 
toward the date of the railroad opening. 

One day the passengers on a south-bound train passing through 
Warren noticed an old man who was eagerly gazing from the window 
as he rapidly went by the lower end of the old Coos Turnpike. At last 
as he passed a dilapidated old building he leaned back in his seat with 
the satisfied air of one who has found what he sought. On the con- 
ductor's sympathetic advances he told his story. When a boy in St. 
Johnsbury he had been hired as a helper in driving a flock of five hun- 
dred turkeys from that town to Lowell, and the tumble-down old rookery 
which he had recognized had been one of the comfortable taverns at 
which he had stopped on the way. The drive became a notable proces- 
sion, and word of its coming was carried in advance by the more rapid 
travelers who passed it, so that whole villages would be on the watch 
for its arrival. As the birds became accustomed to the manner of 
progressing, more ceremony developed, and soon our youthful custo- 
dian found that he could lead the way with the flock following him. 
A gobbler of especial dignity soon assumed a position beside the 
leader, and thus the procession advanced at the rate of about twenty- 
three miles a day until its destination was reached without the loss of 
a single bird. 

'■ " History of Lancaster." 

[233] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE ASHUELOT TURNPIKE 

In 1807 the Ashuelot Turnpike Corporation was created and made 
its road from " the turnpike in Winchester to Fitzwilliam Village 
towards Boston." Nothing has been found concerning this road except 
one legislative act which proves that the turnpike was built. In that act, 
passed in 1826, it was provided that unless the road was properly re- 
paired before October 3 of that year the charter would stand repealed. 



THE HAMPTON CAUSEWAY 

Taylors River, with long reaches of salt marsh on either side, sepa- 
rates Hampton from Hampton Falls, and in early days there was no 
way of journeying from one place to the other without a devious trip 
around the upper end of the marshes. This condition had become so 
onerous by 1807 that it was the subject of consideration at a Hampton 
town meeting in that year, when a committee was chosen to devise means 
of financing a road across the soft ground. The best this committee 
could do was to obtain from the legislature an act authorizing the town 
of Hampton to make extensive improvements in a certain causeway 
which seems to have existed over part of the route, to build a bridge 
over the river and to collect tolls on the same, which act was passed in 
the same year, 1807. But the town was not prepared to expend so much 
money and much dissatisfaction was expressed resulting in inaction. 

In 1808 the Hampton Causeway Turnpike Corporation was formed 
to build a turnpike from Sanborns Hill in Hampton Falls to a point in 
Hampton, bridging the river, and widening, raising, and repairing the 
existing causeway. Davis' " History of Hampton " says that the town 
of Hampton subscribed for ten shares of the stock of the new company, 
and- in 18 10, in consideration of every inhabitant of Hampton being 
allowed to pass free of toll, agreed to gravel the turnpike annually 
" from the northerly end to the middle bridge on the causeway, over the 
sluiceway." The road thus sanctioned and built was about two and a 
quarter miles in length, mostly on the old causeway already noted, and 
was a safe and easy road to travel, but travelers from outside of Hamp- 
ton chafed under the imposition of tolls. Some distance above a small 
bridge was built which was known as the " Shunpike Bridge," and al- 
though involving a longer trip, it diverted much travel from the legiti- 
mate road. 

In 1 82 1 the court of sessions laid out the road which passed over the 
" Shunpike Bridge " as a county road in spite of the opposition offered 
by Hampton. The contest was continued through 1822, in September of 
which year the town voted to incur more expense in fighting the new 
road " and to defend the turnpike." Although laid out by the court, the 
building of the new road was finally prevented. 
[234] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Various citizens of Portsmouth and Newburyport petitioned the 
legislature for an investigation to determine if the Hampton Causeway 
Turnpike Corporation had not violated the provisions of its charter 
so that its turnpike had become forfeited. Although the asked-for in- 
vestigation was ordered, it does not appear to have had any results ad- 
verse to the corporation. 

Negotiations between the town and the corporation were carried on 
in 1825, in consequence of which legislative permission was secured and 
the road was sold; Hampton paying three thousand dollars, and Hamp- 
ton Falls two thousand dollars. The road thus became free on April 12, 
1826. 

This turnpike and its bridge crossed the Taylors River about three 
miles up-stream from the upper waters of Hampton Harbor. To follow 
it to-day one should leave Hampton on the road passing by the old 
Whittier Tavern and journey out over the marshes. The turnpike must 
not be confused with the lengthy Hampton River Bridge on which tolls 
are still collected in this year 191 9. That bridge was built by a corpora- 
tion organized under the New Hampshire general laws December 5, 
1900. It crosses Hampton Harbor, so called, a bay formed by the 
Blackwater River and the Hampton River. It is 4619 feet in length, 
by some said to be the longest wooden bridge in the world, and is 
located between Seabrook and Hampton, passing through a portion 
of Hampton Falls. It is owned by the Granite State Land Company 
of Haverhill, Massachusetts. 



THE FITZWILLIAM TURNPIKE 

The Fitzwilliam Turnpike Corporation was chartered in 1808 to 
build from Fitzwilliam Village to the Worcester Turnpike at the Massa- 
chusetts line. The road of this corporation connected, not with the 
Worcester Turnpike which led from Boston to Worcester, but with 
the Worcester and Fitzwilliam Turnpike, whose proprietors at the time 
of this incorporation were having a great deal of trouble in financing 
their road. As finally built the Massachusetts road reached from the 
state line only to Baldwins Mills, a distance of about eight and a half 
miles, falling short of reaching Worcester by about twenty-eight miles. 



THE CORNISH TURNPIKE 

The Cornish Turnpike Corporation, created in 1808, connected the 
Croyden Turnpike in Newport with Cornish Bridge, over the Connecti- 
cut, between Cornish and Windsor, Vermont. 

The Cornish Bridge was built in 1796 at a cost of $17,099.27, we 
find by reference to Child's " History of Cornish." Much of the traffic 
over the bridge must have followed the turnpike, so we may note that 

[23s] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



the bridge passed over a heavy traffic in sheep and cattle between 1824 
and 1840, and that a full thousand sheep crossed September 30, 1833. 

In 1829 the attorney-general of New Hampshire was instructed by 
the legislature to ascertain what corporate rights the Cornish Turnpike 
Corporation possessed. This probably indicates that the road had be- 
come unprofitable and had been allowed to fall into bad condition and 
possibly indicates the end of the turnpiice. The thousand sheep passing 
on that September day would have paid toll of only a dollar a mile, so 
we can see that that business did not pay for the consequent repairs. 

The road of the Londonderry Branch Turnpike Corporation left 
the Londonderiy Turnpike at the northerly end of the bridge at " Isle 
of Hookset Falls " and ran through the town of Bow to Hopkinton 
Center. This corporation was formed by act of 18 12, and in 18 16 
secured an extension of one year on its time limit. 

THE AMHERST TURNPIKE 

The Amherst Turnpike Corporation, although created in 181 2, did 
not complete its road for several years, obtaining a four years' extension 
of time in 18 15. But it was finally successful and its road formed a 
continuation of the Middlesex Turnpike of Massachusetts, connecting 
with that road at the line of Tyngsboro on the westerly bank of the 
Merrimac River. 

Continuous turnpike roads were thus offered from the West Boston 
Bridge in Cambridge to Claremont, New Hampshire, over the Second 
New Hampshire and to Hanover, New Hampshire, over the Croyden. 

The Milford Turnpike Corporation was granted its franchise in 
18 15 to build a road from the Massachusetts line at Pepperell and 
HoUis through Hollis, Milford, and Mt. Vernon to the Second New 
Hampshire Turnpike. We have already noted two Massachusetts 
companies — the Westford and Lexington and the Groton and Pep- 
perell — which tried to build portions of this same route but did not 
succeed. It seems most probable that the New Hampshire end of the 
scheme fared no better and that this company never built its road. 

In 1824 a grant of public land was made by the state of New Hamp- 
shire to Daniel Pinkham upon condition that he should make a road 
running through such grant. This tract of land occupied the valley of 
the headwaters of the Ellis and Peabody rivers, extending practically 
from Glen Ellis Falls to the Glen House, and its remote situation offered 
so little assistance in road building that the grantee was obliged to appeal 
to the legislature for an extension of the time within which he was to 
complete such a road. In 1834 a corporation was formed under the 
name of the "Proprietors of the Pinkham Turnpike Road" to build 
" through Pinkham Grant to the Pinkham road in Randolph," thirteen 
[236] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

miles. Apparently the conditions had not much improved since Pink- 
ham's day, for the corporation four years later applied for and secured 
an extension of its time for one year expiring December i, 1839. I" 
1840 a legislative act allowed alterations in the established rates of toll, 
from which it would appear that the road was built and operated as a 
turnpike. Whether so or not a road has existed for many decades along 
the route laid out for the toll road, and half a century ago it was a stage 
route of some importance. For its whole length the turnpike location 
is a state road to-day, part of it being in the New Hampshire " East 
Side Road " which leads from Portsmouth to Errol and thence to Cole- 
brook. Two and a half miles northerly from the Glen House the old 
road, now known as the " Dollycops Road," bears off to the west and 
passing between the Presidential Range and the steep slopes of Pine 
Mountain follows across the southwesterly corner of Gorham, across 
Moose River to the main road in Randolph. . 

The Dollycops were an amiable old couple who lived in a house the 
cellar of which is yet to be seen near the bridge over the Peabody River. 
Local tradition has it that the husband and wife, although occupying 
the same house, did not speak to each other for twenty years. 

Persistent inquiry in Gorham and Berlin has failed to discover any- 
one who ever heard of a toll road through the Pinkham Notch, and one 
descendant of Daniel Pinkham is positive that none ever existed. But 
why was an act passed regarding the rates of toll which could be 
collected on the road if the franchise had expired the year before 
and the road had not been opened? Reader, the case is left for your 
judgment. 

But whether turnpike or not the old road offers not the least beauti- 
ful among the many noted White Mountain rides, yielding as it does 
from near the Glen House an unsurpassed view of the Great Gulf and 
the Presidential Range. Farther south a surpassing scene is revealed 
of Huntington and Tuckerman's ravines and the Alpine Garden, the 
sharp slopes and the mountain outlines rising in startling profile. About 
a mile west from the lower end of the turnpike franchise a less-known 
feature is found. Poised in apparent insecurity on a steep slope an 
enormous bowlder seems about to roll down the hillside at the slightest 
touch. And for miles the Ellis and Peabody rivers show their charms 
at every turn. 

The Winnepiseogee and White Mountain Turnpike Company ap- 
peared in 1852, having a charter to build from Birch Intervale, now 
known as Wonalancet, in Tamworth through Albany and Elkins Grant 
to the Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike about two miles below the old 
Crawford House. 

No road has yet penetrated the wilds which this company sought to 
traverse, save the winding paths of the lumbermen, and this project 
counts another in the list of those that never bore fruit. 

[237] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE MOUNT WASHINGTON SUMMIT ROAD 

After the opening of the Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike a few 
venturesome travelers visited the White Mountains, but It was not until 
1 8 19 that any encouragement was offered for the malclng of a path by 
which the summit of Mount Washington could be reached. In that year 
Ethan Crawford cut a path for that purpose over which he could guide 
the few tourists who had the hardihood to make such an ascent, and In 
1 82 1 he opened another path along the line afterwards utilized by the 
mountain-climbing railroad. Both of these paths led up from the Craw- 
ford Notch, access to which was only to be had by means of the Tenth 
New Hampshire Turnpike, and It appears that early paths were soon 
after developed by which the summit might be reached from the eastern 
side; from the valley of the Androscoggin River. 

The Davis Trail recently reopened by the Appalachian Mountain 
Club was first cut out about 1846 to accommodate travelers coming over 
the turnpike, but owing to its excessive length and steep grades did not 
prove successful. 

In a short while the easterly routes became much more popular 
and the larger part of the travelers found their way to Mount Washing- 
ton by way of Gorham. The Alpine House in Gorham, for many years 
before the advent of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, now the 
Grand Trunk, was known as the Gate of the Mountains and enjoyed a 
large proportion of the patronage of the White Mountain travelers. 
When about 1850 the railroad approached Gorham, mountain travel 
that way Increased, and In 1852, when the road was completed to that 
town, Gorham began to enjoy almost a monopoly of the mountain- 
climbing class of tourists. 

At that time the means of access to the summit from the Gorham 
side consisted of a path leading up through Tuckerman's Ravine. Over 
this path and those from the Crawford side so many made the ascent 
that the construction of a modest hotel on the summit was completed 
in 1 85 1. Encouraged by the increased rush of travelers over the new 
railroad the Glen House appeared In 1852, and soon after the proprie- 
tor of that hostelry cut out a bridle path to the summit over which he 
maintained a lucrative business with saddle horses for several years. 
But soon the turnpike Idea Invaded the solitudes. 

In 1853 the Mount Washington Road Company was incorporated 
with turnpike privileges to build 

from Peabody River valley, over the top of Mount Washington, to a point between 
the Notch and Cherry Mountain. 

From Kilbourne's " Chronicles of the White Mountains " we learn 
that the corporation was organized In the same year at a meeting held 
in Gorham, and that the route was surveyed in 1854. 
[238] 















First arrivals at the Summit Glen House about 1867 

Looking down Chandler Ridge 

Huntington's Ravine, Mount Washington Tuckerman's Ravine, seen from Pinkham Road 

Plate LXIV — Mount Washington Summit Road 




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Pi 

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THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Commissioners were duly appointed to lay out the road and assess 
the damages for land taken. They reported that 248 >^ rods lay through 
the land of J. M. Thompson, the proprietor of the Glen House, for 
which they assessed damages to the amount of thirty-five hundred dol- 
lars. To John Bellows for land taken for ninety-seven rods of road 
they awarded one dollar, and for the 22803/^ rods through Sargent's 
Purchase and other owners unknown, nothing. But it appeared that the 
commissioners were influenced in their award to Thompson by the fact 
that he was in the business of letting saddle horses for the trip to the 
summit over his bridle path and that the thirty-five hundred dollars was 
not payment for the land taken but was awarded to him as the conjec- 
tured damage which his business would sustain from the competition of 
the turnpike. From this award the corporation appealed, contending 
that the commissioners had not the power to assess conjectural damages 
of a collateral nature. Thompson came back at them with a sweeping 
set of declarations. He averred that the granting of a charter for a road 
for purely pleasure purposes was unconstitutional and such action by the 
legislature void; that if constitutional the charter was defective on ac- 
count of no provision being in it by which the state could take the road 
or terminate the corporate existence; and that the power to take land 
was illegal because the charter did not specify that an appeal could be 
had to a jury if a landowner was dissatisfied with the commissioners' 
award. 

To all of these assertions the supreme court in January, 1857, gave 
a denial, fully maintaining the legality of the company's formation. On 
the company's appeal from the award of damages it was decided that 
the commissioners had erred and that they had no authority to assess 
damages for any other purpose than to pay for land. So a new hearing 
on that question was ordered.^ 

Construction commenced in 1855 and was pushed with so much 
energy that within two years the road was completed for half its length. 
Then financial difficulties stopped the work, and in 1858 the corporation 
was obliged to ask an extension of its time. The legislature allowed 
it until August i, 1861, to complete the road; but the difficulties into 
which the company had fallen were too great for that remedy, and the 
Mount Washington Road Company gave up its existence. In 1859 the 
Mount Washington Summit Road Company was created and allowed a 
route worded the same as that of the earlier company, and that company 
took over the completed portion of the road and built the rest, giving 
access to the summit by carriages in August, 1861. Under the fran- 
chise of 1859 the carriage road up Mount Washington is still in opera- 
tion, and for passing over It, tolls are still collected. 

A writer in Harpers' Monthly for August, 1877, said of this road: 

For the first four miles it winds among a dense growth of forest trees, and then 

passes through a ravine, and over the eastern side of the mountain. The grade is 

' Fogg's "New Hampshire Reports," Volume 35, page 134. 

[239] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

easy and the roadbed excellent. Each turn discloses some new prospect — a wide 
valley faintly green, with a brook or a river flashing through it; a deep dell, with a 
swaying sea of foliage; an overhanging cliff that seems to render impossible any 
further ascent ; or a wonderful array of peaks. 

The dense growth of forest trees noted in 1877 has disappeared by- 
reason of successive lumbering operations, but a substantial growth of 
timber is in its place to-day, and still the first four miles of the journey 
is made through its shadows. Approaching the halfway point the limit 
of vegetation is noticed, and for a half mile or so the road seems to be 
the dividing line, the growth on the lower side being noticeably heavier. 
Emerging from the timber at the Ledge near the Half Way House, the 
road continues in the same northerly direction for about a half mile, 
then doubles on itself and starts on its long climb up the crest of Chand- 
ler Ridge. As soon as the obstruction of the trees is removed a succes- 
sion of magnificent views is opened to the eye of the northern peaks of 
the White Mountain Range, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison, and of 
the Great Gulf, which lies between them and Mount Washington. Near- 
ing the summit the road skirts the edge of a sharp declivity, overlooking 
the Alpine Garden and Huntington Ravine.^ 

In its length of eight miles the road makes the ascent from an eleva- 
tion of 1543 feet above sea level to the altitude of 6293 feet, the highest 
point in New England. The average grade is thus seen to be 594 feet 
to the mile, while the maximum grade is said to be at the rate of 880 feet. 

The memory of John P. Rich, one of the unlucky contractors under 
the first company and superintendent of construction for the second, is 
perpetuated by a memorial tablet set by the road near the base of the 
mountain. Others to whom credit for this bold enterprise and achieve- 
ment is due are David O. Macomber of Middletown, Connecticut, the 
projector of the scheme and first president of the corporation, and 
C. H. V. Cavis, to whose engineering skill are due the practical grades 
by which the summit is reached. 

On account of the deep cliffs often almost under the passenger's elbow 
and the possibility of a frightful accident, great care has always been 
exercised by the management in the selection of its drivers, and only 
extra strong and steady horses with specially built vehicles are used. 
Consequently but one accident in which a passenger was killed lies to the 
charge of the company. In the summer of 1880 a wagon carrying nine 
people down the mountain upset at a sharp turn in the road about a mile 
below the Half Way House, throwing the passengers on to the rocks, 
killing one, and injuring all the others. 

THE WARNER AND KEARSARGE TURNPIKE 

The Kearsarge Summit Road Company was incorporated in 1864, 
authority being given it to build from Kearsarge Village to the top of the 

' " Mount Washington," by Frank H. Burt. 
[240] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

mountain named. But the franchise was allowed to expire and was re- 
vived by legislative act in 1873. In 1877 a time extension of ten years 
was granted, which seems sufficient to prove that nothing was ever done 
under that charter. Especially are we inclined to think so because little 
need would seem to exist for two roads up that one mountain, and 
another company did build such a road. 

In 1866 the Warner and Kearsarge Road Company was formed to 
construct a road to the summit from either Warner or Salisbury and 
that company carried out its plan. But not immediately, for we find that 
it had to apply for a revival of its expired rights in 1872, at which time 
the town of Warner was allowed to subscribe for shares of its capital 
stock to an amount not exceeding two thousand dollars. That the road 
had been completed by 1875 appears from an act passed in that year, 
which allowed the corporation to acquire land on the top of the moun- 
tain on the line of its road. Permission was given in the same act to sell 
land to the United States for the purposes of a signal station. On the 
ninth of March, 1893, the charter of the company was revived and given 
a new life of ten years, authority then being. given to build a branch 
connecting the toll road with the highway at Smith's Corner. February 
10, 1903, a further addition of ten years of life to the charter was en- 
acted, since which time nothing has been found on the records. Since 
the expiration of the last period of grace the corporation has lapsed, 
and its road, while not assumed by the town of Warner, is free from toll. 

Two other projects for which charters were granted in 1866 did not 
materialize. The Mount Hayes Turnpike Company sought to build to 
the summit of that mountain from the county road in Shelburne; and 
the Mount Lafayette Road Company aspired to provide a toll road from , 
the highway between the Profile and Flume houses to the highest point 
in the Franconia Range. 

THE MOUNT WASHINGTON TURNPIKE 

A successful venture was that of the Mount Washington Turnpike 
Company, which was chartered in 1867 and allowed a route extending 
from the Fabyan House to the foot of Mount Washington. After many 
years of persistent effort, in spite of ridicule and discouragements, Sylves- 
ter March had at last succeeded in interesting capital in his plan to build 
a railroad up Mount Washington, construction having been commenced 
on that undertaking in May, 1866. The form of cars and locomotive 
to be used on the new road, being adapted to the steep grades to be 
encountered, naturally was not suitable for operation on level ground 
and the mountain-climbing railroad necessarily made its terminus at the 
foot of the mountain. That was several miles from the nearest road, 
which was the Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike, while the nearest rail- 
road station was at Littleton, twenty-five miles away. So the turnpike 

[241] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

was conceived as a means of transporting to the site of the new railroad 
the various supplies necessary for its construction and equipment, and 
later to derive pi-ofit from the tolls collected from tourists on their way 
to the mountain. The view here reproduced from an old stereoscopic 
photograph ^ shows the base of Mount Washington and the terminus of 
the railroad. This point then was the easterly objective of the Mount 
Washington Turnpike, and the photograph, taken about 1867, shows the 
nature of the region through which the road was built. 

The profitable life of this turnpike was destined to be short, for 
summer travel to the White Mountains was growing very popular and 
it was unlikely that the railroads would long leave such a lucrative field 
unoccupied. As already stated, the Boston, Concord, and Montreal 
Railroad was completed as far as Littleton when the turnpike was pro- 
jected, and it lost no time in pushing nearer. But times were hard and 
the construction proceeded by piecemeal. Between 1873 and 1876 the 
rails crept ahead a little at a time, until Fabyans was reached, after 
which the remaining five miles to the base was rushed, the whole length 
being opened for passengers July 6, 1876. 

But the turnpike still held on, and its rates-of-toU sign at the Fabyans 
end was long a familiar object to tourists with its unique spacing. Many 
will recall the heading: 

RATES OF TOLL ON THE MT. WAS 
HINGTON TURNPIKE 

The railroad must have felt the competition of the old-fashioned com- 
petitor, for early in 1882 a small block, three eighths of the total of the 
capital stock, was bought by the directors of the Boston, Concord, and 
Montreal Railroad, and later purchases resulted in the acquisition of 
it all. 

In 1885 authority was secured from the legislature to extend the 
Mount Washington Turnpike, called In the act the " White Mountain 
Turnpike," to a junction with the Mount Washington Summit Road, but 
the plan was never carried out. 

But even railroad managers could not make turnpike success and they 
were glad to get rid of the road. May 13, 1903, the turnpike was 
deeded to the state of New Hampshire. 

The Waumbeck Road Company was incorporated in 1868, the 
proposition then being to build a road from Jefferson southerly to the 
line of the Mount Washington Railway. The next year saw a change 
in the plan, the legislature granting permission to change the terminus 
from Jefferson to Randolph. It does not seem that anything was done 
under authority of this charter, but the scheme calls for comment as It 
anticipated the Jefferson Notch Road which was built by the state, an 
equal amount being privately contributed In 1902. The tremendous 

' See Plate Ixiii. 
[242] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 

difRculties which have been met In maintaining that road show that the 
turnpike corporation was fortunate in not assuming such a responsibility. 
Road and bridges have frequently been washed away and the route has 
often been closed, once for over a year. 

In 1869 a corporation was created under the name of the Mount 
Willard Turnpike Road Company for the purpose of building a road 
from the Crawford House to the summit of that mountain. As a road 
had been opened to that summit In 1846 It is to be presumed that this 
venture merely contemplated the acquisition and improvement of the 
existing road, but It seems doubtful If anything was ever done under the 
charter. The road of to-day, and for many years past, up Mount Wil- 
lard is privately owned and is open only to those who travel in the 
vehicles furnished by the owners of the road. Had that road been built 
under a turnpike franchise it is hard to see how it could be closed in such 
a manner. 

The Franconia and White Mountain Notches Turnpike Company 
was formed In 1870, and authorized to build a turnpike or horse rail- 
road " from Sawyer's Bridge in Bethlehem, to Franconia Notch." The 
next year the right to use steam Instead of horses on the railroad was 
allowed. No construction was done by this company, but it Is Interesting 
to note the similarity of Its privileges with those afterwards utilized by 
the branch railroad which runs from Bethlehem Junction to the Profile 
House. That railroad was built under a charter granted on July 11, 
1878, to the Profile and Franconia Notch Railroad, which company 
operated it from June 25, 1879, until 1891, when the Concord and 
Montreal Railroad acquired the property. Until 1896 the road was 
a narrow gauge, the change to standard being made In that and the 
following year. 

It is also to be noted that the earlier charter provided an alternative 
form of construction, either a turnpike or a horse railroad. We have 
noted In the early days of the railroads such Indications of falnt-hearted- 
ness, but It is strange that In 1870 the promoters should have had any 
doubt of which form of road they wanted. 



THE MOOSII.AUKE MOUNTAIN TURNPIKE 

The turnpike from Warren to the summit of Moosllauke Mountain 
is another which is still collecting tolls in this year of grace 19 19. That 
road was built under authority of a franchise granted In 1870 to the 
Moosllauke Mountain Road Company, but like many others seems to 
have had difficulty in Its financing. In 1872 the legislature granted the 
town of Warren the privilege of contributing not over eight hundred 
dollars toward the construction of the road, which must have overcome 

[243] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

the troubles, for the road was built about that time. Kilbourne says ' 
that the Tip Top House on Moosilauke was much enlarged in 1872 in 
consequence of the greatly increased travel over the new road. 

Leaving Warren Village and following the North Woodstock road 
along the bank of Baker's River for about three miles, one comes to 
a corner. The road turning sharply to the left and crossing the river 
will lead you to Breezy Point where the turnpike begins. Just beyond 
the Moosilauke Inn the tollgate is located and, having parted with the 
toll, you may proceed up the mountain. The road is straight for a 
mountain climber and its steep grades suggest that a better route might 
have been found by circling more. The length is a little over four miles, 
but the wonderful views from the summit are well worth the effort. 
Standing apart from other eminences Moosilauke offers a far wider 
range of view than other White Mountain peaks. 

In 1 88 1 the Moosilauke Mountain Road Company obtained addi- 
tional franchises to build three " bridle paths or carriage roads " from 
various points to the summit of the mountain, but It does not appear that 
any work was done in consequence. 



THE LINCOLN TURNPIKE 

Visitors to Franconia always seek the Flume as one of the wonders 
never to be missed, and to reach that interesting spot they pass over and 
pay toll on another turnpike. The Lincoln Turnpike Company was 
created by an act of the legislature of 1871, by which it obtained the 
right to build its road " from the Flume House in Lincoln, on the main 
road, to near the Flume." 

Tourists may have a delightful ride from the Profile House down 
the Pemigewasset valley, passing Profile Lake, The Old Man of the 
Mountain, The Basin, The Pool, and after five miles have been counted 
off find themselves at a picturesque opening in the stone wall through 
which automobiles are forbidden to pass. This is the gateway and place 
of collection for the Lincoln Turnpike, but barring automobiles seems 
inconsistent with the public-utility nature of the road. 

At first the turnpike follows closely beside the main road but soon 
curves away from it, and then falls abruptly to the romantic covered 
bridge over the Pemigewasset River. A succession of steep ascents then 
brings the traveler to a looped end of the road by the rustic souvenir 
store. Thence to the Flume the climb must be made on foot. 

In the first year of its existence the Lincoln Turnpike saw the destruc- 
tion by fire of the old Flume House, the one named in its charter, but 
within another year saw the successor arise from a site close by, where it 
in turn was burned in 191 7. The Flume House of 19 19 is but a small 
building, merely a lunch room. 

' "Chronicles of the White Mountains,'' page 258. 
[244J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 



THE SANBORN TURNPIKE 

The Sanborn Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1872 with a 
franchise confined to the town of Northfield. 

For many years a private road had existed across the Glidden 
Meadow in that town, but opinions as to its pubHc necessity varied. 
Those beHeving such a road to be demanded by the mass of the people 
were unable to convince the selectmen who refused to give it a public 
layout. From the controversy which ensued the turnpike franchise 
evolved, the view of the landowners apparently being that, if the town 
would not accept and assume the road, those using it should pay for the 
privilege. 

Although the road was kept in good condition and is in use as a public 
road to-day the privilege of collecting tolls was never utilized, and no 
gate was ever erected across the road.^ 

In 1873 a proposal to connect Bartlett and Albany by a turnpike was 
brought forward. In that year the Saco and Swift River Turnpike Com- 
pany was created with authority to build a road " from the White 
Mountain Notch Road in Bartlett to the main road in Albany." A 
cursory glance at the map shows that that route is devoid of transporta- 
tion facilities to-day, so we can easily decide that this turnpike was never 
constructed. 

The Wilmot and Kearsarge Road Company was another product by 
the legislature of 1873. This company proposed to build a toll road 
from the Winslow House in Wilmot up the northerly side of Kearsarge 
Mountain to the summit. 

That two charters had been issued for the purpose of climbing this 
mountain we have already seen, and that each of them was allowed to 
lapse and be revived. That of the second company, revived in 1872, 
was at this time in full force, and the road was then or soon after under 
construction. 

THE UNCANOONUC ROAD 

A charter was granted in 1877 forming the Uncanoonuc Road Com- 
pany and giving it a franchise to build from the mountain road on the 
southerly side of Uncanoonuc Mountain In Goffstown to the summit 
of that mountain. 

The Pierce farm was on the southwesterly side of Uncanoonuc and 
the homestead set back a short distance from the mountain road. From 
these farm buildings the turnpike started, and by a precipitous winding 
course reached the summit altitude of thirteen hundred and twenty-one 

' Statement by William Lang, Esq., an old resident. 

[245] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



feet. The Pierce family acted as toll gatherers, and the gate was at the 
beginning of the toll road, convenient to their house. The road was 
promptly built and was operated for several years. Mr. Flanders, the 
fire warden on the summit, recalls that one Sunday soon after the open- 
ing he counted forty teams which had made the ascent. 

Uncanoonuc Mountain is reached from Manchester by trolley and 
mountain railway in forty minutes and is the highest point in that vicin- 
ity. The ride to its base is particularly attractive, and the novel ride 
up the steep slope on the incline railway affords a most enjoyable 
experience. 

The Uncanoonuc Incline Railway and Development Company was 
incorporated in 1903. Its road climbs the mountain side at an average 
grade of thirty-five per cent. On the summit of the mountain a hotel 
has been erected, on which is the fire look-out tower of the New Hamp- 
shire Forestry Service. 

In the old days another tower stood on slightly higher ground, a little 
north of the present tower. It was forty feet high and braced, we can 
believe, against any possible hurricane, for it is said that the spread of 
its posts was sufficient to allow the building of a dance hall within them 
at the bottom. 

From the top of the present tower, just over the tops of the encircling 
trees nearly due west, can be seen three groups of farm buildings. The 
one to the left and closest to the line of tree tops is the Pierce farm and 
marks where the old turnpike began. The other end is close by but 
hidden in the trees. 

Down to 1917 the road had been allowed to shift for itself, and it 
had become little better than a brook bed where the running waters had 
gullied it out, but in the spring of that year it was temporarily patched 
to enable an artesian-well contractor to get his outfit hauled to the 
summit. 

The Starr King Mountain Road Company, created in 1881, aspired, 
to operate a turnpike " from Jefferson Road in Jefferson to a point on 
Starr King Mountain," but its hopes were never realized and the road 
was never built. 

Four years then elapsed before another turnpike corporation was 
chartered. Then on the thirteenth of August, 1885, the Woodstock and 
Lincoln Turnpike Company appeared. This company proposed to build 
from the northerly terminus of the Pemigewasset Valley Railroad in 
North Woodstock to the summit of Pemigewasset Mountain in Lincoln, 
and to other points of interest " where roads do not now exist." As 
those desirous of ascending Pemigewasset Mountain to-day are obliged 
to be content with a primitive path, we conclude that neither that summit 
nor any other point of interest was made more accessible by the efforts 
of the Woodstock and Lincoln. 
[246] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 



THE LIBERTY ROAD 

After another four years a new turnpike charter appears, this time 
for access to the summit of Chocorua Mountain in the town of Albany. 
In the year 1887 James Liberty and his neighbors united to make a road 
up the south side of the mountain, the first from that direction, and in 
1889 Mr. Liberty sought and obtained a charter for himself and those 
who might associate themselves with him under the name of the Cho- 
corua Mountain Road. Authority was granted to maintain a " bridle 
path and carriage road from near the dwelling house of Charles Durell 
in said Tamworth (where said road Is now located and constructed) to 
the line between the towns of said Tamworth and Albany, thence to the 
top of Chocorua Mountain In said town of Albany." This was the last 
turnpike charter granted in New England by virtue of which a turnpike 
was built or operated. 

The road of this company ofFers the easiest of the seven routes by 
which Chocorua may be ascended. It leaves the highway in the north- 
central part of Tamworth, at the Durell Farm, and near the " Nat Berry 
Bridge." The first third of the distance Is a carriage road at the termi- 
nation of which the toll is collected. Thence to the Peak House It is 
a bridle path. 

For nearly thirty years the Half Way House stood at the end of the 
carriage road, housing both the toll gatherer and his victims. But in 
a violent gale which swept the mountain in September, 19 15, the building 
was lifted bodily and blown into the valley several hundred feet below. 

The last turnpike charter granted in New England was enacted by 
the New Hampshire legislature March 22, 1893, when the Mount 
Prospect Turnpike and Hotel Company was incorporated. The plan 
of this company was to build a crossroad in Lancaster, connecting 
the Whitefield and the Jefferson roads; another road leading to the 
summit of Mount Prospect; and to erect a hotel on that eminence. 
Nothing was ever done under this charter. Mount Prospect Is now 
owned by United States Senator John W. Weeks and its summit is 
crowned by his summer residence. The road up the mountain is the 
private venture of Mr. Weeks. 

A historical authority some years ago published the statement that 
fifty-three turnpike corporations were formed in New Hampshire, and 
this statement has been repeated by several other writers regardless of 
the fact that charters continued to Issue from successive legislatures for 
many years after the first assertion. 

In addition to the fifty-one which have been noticed in the preceding 
pages, the following thirty-one corporations were created, which have 
left no records after their incorporation. 

[247] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

1802 Seventh New Hampshire .... Charlestown to Surry. 

1803 Charlestown Charlestown to Lempster. 

1804 Richmond Royalston, Mass., to Swanzey. 

Hillsborough Andover to Massachusetts line toward 

Boston. 

Chesterfield Chesterfield to Warwick, Mass. 

Stoddard Walpole to Amoskeag Falls on the 

Merrimac. 

Sandwich Sandwich to Dover Landing. 

Sunapee Sunapee Pond to Hillsboro. 

Westmoreland Walpole to Northfield, Mass. 

1805 Piermont Orford to Piermont. 

Newport Newport to Keene. 

Monadnock Milford to Marlboro Hills. 

Hancock Stoddard to Milford. 

1806 Pittsfield Barnstead to Pittsfield. 

1807 Rindge Northfield, Mass., to the Branch Turn- 

pike. 

1808 Litchfield Amherst to Methuen, Mass. 

Winnepiseogee Gilmanton to Bridgewater. 

Sanbornton Pemigewasset Bridge to Sanbornton. 

Northern Haverhill Up the Ammonoosuc Valley to the Bath 

Turnpike. 
New Chester and Danbury . . , Between the towns named. 

1809 Pemigewasset Middle Branch . . Thornton to Lancaster. 
Great Sunapee Newport to Warner. 

1 8 12 Andover Salisbury to Andover. 

1815 Sunapee (second) Fisherfield (Newbury) to Wendell. 

1820 Pemigewasset Peeling (Woodstock) to Franconia. 

Upper Coos Franconia to Bethlehem. 

1828 Franconia Through that town. 

1837 Coos in New Hampshire .... Dalton to Gorham. 

1838 Mount Washington Northeast end of the Tenth New 

Hampshire Turnpike to Table Rock. 

1839 Coventry Haverhill to Coventry (repealed 1840). 

1852 White Mountains Plank Road . . Littleton or Whitefield to the Notch. 



[248] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

ALTHOUGH a few colonists had established themselves at Fort 
Dummer, now Brattleboro, as early as 1724, very little settle- 
^ ment was made in Vermont until about 1760. Then a tide of 
immigration set in, and between that year and 1768 one hundred and 
thirty-eight townships were granted to colonists by Governor Benning 
Wentworth of New Hampshire. When the Revolutionary War was 
over many of its survivors sought homes in Vermont. The northern part 
of the state was much more popular than the southern, but access to that 
section was had only by means of a rough military road which had been 
built under order of General Washington in 1778. That road, known as 
the Bayley-Hazen Military Road, extended from what is now the village 
of Wells River in the town of Newbury, on the Connecticut River, north- 
westerly to a notch in the mountains in the town of Westfield, near the 
Canada line. But access to this road was only had over the old Cohos 
Road in New Hampshire, which led from the valley of the Pemige- 
wasset River at Plymouth, up the valley of the Baker's River and to the 
Connecticut in the north part of the town of Haverhill, opposite Wells 
River, where the village of Woodsville is now found, and it is easily 
imagined that such dependence upon the older state was distasteful to the 
Vermonters whose long, struggle for a separate government had so lately 
been successful. 

There was much fertile land in the lower valley of the Connecticut 
and back from its banks, and facilities were needed for access to that 
region as well. So on the twenty-seventh of October, 1795, a resolve 
was passed by the Vermont legislature by which committees were ap- 
pointed in the counties of Windham, Windsor, and Orange 

to lay out a public highway from the south line of this state to the north line of the 
town of Newbury. 

The new highway was directed to be laid "as near the banks of the 
Connecticut River as may be eligible and convenient," and was to con- 
nect with the Bayley-Hazen Road, thus forming a main highway running 
the length of the state. 

In February, 1797, similar action was taken looking to roads between 
Rutland and Salem, New York; Vergennes and Burlington; Burlington 
and the province line; and Salisbury to Onion River Bridge; and provi- 
sion was made for additions to the Connecticut Post Road and for a road 
to Vergennes. 

But the turnpike movement had been launched in Vermont three 

[249] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



months before this last act, for in November, 1796, the First Vermont 
Turnpike Corporation was chartered with power to build a road 

from the east line of said Bennington to the east bank of the Deerfield river, in said 
Wilmington, in such place or places as the said corporation shall choose for the 
same. 

It seems that nothing was done under authority of this act of incorpora- 
tion, for three years later the Windham Turnpike Corporation was 
created and granted the same route with the further privilege of extend- 
ing to Brattleboro. But since the first charter in each state has been 
found to be a pretty accurate forerunner of the rest, a few notes will 
be given of the First Vermont. Although the regimental system was 
commenced, as we see, it was not continued and the First Vermont was 
the only one to be designated numerically. 

Upon the corporation were conferred the same powers as were pos- 
sessed by the selectmen of towns to take lands, lay out, and build a 
highway, and, when its road was approved by the county court of Wind- 
ham, gates not exceeding two might be erected " in such manner as shall 
be necessary and convenient." The legislature might dissolve the corpo- 
ration when its income had repaid the investment with twelve per cent. 
Five hundred dollars was to be spent within two years and the whole 
project completed within five. The usual requirement of a signboard 
appears, upon which the following rates of toll were to be given: 

Coach, Phaeton, Chariot, or other four-wheeled vehicle, drawn by two 

horses $0.75 

If drawn by four horses 1. 00 

If drawn by more than four for each additional horse 06 

Cart, Waggon, Sled, or Sleigh drawn by two oxen or horses 50 

Each additional ox or horse 06 

Chaise, Chair, or other Carriage drawn by one horse 37 

Man and Horse 25 

Foot passenger 04 

Horses, oxen, and other neat cattle, not in teams each 06 

Sheep and swine, each 01 

Certain of the high rates contained in the foregoing schedule suggest 
that Vermont had cut a path of its own in the matter of levying tolls, 
and that it was the intention to prescribe the charges for the whole length 
of the road, such total to be divided by the number of gates at which 
toll was demanded. Although such a division of collections was not 
specified in the act of incorporation of the First Vermont, our supposi- 
tion is confirmed by the charter of the Green Mountain which followed 
it. In that a table of toll rates is given, and then follows a paragraph 
which unmistakably sets forth that such tolls are to be collected at each 
gate only in the fraction which one gate bears to the entire number. 

The preamble to the act creating the First Vermont is an exact copy 
(except for the towns named) of that found in the act of incorporation 
of the First Massachusetts. 
[250] 






L..^*.. 







Through Ryegate, Vt. 
North from Ryegate Corner 
New Free Bridge at Wells River 

Plate LXVI — Bayley-Hazen Military Road 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

Those passing to or from public worship were exempt from paying 
toll, as was anyone engaged in common labor on his own farm or in 
the " common and ordinary business of family concerns within the same 
town." A penalty of from one to ten dollars was provided for need- 
lessly hindering travelers at the gates. 

As in the other states, each Vermont corporation was created by a 
special act of the legislature, and very few general laws were passed 
for turnpike government. The Revised Statutes of Vermont, published 
In 1839, contained eleven sections of that nature, certain of which en- 
acted in 1806 are especially interesting as providing governmental con- 
trol of those public utilities, and being an early anticipation of the 
modern public-service commissions. 

Each county court was required annually, in December, " to appoint 
three judicious freeholders to be inspectors of turnpike-roads in such 
county." Such appointees could not be stockholders in any turnpike 
corporation nor In any way connected with one, and upon being installed 
into office were required to make oath that they were free from that 
taint. 

It was the duty of the Inspectors, upon application by three free- 
holders, to inspect any turnpike within their jurisdiction of which com- 
plaint had been made. They were empowered to order repairs, and 
to enforce their orders by throwing open the gates for free passage by 
the public until such repairs were made. The corporations, however, 
were allowed the right of appeal to the court in cases of unreasonable 
orders. 

Anyone who obstructed an Inspector with the intention to prevent his 
allowing free passage by the public, pending the ordered repairs, or 
anyone who shut a gate after an Inspector had ordered it to be left open, 
was liable to a fine of two hundred dollars. 

If an inspector after his appointment became a stockholder in a turn- 
pike corporation, his tenure of oflice automatically ceased. 

Costs of the inspectors' proceedings were assessed on the party at 
fault. Accounts were rendered and It was the duty of the court to assess 
the costs and order their payment by the corporation or the applicants. 
Issuing an execution at the end of thirty days. 

The inspectors had authority to examine rates of toll, and could 
diminish the rate at any gate, if they raised it proportionally at another, 
giving due consideration to the distances between such gates. 

In section eleven Vermont appears as the first to make provisions, 
whereby a town and a corporation having agreed might make the road 
free without a special act of the legislature. Therein it was provided 
that any corporation, " in its discretion," might sell a proportionate 
amount of its stock to any town through which its road passed. The 
town thereupon became the owner and operator of so much of the turn- 
pike as lay within its limits, and was allowed to collect tolls thereon until 
its receipts had repaid the amount paid for the stock. November 19, 

[251] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

1839, a further act was passed, giving power to the supreme and county 
courts " to take any real estate, easement, or franchise of any turnpike 
or other corporation when. In their judgment, the pubhc good requires 
a public highway." The taking, however, was to cover the entire fran- 
chise and could not be made on a portion of a road. 

An old law which had been repealed in 1839 was revived In 1845, 
and by It the turnpike inspectors were empowered, upon application, to 
divide any turnpike into sections, placing a value on each division. 
Towns or individuals might then buy at the inspectors' prices one or 
more sections of the turnpike for the purpose of making it free. Such 
purchasers were allowed to continue the collection of tolls for a while 
under specified limitations. 

The second Vermont act of incorporation formed the Green Moun- 
tain Turnpike Corporation on March 10, 1797, and gave it the right 
to build a road from the easterly boundary of Clarendon to the bridge 
over Black River in Ludlow. Evidently this route was not satisfactory 
to the promoters and they allowed their first charter to lapse, obtaining 
from the legislature on November 2, 1799, a new charter with a fran- 
chise covering a longer route. But meanwhile another proposition had 
received legislative sanction, and under the charter granted for that was 
built the first Vermont turnpike. 



ELIJAH PAINE'S TURNPIKE 

That charter was granted on October 28, 1799, and conferred on 
" Elijah Paine, his heirs, and assigns," the right to build and operate 
a turnpike road 

from Experience Fisk's, in Brookfield, through Williamstown, Northfield, and Ber- 
lin, to the north side of Onion River. 

As we are to meet frequent references to this Onion River, it may 
be well to mention here that the modern Winooski River once bore that 
name. 

Although the first two corporations were granted rates of toll which 
were to be divided by the number of gates erected, that method was 
abandoned without being put to actual test, neither of the corporations 
carrying out its plan. Elijah Paine was granted the right to collect cer- 
tain tolls at each of the three gates which he was authorized to erect. 

The layout was to be sixty feet wide and the traveled path eighteen 
feet. 

In granting lands to new settlers from the public domain it was the 
early custom to limit the acreage allowed to one person, but an addi- 
tional area was generally granted sufficient to provide for the land re- 
quired In the building of future roads. October 15, 1801, an act was 
passed providing that Elijah Paine need not pay any damages for build- 
[252] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

ing his turnpike through unimproved lands where such allowance had 
been made. A change in the location of the gates was also allowed in 
this act. 

The construction of this turnpike was not the only contribution made 
by Elijah Paine toward the development of the state. Born in Con- 
necticut, he graduated from Harvard in 1781, and in 1784 began the 
practice of law in Vermont, making his home in the edge of Williams- 
town near where he later built his road. He entered largely into agri- 
cultural enterprises, and while Northfield was yet a wilderness he ex- 
pended forty thousand dollars in the establishment of a factory in that 
town for the manufacture of American cloth. At the time the turnpike 
charter was granted he was serving his adopted state as United States 
senator, and from 1801 to his death in 1842, he was judge of the United 
States court for the District of Vermont. The turnpike is often men- 
tioned as " Governor Paine's turnpike," probably on account of his 
being succeeded in his business enterprises by his son Charles, who was 
governor of Vermont from 1841 to 1843. To Governor Paine was 
largely due the financing which allowed the construction of the Central 
Vermont Railroad, which must reflect credit on his public spirit, as his 
turnpike was thereby destroyed. 

The Paine turnpike ran over the eastern spurs of the Green Moun- 
tains almost directly north for about twenty miles, and terminated on 
the north side of the Onion or Winooski River, in the center of 
Montpelier. 

THE WINDHAM TURNPIKE 

The next was the Windham Turnpike Company, created by the act 
of November i, 1799. As previously stated this company took over the 
route which the First Vermont failed to improve from Bennington to 
Wilmington, with the addition of the further right from Wilmington to 
Brattleboro. Five toUgates were allowed, the first to be installed when 
seven miles of road had been completed. Ultimately the gates were to 
be located: one near the east line of Bennington; one in Readsboro; one 
near the Deerfield River in Wilmington; one in the west part of Marl- 
boro ; and one in the west part of Brattleboro. At the two eastern gates 
less toll was to be collected, for what reason is not apparent. The sec- 
tion of road in Brattleboro was to be built over an easier country, and 
it may have been considered that less expenditure was entitled to less 
returns, but such reasoning could not have been applied to the section 
to be built in Marlboro, for construction in that part involved steep 
grades and heavy work. 

The turnpike climbed over a high divide in Wilmington, passing a 
short distance south of Ray Pond, to which has lately been given the 
more pretentious name of Lake Rayponda, and fell steeply into Wil- 
mington Village. There it passed through the very center, being the 

[253] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

road on which Child's Tavern fronts. The old Vermont House on the 
opposite side of the street from Child's could doubtless tell many a 
stage-coach story. West of Wilmington the old turnpike was the road 
now regularly traveled to Bennington, passing with many steep grades 
and circuitous windings through Searsburg and Woodford City. 

The promoters of the Windham seem to have been able to secure 
what the Third Massachusetts tried in vain to get, as it is seen in their 
act of incorporation that the various towns along the road were to be 
obliged to keep the turnpike clear of snow. 

The original charter provided that the corporation might build as far 
as the house of General John Steward in Brattleboro. But on October 
27, 1800, another act was secured by which the location of the road was 
allowed to be changed and the easterly terminus fixed in Brattleboro, 
at the house of Rutherford Hayes, the grandfather of the nineteenth 
president of the United States. 

The road was operated for about twelve years with an incomplete 
list of rates of toll, for after that lapse of time we find it enacted that 
a " waggon drawn by one horse " should pay a toll of twelve and one 
half cents. In 18 15 the removal of the eastern gate was allowed, but 
no increased rates at the others in consequence. October 26, 1821, the 
corporation was allowed to give up all of its road east of Wilmington, 
and in 1825 it was authorized to extend its road and change its gates 
wherever it saw fit. How long the western portion was operated has not 
been learned, but it apparently had been abandoned before 1828, as 
another company, the Searsburg, was chartered then to reclaim the road. 

Over this turnpike journeyed the father of President Hayes about 
1808 when, having received his " freedom suit" and attained his major- 
ity, he sought employment as a merchant's clerk in Wilmington, where 
he married and lived a few years before making his home in Ohio In 
1817. 

THE GREEN MOUNTAIN TURNPIKE 

The promoters of the Green Mountain Turnpike Company returned 
with a more attractive proposition and, on November 2, 1799, were 
granted a new charter to build 

from the east line of Clarendon to the post road on Connecticut River, in Rocking- 
ham. 

In this act of Incorporation a bond in the sum of one thousand dol- 
lars was required to guarantee that the incorporators would complete 
their road within five years. Towns were allowed to subscribe to the 
capital stock, but no one town for more than one sixth of the total. 

Under this franchise and the eight acts subsequently passed, the road 
was built from Clarendon to Bellows Falls following closely along the 
route afterwards taken by the Rutland Railroad. Hayes' " History of 
[254J 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

Rockingham " tells us that it was financed by the same interests which 
built the canal at Bellows Falls, and that the corporation operated the 
road for forty years. 

It appears that there was considerable trouble in building the road, 
and it seems doubtful if it can be said that it ever was finally completed 
although it was operated for its entire length for many years. The 
matter of land damages gave much concern to the company and it 
secured the passage of an act in 1800, providing that roads near the 
turnpike, and rendered useless by its construction, should be discontinued 
by the selectmen, and the consequent reversion of the land to the origi- 
nal owners should be considered as an offset for land taken for the new 
road. Evidently their further efforts toward economical purchases of 
land were too successful, for a " great complaint about smallness of 
damages" resulted in the passage of an act in 1802, which gave the 
landowners a right of appeal. In 18 17 the road was still under con- 
struction, and changes in the route for over a quarter of its length were 
then allowed. Under authority granted in 1818 the erection of a gate 
in Cavendish or Chester, with collection of half rates of toll, was made 
conditional upon the whole road being completed within four years from 
that date. 

The road plainly was unsatisfactory, for in 1822 permission was 
secured to resurvey and alter the location in Mount Holly and Shrews- 
bury, the abandoned portions to be discontinued. But evidently nothing 
was done in consequence, for we find another act, passed in 1828, by 
which they might resurvey and make alterations for the whole length 
of the turnpike. Again they appeared before the legislature in 1831 
and secured authority to make alterations oh all of their road within 
Windsor County. A two years' limit on this last act was extended 
another year in 1832, after which we find no further legislation. So 
we must conclude that the extensive alterations were never carried out, 
much as they were desired. Had they been made, much more legislation 
would have been needed to provide for alteration of gates and disposi- 
tion of the discontinued portions of the old turnpike. 

The location of the eastern end of the Green Mountain Turnpike at 
Bellows Falls was due to the existence of a bridge over the Con- 
necticut River there. The Bellows Falls Bridge was provided for 
by the New Hampshire legislature at Its session in 1783, and was the 
first bridge built over the Connecticut. It was built in 1785 by Colonel 
Enoch Hale, and its construction is shown in the illustration photo- 
graphed from an old painting In the Bellows Falls office of the local 
electric-light company. Considering the occasional turbulence of the 
Connecticut River it seems doubtful if such a structure could have lasted 
many years, but the present bridge is the next one of which we have 
information, and that was erected in 1840. It is called the "Tucker 
Bridge," and is well shown In the Illustration. It Is of the type so 
familiar to travelers in northern New England, the Towne lattice truss, 

[255] 



T HE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

said to have been built by the mile and cut off in lengths to suit. Engi- 
neers will be interested to note the doubled web members over the pier, 
which can plainly be seen in the illustration. An interesting feature in 
all the old bridges is the manner in which the early builders provided for 
the strains, and here we see how the strains over the support of a con- 
tinuous beam were countered. The " Tucker Bridge " was operated as 
a toll bridge until recent years and, since no legislative act authorizing 
its erection has been found subsequent to that of 1783, we must conclude 
that it was built and operated under the charter then granted. 

The charter of the Green Mountain preceded that of the Third New 
Hampshire by about seven weeks. The New Hampshire road, as we 
have seen, led from Bellows Falls through Keene, and into the town of 
Ashby, Massachusetts, on the way to Boston. Thus it appears that the 
two turnpikes, with the Bellows Falls Bridge, were units of a grand 
scheme whereby the Lake Champlain country was to have an easy outlet 
for its produce, and an inlet for its supplies to and from Boston, a route 
in active operation to-day by railroads. 



THE WINDSOR AND WOODSTOCK TURNPIKE 

November 5, 1799, the Windsor and Woodstock Turnpike Com- 
pany was chartered to build 

from the east parish in Windsor, to or near the Woodstock court house. 

The road was to be four rods wide and eighteen feet in the traveled 
portioA. Evidently the in.corporators expected to follow the old Con- 
necticut post road for a portion of the way, for we find it enacted that 
no gate should be erected on any part of that road. This company 
was expressly allowed to commute tolls, or in others words, to keep book 
accounts with regular customers. 

The East Parish in Windsor was situated on the bank of the Con- 
necticut River at the Vermont end of the Cornish Bridge, which had 
been erected three years prior to the incorporation of this turnpike com- 
pany. We have already noted that a heavy traffic in sheep and cattle 
passed over Cornish Bridge in its early years, and we are justified in 
assuming that much of it reached the bridge by means of this turnpike. 

A change in the location of the gates was allowed by an act passed 
in 1802, and on October 26, 1820, the company was relieved of all 
obligation to maintain the road east of Lull Brook in Hartland. 

THE WHITE RIVER TURNPIKE 

The White River Turnpike Company received its franchise on the 
first day of November, 1800, and built a road between twenty and 
twenty-one miles in length, extending from what is now White River 
[256] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

Junction, up and along the north bank of the White River through the 
towns of Hartford, Sharon, and Royalton or, as the charter expressed it, 

from the mouth of White River to the mouth of the second branch of said river. 

Tucker's " History of Hartford" and Lovejoy's " History of Royal- 
ton " agree that the turnpike was In operation for fifty-two years. No 
bridges had to be maintained within the limits of Royalton, which elimi- 
nated one frequent cause of friction between town and corporation, and 
Lovejoy testifies to the continued harmonious relations In this case. 

By 1852 the earnings had decreased so far that the owners of the 
road offered to sell to the three towns for ten dollars each, the turnpike 
to be given up as soon as one town had paid Its ten. The reason is not 
far to seek. The Vermont Central Railroad, first chartered in 1835, in 
January, 1850, opened its line from Windsor to Burlington, and for 
twenty miles of its length was never more than five hundred feet away 
from the dust of the turnpike. 



THE CENTER TURNPIKE 

The Center Turnpike Company, created November 4, 1800, was to 
provide turnpike facilities from MIddlebury courthouse to Wood- 
stock, with a branch turning off " at the most convenient place," and 
leading to the mouth of the second branch of the White River, at which 
point it would join the westerly end of the White River Turnpike. 
Three days later the Royalton and Woodstock was incorporated to 
build from Woodstock to Royalton, which it Is easy to see paved the 
way for a controversy. In October, 1801, In consequence of the Center's 
proposing to " fall into " the Royalton and Woodstock location, an act 
was passed by which amicable relations were secured and the rights of 
the latter company protected. It is difficult to determine positively 
where the Center did build Its road, but apparently it built a portion of 
the main line and the authorized branch, leaving out the part of the main 
location which would have taken It to Woodstock. As it was built, it 
formed an extension of the White River Turnpike, following up the 
river of that name to the headwaters of the west branch thereof in the 
town of Ripton, passing thence Into the valley of the MIddlebury River, 
which It followed to the MIddlebury courthouse. That money was 
not easy In this case is evident from an extension of time which was 
granted, running to 1808. 

In 1 8 1 7 the company was relieved of obligation to maintain that part 
of its road which lay west of " Joshua Hyde's road in MIddlebury," 
and In 1818 was released from its responsibility for all of the turnpike 
situated in Bethel and Royalton north of the White River. Nineteen 
years later, in 1837, the company again appeared In the halls of legisla- 
tion and secured the passage of an act by which it was relieved of all 
of its road from the eastern end to where it left the White River, that 

[257] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

part of the road being made a public highway. A new rate of tolls was 
granted, to be collected for a few years longer on the remaining portions 
of the turnpike. That must have been a very few miles in the towns of 
Ripton and Middlebury. 

A very little at the eastern end of this turnpike fell within the terri- 
tory afterwards occupied by the Vermont Central Railroad, but the toll 
road gave up its existence some years before railroad competition forced 
it to do so. A farther portion of the location later formed the route of 
the White River Valley Railroad. 



THE ROYALTON AND WOODSTOCK TURNPIKE 

As already stated the Royalton and Woodstock Turnpike Company 
was incorporated November 7, 1800, to build " from Royalton meeting- 
house to Woodstock court-house," and its road was built in spite of the 
effort of the promoters of the Center to improve their franchise, granted 
three days earlier. 

Again we are indebted to Lovejoy, who tells us that the turnpike 
promotion was opposed by the inhabitants of the towns of Pomfret and 
Woodstock, and that to placate them much latitude was used In defining 
their domestic concerns, in the prosecution of which they were allowed 
to pass free over the road. This conciliation was continued until 1838, 
when David Bosworth, a local "man of the hour," was appointed toll 
gatherer and promptly drew the lines tighter. A merry war resulted, 
but It appears that the company, being within its legal rights, prevailed. 

At the northerly end of the turnpike the company maintained a bridge 
over the White River, which, after twenty-five years' service, became 
unsafe. Owing to insufficient revenue the company felt unable to repair 
the bridge and sought to abandon it, seeking a new location by which 
it could use a bridge owned by the town. The usual opposition was 
encountered and as usual a compromise was made. The town of Royal- 
ton voted in 1830 that, if the company would properly maintain its road, 
the town would contribute twenty-five dollars annually toward the re- 
pairs of the bridge. 

May I, 1842, the road became free by action of the court under 
authority of the act of 1839. 



THE CONNECTICUT RIVER TURNPIKE 

John Holbrook, Samuel Dickenson, and Lemuel Whiting were 
granted March 10, 1797, the exclusive right for eight years to run a 
stage from Brattleboro "on the post road to Dartmouth College," be- 
cause, as the act recited, " the said John, Samuel, and Lemuel have, at 
great expense and considerable loss, established a line of stages on said 
route." By this it appears that the post road contemplated in the act 
[258] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

of 1795 had been constructed as far, at least, as Norwich, which lies on 
the Vermont shore of the Connecticut and opposite Hanover, the home 
town of Dartmouth College. Now comes evidence that the road had 
been poorly built, or if not so, that it was too heavy a burden for the 
towns to maintain, for we have a franchise granted to the Connecticut 
River Turnpike Company November 7, 1800, to cover the same ter- 
ritory as the post road, between Bellows Falls and the south line of 
Thetford, and probably occupying the post road itself. One would 
expect to find the afore-mentioned John, Samuel, and Lemuel interested 
in this turnpike over which their stages were to run for the remaining 
five years of their exclusive privilege, but apparently their " great ex- 
pense and considerable loss " continued to follow them, for their names 
do not appear among the incorporators of the Connecticut River. 

This charter specified the number of gates which the corporation 
might erect and prescribed the toll to be collected at each, but introduced 
a feature which is only found in Massachusetts by permission of a 
special act of the legislature. The corporation was allowed to erect as 
many additional gates as it deemed best, but to collect only fractional 
tolls at such extra barriers. 

November 9, 18 14, the corporation was relieved of all its road 
south of the road leading to Cheshire Bridge, but Hayes' " History of 
Rockingham " is our authority for saying that the rest of the turnpike 
continued to be so operated until about 1840. 



THE HUBBARDTON TURNPIKE 

The trend of transportation In western Vermont to-day is southerly 
and westerly toward New York City, as evidenced by the records of 
the Rutland Railroad. While many of the early turnpikes seem to have 
catered to travel transversely with the Green Mountain range the Hub- 
bardton Turnpike Company, chartered November 11, 1802, shows that 
at that date the drift toward New York had set in. That corporation 
desired to build a road from 

Sudbury to the road leading from Rutland to Fairhaven, in the most suitable direc- 
tion for Salem, New York. 

The only portion of this route which is to-day occupied by any sort 
of a railroad Is the section between Bomoseen and Castleton, which is 
served by a short branch of the Rutland street-railway system, but the 
farther portion of the journey which was made to Salem, New York, 
followed directly along the line later occupied by one of the divisions of 
the Delaware and Hudson. Doubtless a New York corporation fur- 
nished a road on the other side of the state line with which this road 
connected by means of the Poultney Turnpike, chartered in 1805, but 
it seems worthy of notice that this company, desiring to improve travel 

[259] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

between Sudbury and Salem, asked for a franchise covering only about 
a quarter of the distance. 

In 1808 the company petitioned the legislature, stating that the tolls 
which it was obliged to collect had a tendency to lessen travel, and ask- 
ing permission to reduce its rates. The act passed in consequence 
allowed such reductions, but provided that not over half was to be taken 
off. Imagine, if you can, the necessity of restricting the reduction of 
fares by a modern railroad. 

Little has been found concerning the Hubbardton Turnpike, but 
enough to show that it continued in business until November, 185 1, when 
its charter was repealed. 



THE WILLIAMSTOWN CENTER TURNPIKE 

November 14, 1803, the act incorporating the Williamstown Center 
Turnpike Company was passed, providing for a road from 

Experience Fisk's in Brookfield, northerly up the side of the branch of White River, 
through the notch of the mountains, to the road leading from Williamstown to 
Chelsea. 

Twenty-five years after the completion of the road it was to become free 
and the property of the state, but the more liberal legislature of 1 804 
granted another fifteen years of corporate life. 

Nothing was done for two years, and the date set in the original act 
for the first meeting, at which organization was to be effected, passed 
without that formality. But hope still lived and permission to hold the 
meeting on another day was secured in 1805. 

This turnpike seems to have been known as " Ira Day's turnpike," 
and followed the " Gulf Route," according to Child's Gazetteer of 
Washington County. There are fanciful tales of the Boston and Mon- 
treal stages passing this way carrying the British Royal mail, guarded 
by a soldier of King George, but the course of the turnpike did not lend 
itself to direct stage travel in that direction, and the presence of a for- 
eign soldier seems open to much doubt. 

It is said that Cottrill and Day's stages followed this route. 



THE NORTHERN TURNPIKE 

An imposing array of names opened the act by which the Northern 
Turnpike Company of Vermont was incorporated February 6, 1804. 
Eighty-three individuals were therein constituted a corporation for the 
purpose of building a turnpike 

from Lake Champlain to Connecticut River, through the counties of Franklin, Or- 
leans, and Caledonia, and also a part of Essex, if judged best ... in the most con- 
venient direction for Portland, Maine. 
[260] 




First Bridge over the Connecticut River, 1785 
Tucker Toll Bridge and Railroad Bridge 

Plate LXVII — Bellows Falls Bridge 




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THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

It win be recalled that attention was directed, while considering the 
Tenth New Hampshire and the Littleton turnpikes, to the comprehen- 
sive scheme whereby Portland, Maine, was to be put in easy communi- 
cation with Northern Vermont. Here we have the Vermont section of 
that scheme. The Northern of Vermont was to commence at the toll 
bridge at Upper Waterford and run across the state to some point, 
which we are unable to locate at this remote date, on the shores of Lake 
Champlain. Some difference of opinion was found among the old resi- 
dents of Waterford as to whether the easterly terminus was to be at 
the bridge at Upper Waterford or at the one at Lower Waterford. The 
route of the turnpike was to include St. Johnsbury, and the present-day 
stage from that town to Upper Waterford finds its easiest route brings 
it to the Connecticut River some miles downstream from the site of the 
lower bridge. But turnpikes did not look for easy routes, while they did 
look for any influence which would lessen their land damages, and the 
presence of the name of Nathan Pike among the incorporators of the 
Northern strengthens the belief that the proposed route led to the upper 
bridge. Nathan Pike was the owner of a large farm running back from 
the Connecticut, on the Vermont side, and it was on to his land that 
travelers across the First Littleton toll bridge at Upper Waterford first 
stepped, and over his farm led the road by which the public highway 
was reached from the bridge. This Pike leased to the bridge company 
an acre of land for toll-house purposes, the consideration being that he 
and his heirs, with their famihes, should forever pass free of toll over 
the bridge. Ere a century had passed a multitude of Pikes, settled from 
Vermont to Louisiana with a liberal proportion living near the bridge, 
seemed to fall within the privileges of this rental. As the toll-house lot 
was owned by only two of the descendants, there seemed to be no way 
by which the extensive free list could be reduced until the company se- 
cured the passage of an act under which, in 1899, they took the toll- 
house lot by condemnation proceedings and thereby became owners 
instead of lessees. 

Further confirmation of the belief of a terminus at Upper Waterford 
is found in the fact that such a point is more nearly in a direct line with 
the general route, and that a detour by way of Lower Waterford would 
have required a similar return in order to reach the territory of the 
Littleton Turnpike. 

But whichever bridge was aimed at by the turnpike, the road was 
never built east of St. Johnsbury, and the heavy traffic which followed 
the route for many years divided itself about equally between the two 
bridges, as is evidenced by the substantial taverns now standing in each 
village. We have already given some attention to the bridge at Upper 
Waterford, that of the First Littleton Bridge Corporation, and noted 
that it still serves its purpose. The bridge lower down was built by the 
Second Littleton Bridge Corporation under authority of a charter 
granted by New Hampshire in 1820, and served the public until about 

[261] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



1890, when Its westerly span went downstream on the crest of a jam 
of logs. The lumber company promptly bought up a majority of the 
stock and then decided not to rebuild. The easterly span remained in 
place for a few years longer and then followed its mate. 

The promoters of the Northern may have given too much considera- 
tion to getting landowners among their incorporators and not enough 
to men of financial influence, for they seem to have had lots of trouble 
with their praject. Apparently nothing at all was done for nearly two 
years, for we find the legislature speaking to them October- 26, 1805, 
and providing a forfeiture of their rights unless the survey of the road 
was completed within nine months, ten miles built within two years, and 
twelve miles annually thereafter until the whole was done. In 1807 this 
was modified by an extension of one year, and a committee was appointed 
to make the layout. In 1809 a further extension was granted, and they 
were promised a gate when ten miles of road was finished. In 1 8 1 1 it 
appears that seven miles of turnpike had been built reaching from Dan- 
ville courthouse to St. Johnsbury Plain, and a special act allowed the 
erection of a gate in such section. 

No more road was built by this corporation, a further extension of 
time granted in 18 14 being Insufficient for it, and the rights of the com- 
pany expired. But that seven miles of road still remained, and In 1 8 1 5 
a new corporation, the Danville, was formed to take over and operate 
what little the Northern had succeeded In completing. 

Although not strictly a turnpike tavern, the old house still standing 
in Upper Waterford Village is of Interest in this connection, as it stood 
on the route of the Northern and furnished accommodations to those 
who had journeyed over what road the company did own. This old 
house, long kept by the Streeter family and still occupied by a grand- 
daughter of the former Innkeeper, is of great interest for its old associa- 
tions with stage-coach travel and for its rare stock of old-fashioned 
furnishings. To the present occupant the author is indebted for per- 
mission to enter and secure a photograph of the old bar, which is here 
reproduced. The memories of many a mug of flip are set aside in the 
presence of the modern stove and lamp, and the public library, which is 
Waterford's share of that part of the Vermont educational system. 

The tavern In Lower Waterford is a more imposing edifice, and from 
Its larger proportions gives the impression that it must have profited 
from a larger circle of trade. Undoubtedly it did, for many of the 
teams crossing at the upper bridge followed down the river for the sake 
of the easier road leading to St. Johnsbury from the lower village. 

THE WEATHERSFIELD TURNPIKE 

Another product of the sixth of February, 1804, was the Weathers- 
field Turnpike Company. Among the Incorporators of this company we 
find the appropriate name of Henry Tolls. 

[262] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

The Weathersfield built from " Sumner's Ferry over Connecticut 
River, at the mouth of Sugar River," to a point in Cavendish on the 
Green Mountain Turnpike. The act of incorporation provided a com- 
mittee of three to lay out the road so as to " best accommodate the 
public, and promote the general object and design of the corporation," 
which certainly was a happy form of defining the duty of the committee. 

Apparently the legislature of 1805 was afraid that its predecessor 
had been too liberal with the Weathersfield, for we find an act passed 
in the latter year which gave a privilege of reducing the tolls to the 
future solons of 1840. 

The company was dissolved by the legislature, at its own request, 
November 9, 1831. 



THE RUTLAND AND STOCKBRIDGE TURNPIKE 

November 9, 1804, the Rutland and Stockbridge Turnpike Com- 
pany was formed and granted a franchise for fifty years. The road of 
this company was to lead from the main road, which ran north and 
south by the Rutland courthouse to the house of Zebidee Sprout in 
Pittsfield, and a committee was appointed by the original act to lay it 
out. But construction did not immediately follow, for in 1805 the com- 
pany was required to complete three miles within two years, and a time 
limit of six years was placed on the whole route. That had the desired 
effect for the road was promptly commenced, and in one year more a 
franchise for an extension to connect with the Center Turnpike in Stock- 
bridge was sought and secured. The company was the subject of legis- 
lative action again in 1813, 1828, and 1833, the last two acts allowing 
it to make alterations in its location. 



TURNPIKE PROPOSED FOR TRAVEL BETWEEN BOSTON 

AND MONTREAL 

The most far-reaching name we have yet seen is that of the Boston 
and Montreal Turnpike Company, chartered November 5, 1805, to 
build 

from the Connecticut River, in Orange County, through Hazen's notch, to the 
north line of Vermont, in the most direct and convenient course from Boston to 
Montreal. 

The route over which this company sought to build Is full of historic 
interest, but the full tale of tragedy and human suffering will never be 
known. Prior to the invasion by the white men the Indians had a trail 
leading over the same territory, and many an unfortunate captive, taken 
by the dusky allies of the French in a raid on the lower Connecticut 
River settlements, had been dragged over this trail with agonized un- 
certainty concerning his fate. But only a trail existed down to the 

[263] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Revolutionary War, and only by those skilled in woodcraft and ac- 
quainted with the country could it be followed. 

When Arnold was detached from the Continental Army at Cam- 
bridge for the purpose of invading Canada, but two routes seemed avail- 
able, and his forces proceeded northward in two detachments, one going 
up the Kennebec River and through the wilds of Maine, while the other 
proceeded along the shore of Lake Champlain. After the disastrous 
repulse at Quebec it became necessary to send reenforcements northward 
in short time to save the remnant of the retreating army, and General 
Jacob Bayley, residing at Newbury, employed Indian Joe, a famous 
scout, to blaze the old trail so that it could readily be traced. Over 
such a primitive path several regiments rushed to Arnold's relief on 
snow shoes. 

In June, 1776, General Bayley, with sixty men, commenced the con- 
struction of a road from the mouth of Wells River toward Canada. 
Some thirty miles of the route had been covered when a false alarm of 
a British invasion from the north caused a hasty abandonment of the 
undertaking, which was not resumed until two years later. In 1778 
another Invasion of Canada was contemplated and General Washington 
addressed a letter to General Bayley, requesting him to secure the 
answers to several questions bearing on the matter, and concluding with 
the following paragraph: 

If you find a favorable report, from credible people, on the matters herein men- 
tioned, your situation being so distant from hence, you may in the month of Novem- 
ber next employ a part of Colonel Bedell's regiment, should it be continued, or a 
small number of good men, in cutting a road from your house into Canada, which 
you with others have reported to me to be practicable. Your reasonable expenses in 
this service will be allowed.'^ 

Wells States, In his " History of Ryegate," that the route was sur- 
veyed by Major James Wilkinson, who laid out the road as straight as 
possible from Wells River through Peacham Corner, the southwest part 
of Danville, Cabot, Walden, and Hardwick to the Lamoille River; 
thence passing westerly of Hosmer Pond to the summit of the Notch In 
Westfield. The road was built under the direction of Colonel Moses 
Hazen, an officer of note In the Continental Army, and the name of 
Hazen Military Road has generally been applied to It. The northerly 
terminus was in the Notch already mentioned, which thereafter bore the 
name of Hazen's Notch, and the point at which the road ended Is now 
marked by a granite monument with a suitably inscribed tablet. In the 
village of Wells River, at the upper end of the main street, at the farther 
corner of the bridge, another monument marks the southerly end of 
the old military road, the tablet there properly recognizing General 
Bayley's efforts in its promotion by bestowing the name of " Bayley- 
Hazen" upon It. 

' Spark's " Life of Washington," Volume VI, page 57. 
[264J 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

Much contention has existed as to the objects of the road, but a study 
of Washington's letters clearly shows that he was considering the In- 
vasion of Canada In 1778, not, as he plainly wrote, at that time, but for 
a later period when events had properly shaped themselves. Although 
never used for hostile purposes by the Americans, and although occa- 
sionally serving as a convenient route for small raiding parties from 
Canada, the military road certainly served an excellent purpose In forc- 
ing the British commander to maintain troops in Canada to meet the 
Invasion which could so easily and quickly be made. 

After peace had been declared and the soldiers, with others, were 
looking for new homes, the Bayley-Hazen road offered the only means 
of transportation to northern Vermont, and it soon became an avenue 
of great Importance. For a long time It was the only main road in 
Lamoille and Orleans -counties, but from it many others soon branched 
off, and the early settlements were along Its line. The Connecticut post 
road, which was ordered by the Vermont legislature of 1795, was to 
follow up the Connecticut River to the north line of Newbury, which 
brought it to Wells River and the end of the Bayley-Hazen road, thus 
providing a single road the length of the state. 

Most of the military road Is still In use, but the location of the 
original line would be lost among the many other roads which now cover 
the region, were it not for the survey made for the Boston and Montreal 
Turnpike. The map of the route then proposed, which is still preserved 
in Montpelier, shows the old road for Its entire length, the turnpike 
surveyors seldom being an appreciable distance away from it. 

According to Wells the turnpike project was thoroughly Investigated 
and several interesting reports about the route, the resources of northern 
Vermont and part of Canada, are among the Johnson papers gathered 
in Newbury. The prospects for the turnpike seemed excellent, as it 
was supported by prominent business men all the way from Boston to 
Montreal, but no work was ever done. Twice the charter rights ex- 
pired by limitation and twice were acts passed reviving them. Finally, 
In 1815, authority was granted to call a meeting of the company, but 
nothing further appears and that must have been the last gasp. 

The first regular stage between Boston and Montreal was established 
over this route, but it was not a turnpike over which the coaches passed. 

A toll bridge across the Connecticut between Wells River and that 
part of Haverhill, now the railroad village of Woodsville, was allowed 
by the New Hampshire legislature in 1803, and that bridge was 
the means by which the promoters of the Boston and Montreal ex- 
pected to transfer their passengers Into New Hampshire. The Wells 
River Bridge continued In business until late in 19 17, but the old- 
fashioned covered bridge had given place to a product from Pennsyl- 
vania, a steel truss. Previous to 1903 all the corporation stock had been 
acquired by the Concord and Montreal Railroad, and the sanction of the 
legislature of that year having been obtained, railroad and toll bridge 

[265] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

were combined in one structure. On the upper deck the railroad trains 
passed and repassed, while below the automobile and horse-drawn travel 
passed with the foot passengers. 

Previous to such construction the railroad company offered to relin- 
quish all its rights to maintain a toll bridge if the towns would provide 
a free bridge, asking nothing in return, but the towns were unable to see 
the advantage of the offer. A different view was taken in 19 17, when 
an agreement was made by which the Boston and Maine Railroad was 
paid $7500 for the surrender of its rights. 

The new bridge is a steel truss of four spans supported on concrete 
piers and abutments and cost $49,500, making, with the amount paid 
the railroad, $57,000. Toward this each state appropriated $8000, 
leaving the balance to be borne by the towns of Newbury, Vermont, and 
Haverhill, New Hampshire. 

With its old-time resentment of any invasion of its precincts the 
Connecticut River, when it saw the first pier being erected away from 
the shore line, rose in its wrath and washed out the contractor's plant, 
including a hoisting engine which it dumped into the river. 

As a part of the route in which the Boston and Montreal Turnpike 
was to form a link, the Coos, Mayhew, and Londonderry turnpikes in 
New Hampshire would have figured, and in Massachusetts the journey 
to Boston would have been continued over the Essex, Andover and 
Medford, and the Medford turnpikes. 

November 7, 1805, was turnpike day in Montpeller, for on that 
day fourteen turnpike companies were incorporated, eight of them being 
combined in one act. 



THE MOUNT TABER TURNPIKE 

The Mount Taber Turnpike Company constructed a road from a 
stone bridge on the East, or Creek Road in Danby, eleven miles through 
a part of Mount Tabor and Dorset, and ending in the easterly part of 
Manchester. This road continued in operation for over twenty years. 
In 18 1 5 certain exemptions from toll were established, and on Novem- 
ber 15, 1826, the corporation was allowed to surrender all of its road 
" south of Deming's saw-mill in Dorset," and the northerly end in 
Danby. 

The Dorset and the Pawlet Turnpike companies, conceived for com- 
munication between adjoining towns, have yielded no information be- 
yond their incorporation, and it is doubtful if either improved any part 
of its franchise. 



[266] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 



THE WALTHAM TURNPIKE 

The Waltham Turnpike Company built and operated its road from 
the end of the Center Turnpike in Middlebury to the courthouse in 
Vergennes. As in nearly all cases we see indications of difficulties in 
financing, and it was over three years before the road was completed. 
Major General Samuel Strong of Vergennes, an extensive landowner 
in that vicinity, was one of the incorporators of the company, and later 
acquired most of the stock according to Swift's " History of 
Middlebury." 

In 1808 the company sought permission to change its location so 
that it might pass over a new bridge which had been erected by the public 
authorities, thereby saving the expense of building one of its own. This 
was granted with the proviso that the company should return to its 
original location and build its own bridge thereon within twelve years. 
Alterations of the road were made in 18 16. 

In 1 82 1 all of the road in Middlebury, except half of a bridge, and 
one mile in Weybrldge adjacent to Middlebury, was surrendered to the 
public, and on October 30, 1828, the whole road was declared free, three 
acres of land with a tollhouse on it being all that was left to the 
corporation. 

In the younger days of the generation which is now passing, this road 
was known as " The Old Plank Road," from which it appears that 
that form of construction was used in its later years, but since plank 
roads were of a much later date than 1828, it seems beyond question 
that the planking was done by the public authorities. 



THE FAIRHAVEN TURNPIKE 

The Fairhaven Turnpike Company had a road twenty-two miles in 
length and extending from the southerly line of Fairhaven, northerly 
through Fairhaven, Westhaven, Benson, Orwell, and Shoreham to the 
southerly line of Bridport, with a few miles additional, allowed to it 
by an act of 1808, which carried the road to the main road in Bridport. 
This ro,ad was aimed at the city of Vergennes, and apparently connected, 
at its southerly end, with a New York turnpike over which travelers 
could reach the lower Hudson River places. 

In 1833 the charter was repealed, subject to the company's accept- 
ance, and the road was made free with the several towns responsible 
for their respective portions, although the selectmen were allowed to 
discontinue the road if they deemed best. 



[267] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE WINOOSKI TURNPIKE 

The WInooski Turnpike Company had a project for about thirty-six 
miles of turnpike, extending from Burlington courthouse up the valley 
of the Onion River to Montpelier, where it connected with the northerly 
end of Elijah Paine's turnpike. Two years later it appeared that the 
company had purchased the Onion River Bridge, a proceeding not 
specified in the charter, for which the legislature took speedy action, 
forbidding the company to collect any tolls thereon. 

That the financial bed of the Winooski was no easier than that of 
ipany others is seen from the company's seeking in 1809, four years 
after incorporation, an extension of its time limit, and later in the same 
session, obtaining permission to erect a gate when eleven of its thirty-six 
miles had been completed. In 181 1 the route was amended so as to 
begin at the college in Burlington, instead of at the courthouse; and in 
1 8 14 alterations in its main road were allowed. By this time the road 
appears to have been completed, but an extraordinary situation then 
developed. 

From an act of 181 5 we learn that the company's bills had not been 
paid, not even the damages for land taken, and the legislature ordered 
the committee to give hearings at once and make awards of damages, 
and if the company did not pay such awards within sixty days the gate 
between Montpelier and Waterbury was to be removed. 

In 1 85 1 the surrender of the portion of the road in Montpelier to 
that town was allowed if the town voted to accept. Apparently the town 
did not accept, for a final act, passed November 23, 1852, authorized 
the surrender of the whole road, regardless of the acceptance by the 
several towns, and made the turnpike free. 

The Winooski was often called the Chittendon Turnpike on account 
of the connection with its affairs had by Governor Chittendon. 



THE POULTNEY TURNPIKE 

The Poultney Turnpike Company was the one already mentioned as 
building a road extending from the southerly end of the Hubbardton 
Turnpike to the line of New York, but the building was a slow process. 
Five years after the date of the franchise an extension of time was 
granted, which was again extended in 18 13. Exemptions from toll "were 
specified by an act of 18 16, from which we may infer that the road had 
been completed, and that the public had a tangible gate to kick at. The 
charter was repealed In 1834 and the responsibility for the road placed 
on the towns. 

For a little short turnpike the Poultney made lots of trouble, seven 
acts of the legislature being passed in relation to it. 
[268] 








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THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

The last of the eight companies formed by the single act of Novem- 
ber 7, 1805, was the Bennington Turnpike Company, which was to build 
from the Massachusetts line in Pownal to Bennington courthouse. 
The company has not again been found in legislation or in local history, 
and it is a question if the road was ever built. 

Six more companies were formed on that same day but these were 
given the distinction of individual acts. 



THE PASSUMPSIC TURNPIKE 

The Passumpsic Turnpike Company was allowed to build 

from near the mouth of Wells River in Newbury, through Ryegate, to the house of 
Deacon Twaddle in Barnet, to be laid as near the Connecticut River as may be 
convenient. 

Under authority of this franchise, after several years, the company 
built its road not only to the house of Deacon Twaddle but nearly twice 
as far, reaching to St. Johnsbury. This was an active proposition, when 
it had survived the difficulties which beset all such enterprises at that 
time. The first step was a false one, for the meeting for organization 
was not held on the date specified in the charter, and the legislature of 
1806 was called upon to legalize the proceedings of the belated gather- 
ing. For eleven years the money struggle went on, five acts being passed 
in that time to assist the corporation's efforts. Extensions of time were 
granted, privileges of gates conferred if they could only get a few miles 
built, and, in 18 13 and 1816, permission was obtained to levy a tax on 
the stockholders for the purpose of raising money to pay the company's 
debts. 

Wells tells us in his " History of Ryegate " that about a mile was 
built in Barnet in 1807, and that, in 1808, the road was finished to the 
line between Barnet and Ryegate. After that the turnpike was extended 
a few miles at a time, until it reached Wells River Village, where it 
terminated at the upper end of the main street. It seems that the later 
money troubles, to meet which the right to lay a tax on the shares was 
granted, occurred in connection with the extension to St. Johnsbury for 
which no franchise has been found, and it is strange that no one seems 
to have observed that the company was seeking money privileges for an 
illegal purpose. When we recall how strictly the turnpike companies 
were held to the purposes of their charters, as in the case of the 
WInooski, when it had bought the Onion River Bridge, and of many 
others, it is Indeed remarkable that such an over-reaching of its privi- 
leges should have been overlooked. In 1830 a legislative resolution 
instructed the " state's attorney " to investigate the right by which this 
turnpike was being maintained In Newbury, Ryegate, Barnet, Water- 
ford, and St. Johnsbury, and prosecute for any Illegality, but no serious 
results followed. 

[269] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Twenty-six thousand dollars is said to have been the first cost of the 
turnpike, with another seven thousand spent later for alterations cover- 
ing seven miles. If these figures are authentic, the road being about 
twenty miles long, we have a figure of thirteen hundred dollars per mile 
for first cost, with a thousand dollars per mile for later alterations. 
These prices seem reasonable for a dirt road built under considerable 
difficulties. In many places it follows along the face of high hills, so 
steep as to require heavy grading, and often rock was encountered. A 
huge wooden plow was used in breaking up the soil preliminary to dig- 
ging, which may still be seen preserved in the Fairbanks Museum of 
Natural Science in St. Johnsbury. 

The tollgate on the lower section was first located on the Beattie 
Farm in the northerly part of Ryegate, later at a point a little below the 
Stevens Village toll bridge, and again in the upper end of Mclndoe 
Village. At the latter place the gate was attended by James Monteith, 
who occupied his leisure between the passing of teams by knitting 
stockings. 

The road seems to have aroused much hostility soon after 1820 and 
frequent efforts occurred to get it out of private control. In 1824 peti- 
tion was entered with the supreme court, in consequence of which a 
committee was appointed to lay out a public road parallel to the turn- 
pike, but the effort was too great for the towns involved, and the legis- 
lature of 1826 was sought for relief, which was granted by setting aside 
the court's decree. The general law, under which towns were allowed 
to buy turnpike stock for the purpose of making the road free within 
their limits, seems to have had its inception with this road, for we find 
the town of Ryegate authorized by the legislature of 1828 to buy Pas- 
sumpslc stock for such a purpose. 

The town of Barnet tried another method of attack and built a mile 
of road adjoining the turnpike, but as soon as the road was finished the 
corporation took possession of it and Incorporated it into its turnpike 
system. The town entered suit to retain Its road, but after several 
appeals a final decision was handed down in favor of the company. It 
is to be regretted that more details of that case are not available, for 
■from the facts at hand it is hard to see the justice of the outcome. 
Efforts In 1839 resulted more successfully, for then a committee was 
appointed for the purpose of laying out a public road which should 
parallel the turnpike and, therefore, put it out of business. This, of 
course, was resisted by the corporation, and more litigation ensued, but 
this time resulting adversely to the company, which was obliged to give 
up its road and accept the award of four thousand dollars which was 
given it. This form of persuasion consisted In giving authority to build 
a parallel road if the corporation refused to sell at what the authorities 
considered a reasonable figure. 

A beautiful ride may be had to-day over the old Passumpsic Turnpike, 
yielding inspiring views of the upper Connecticut valley scenery. After 
[270] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

leaving Wells River one must first pass through the winds and twists 
which have been put into the old alignment by the later railroad con- 
struction, but soon comes out into view of the river, which is seldom out 
of sight for the next several miles. After passing the busy paper mill 
at East Ryegate, a splendid view is had, from far down the river, of the 
Lyman toll bridge at Mclndoe Falls. This quaint old structure, a 
covered wooden bridge built in 1834, makes a rare picture, framed on 
either side by the steep wooded banks of the river with a widened ex- 
panse of water for a foreground. Passing through the village of 
Mclndoe Falls, one may see on the right the boarding house of the 
Connecticut Valley Lumljer Company, formerly a turnpike tavern, but 
now, with the large ell added by the company, capable of housing many 
more people than of old. The Stevens Village toll bridge, a compara- 
tively recent erection, built under a charter granted in 1846, is seen on 
the right after passing over the next two miles of road, and then, after 
passing over a slight hill, the village of Barnet is seen. Originally the 
turnpike followed close to the river bank above Barnet, about on the 
line now followed by the railroad, but damage from high water caused 
its removal to a location high up on the hill before the railroad claimed 
its superior right to the location on the bank. Above Barnet, then, the 
old turnpike climbed, where now rises the public road, over the emi- 
nence most appropriately called " The Mountain " by the local trav- 
elers, and when it has returned to earth again it is in the valley of the 
Passumpsic and not in that of the Connecticut. 

Passing through the little village of East Barnet, also known as 
Copenhagen, and as Inwood on the railroad time-tables, a hamlet famed 
for its production of croquet sets, the turnpike continues up the valley 
of the Passumpsic River, through the village of Passumpsic, and on to 
St. Johnsbury. 

The territory served by this turnpike was occupied by the descend- 
ants of the thrifty Scotch settlers, for whom the county, Caledonia, was 
named, and they soon perceived that if the road was a good investment 
for the corporation it would be equally good for the general public, and 
they chafed under the imposition of tolls. Hence the corporation went 
out of business when the community became able to maintain free roads. 
That the road was a paying one is evident from the resistance offered 
to the efforts to make it free, the company even testing, in the courts, the 
constitutionality of the act by which it was terminated. The Connecticut 
and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad was built in this section soon after 
1850, so that did not hasten the end of the turnpike. 

THE RANDOLPH TURNPIKE 

The Randolph Turnpike Company's road extended from the wes- 
terly end of the White River Turnpike in Royalton ten miles up the 
Second Branch of the White River into the town of Randolph. Daniel 

[271] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Payne was the surveyor and he laid out the turnpike in the old road 
with one exception. Across the land of John Kimball he made a new 
location, and to the said John fell the distinction of being the only 
property owner in the length of ten miles, to whom was allowed any 
damages. To him it was allowed that he should receive sixty dollars, 
but if the section of old road thus cut out was discontinued, the land 
reverting to him, he was to receive only thirty-five dollars.^ 

November 6, 1833, the corporation was dissolved, and on the 
eighteenth of the same month the corporation voted to accept the terms 
imposed by the legislature and stepped out. 

Of the other four incorporated on that seventh of November we 
have gathered practically nothing, and there seems little reason for 
believing that any of them built a road. 

The Woodstock and Rutland Turnpike Company appears but once 
in the legislative annals, when it was formed to build 

from Finna Hawkins in Bridgewater, up the Water-Quechee river, through Bridge- 
water and Sherburne, to the turnpike from Rutland to Pittsfield. 

We shall later find a turnpike built over this route by the Sherburne 
Turnpike Company, which was incorporated some twenty-one years 
afterwards. 

The Mad River Turnpike Company was to build from the Center 
Turnpike in Hancock, through Kingston, Warren, Waitsfield, and 
Moretown to the Onion River. 

As such a route would have measured about thirty miles, which 
would have made this road one of the notable ones of the state, it seems 
incredible that it could have been constructed without bothering the 
legislature again after the act of incorporation was passed. No other 
act has been found in relation to this company. 

The Mississiquoi Turnpike Company was to build from the Canada 
line in Highgate to the south bank of the Mississiquoi River, on a line 
for the courthouse In St. Albans. 

Ten years afterwards this company secured an extension of four 
years on its time limit, and if they could not begin in ten years it is 
doubtful If they ever did. 

The Sandbar Turnpike Company obtained a franchise for a road 
to lead from the lower bridge over the Onion River in Colchester, by 
the Sandbar, to the ferry from Middle Hero to Cumberland Head. 

That this project needed careful nourishing Is seen by the act of 
November 4, 1806, which decreed that no person living within five miles 
of the gate which was to be erected on the Sandbar should be exempt 

' Lovejoy's " History of Royalton." 
[272] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

from paying toll. The high rate of four cents for a foot passenger was 
also allowed to this company, and a further concession was made that 
the supreme court could not dissolve the corporation until the original 
investment, plus twelve-per-cent interest, had been paid. 

But with all that temptation for the investor, the turnpike did not 
materialize and, in 1808, an extension of time was secured which was 
renewed in 181 1. Finding nothing more, we will assume, until further 
evidence be forthcoming, that the franchise rights expired at the end 
of this last extension. 

October 26, 1807, after a lapse of nearly two years, the formation 
of turnpike corporations was resumed, and on that day the Manchester 
Turnpike Company was chartered. This company's road was to con- 
nect the Green Mountain Turnpike in Chester with the courthouse 
in Manchester, and Hayes speaks of it in his " History of Rocking- 
ham " as later becoming the most popular stage route from Boston to 
Saratoga Springs. But we must doubt Hayes' accuracy in this instance, 
for the route of this turnpike is the same as that later improved by the 
Peru Turnpike Company, and there are no indications that any other 
road was ever built. Hence we will class the Manchester among the 
" never-has-beens." 

THE VERGENNES AND WILLSBORO TURNPIKE 

On the fourth of November, 1808, a charter was issued to Major 
General Samuel Strong and others, residents of Vergennes and Ferris- 
burg, for the construction of a turnpike from the north end of the 
Waltham Turnpike, in Vergennes, to Hiern's Ferry, on Lake Cham- 
plain, in Ferrisburg. Major General Strong was a prominent and in- 
fluential man in his community, and much of the land through which the 
building of the turnpike was contemplated belonged to him. 

Financing the road was a slow proposition, as is evidenced by the 
fact that acts, extending the limits within which the road might be com- 
pleted, were passed in 18 10, 1812, and again in 18 16. Local tradition 
tells that the turnpike was finally completed in 1820. 

This is the road which now extends from the center of Vergennes 
about due west across the town of Panton, close to its northerly boun- 
dary, to the shore of Lake Champlain at Adams Ferry, which is the 
modern name for Hiern's. 

Although originally projected through the town of Ferrisburg, no 
part of the road to-day is within that town, the section traversed by the 
turnpike having been transferred to Panton in 1847. Willsboro is a 
New York town bordering on Lake Champlain, but to-day it is far to 
the north of any service from Adams Ferry. An old map, however, 
showsi us that Willsboro in the day of the turnpike was a much larger 
town and included the land opposite Ferrisburg. 

[273] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE STRAFFORD TURNPIKE 

The Strafford Turnpike Company was granted the right on Novem- 
ber II, 1808, to build from the Connecticut River Turnpike in Nor- 
wich, diagonally across the town of Strafford, to the courthouse in 
Chelsea. In 18 13 the company made petition to the legislature for an 
extension of the time within which it should finish the road, stating in 
explanation that it had nearly finished the turnpike, but that heavy 
rains had done so much damage that completion within the required 
time would be impossible. 

November 4, 1826, the corporation was allowed to surrender its 
charter and the road became free. 

THE STRATTON TURNPIKE 

The Stratton Turnpike Company, created by the act of November 
10, 1808, at first proposed to build from the Stratton meeting-house to 
the foot of the Green Mountain in Sunderland, but later, in 18 15, se- 
cured an extension of its rights by which it was allowed to build east- 
wardly through Wardsboro to Newfane at a point on the road from 
Brattleboro to Townshend, with an extension of the time limit on the 
original portion. By this it can be seen that the first proposition did not 
look attractive enough to those from whom the money was expected. 
Nor did the whole proposition for that matter, for we find extensions 
of time granted again in 1820 and in 1826. But the road was finally 
built, as can be attested by anyone familiar with the neglected and aban- 
doned region through which it passed. For the entire town of Stratton, 
with large parts of the adjoining towns, is. given up to the growth of 
timber, all the farms being sold and deserted and the region devoid of 
human presence. 

One sunny September morning, one hundred and five years after 
the incorporation of the Stratton Turnpike Company, the author found 
himself one of a jolly party whose automobile trip brought them to this 
old road at the snug little village of West Wardsboro, from which 
place the turnpike was followed to its former western terminus. 

The first four miles was a stiff climb to the site of Stratton Village, 
with occasional glimpses of Stratton Mountain, 3860 feet high, and 
shaped like the back of a gigantic elephant, plowing its way toward the 
Massachusetts line. After leaving the outskirts of West Wardsboro, 
not a sign of human life was seen for the next twelve miles, although 
the roadside was marked at irregular intervals by former happy homes 
and secure shelters, now marred with gaping rents in the walls and fall- 
ing roofs. Three entire villages are included in the list of desolation, — 
Stratton, with its white-splred church; Grout's Mills, abandoned like 
the farms to let the timber grow; and West Jamaica, whose twent}' 
houses and sav/mill did not show even a cat to give life to the scene. 
[274J 





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THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

Stratton Village yielded the two illustrations which are typical of the 
roadside adornments for niile after mile. 

Three miles beyond Stratton we passed a guideboard which let us 
know that the trail up Stratton Mountain began there. Since our Sep- 
tember ride a tower has been erected on the summit by the Stratton 
Mountain Club, in conjunction with the Vermont Forestry Bureau, and 
a most inspiring view is to be had from the added elevation above the 
tree tops, giving sights into the three adjoining states. Near here was 
also passed the field in which Daniel Webster is said to have delivered 
an address before an audience so large that one wonders where all could 
have come from. But the country has not always been so forsaken by 
man, and but a few years ago the little church at Stratton weekly housed 
a goodly sized congregation, and an attendance of a hundred at the 
social gatherings was not uncommon. 

By noon we had covered twelve miles of the old turnpike and had 
reached " Kelley Stand," one of the old-time taverns, still doing some 
kind of hotel business in the midst of the desolation, which yielded us a 
dinner excellent beyond all our expectations. It seemed that " Kelley 
Stand " possessed some little reputation for its unique lonesomeness, 
which brought a profitable number of summer boarders from even as 
far away as New York City, and now that the frosty fall mornings had 
come, another class had arrived to keep the business alive. For the 
woods for miles around were alive with a busy throng who sought far 
and wide for the ferns which grew so abundantly, picking them in great 
armfuls, and carrying them to the roadside to be packed and shipped to 
the cities for the florists to use in decorating their boxes of flowers. 
To these workers the deserted houses and barns are a boon and, for 
a few weeks In each fall, they camp In such as have sufficient roof re- 
maining to shed the rain. A large force were camped in some houses 
near " Kelley Stand," and the call for dinner brought them from all 
directions like hailstones in a summer storm. 

Beyond Grout's Mills a long hill led up through the woods, and here, 
in the winter of 1821, occurred a most mournful tragedy, which was 
read in verse in many a school reader fifty years ago. A family of 
three, father, mother, and baby, encountered one of the severe winter 
storms and the two elders perished, but the baby was found the next 
morning, wrapped in its mother's shawl, and still alive. 

Although the scenes along the old road are rather depressing with 
the striking suggestions of the rupture of old home associations, it is 
pleasant to think of the bustle of old-time stage travel, for this road 
pointed straight to Saratoga Springs, and the larger part of the fashion- 
able visitors from Boston must have journeyed to the springs over the 
Stratton Turnpike. 

November 17, 18 13, the MIddlebury Turnpike Corporation was 
created to build a road from the northerly end of the Hubbardton Turn- 

[275] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

pike to Middlebury. It would seem that there was an urgent demand 
for a good road along these lines, for it would have opened the way 
from Middlebury to the lower Hudson towns and New York City. By 
its connection with the Hubbardton, and over that, with the Poultney 
and the turnpikes of eastern New York, it would have seemed a promis- 
ing proposition. But either our inferences are wrong or else the exist- 
ing roads were good enough, for the promoters never mustered enough 
courage to build the road. A two years' extension was granted in 1814, 
after which the company does not appear. 

Mathews' " History of Cornwall ". tells us that the route was sur- 
veyed and that a proposition was made to that town by which the in- 
habitants were to pass free of toll, in consideration of one half the 
highway tax of those living along the route being worked out upon the 
turnpike. The offer was accepted at a town meeting in March, 1815, 
but the corporation failed to construct the road. 

THE PERU TURNPIKE 

The opening of the year 19 16 saw but few turnpikes in operation in 
New England. A few were still doing business in New Hampshire but 
they were all of the summer-tourist variety, being those, constructed up 
the sides of the high mountains for which that state is famed. The last 
one in New England of what might be called the commercial variety and, 
with the possible exception of the Plum Island in Massachusetts, the 
only one which ever collected tolls from automobiles, dates from No- 
vember 9, 1 8 14, when the Peru Turnpike Company was chartered and 
allowed to build its road from the " Lovel farm in Peru to the court- 
house in Manchester." 

Chartered late in 18 14, the road was commenced early in 1815 and 
completed the next year, it is told in the " History of Peru," by Batch- 
elder. This company must have had a peculiar brand of trouble over 
its land damages, for an act entitled " An Act for the relief of the Peru 
Turnpike Corporation " was passed in 1816, making the judges of the 
county court the committee on damages, with no appeal from their find- 
ings. Evidently the company could not secure anyone willing to act as 
such committee, or having done so, the selections failed to act. 

This must have been the road mentioned in the " History of Rock- 
ingham," as connecting the Green Mountain Turnpike in Chester with 
Manchester courthouse, in which case we must note that authority as 
stating that this route became the most popular between Boston and 
Saratoga Springs. But It was a roundabout way to follow between those 
places, and it seems much more probable that such travel would have 
taken the Windham or the Stratton turnpikes, either of which lay In a 
much more direct line. But If not in line for Boston, the Peru Turnpike 
lay in the easiest pass through the Green Mountain range, and Boston 
tourists may have gone that way fori more comfortable riding. 
[276] 





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THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

Batchelder further tells us that the road was built by General Peter 
Dudley, who also took care of it for twenty years ; and that much team- 
ing of merchandise and pleasure traveling was done over it until about 
1850, when railroad competition reduced the amount seriously. 

When the " Ideal Tour," from New York, through the Berkshires 
of Massachusetts to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, was laid 
out by the Automobile Association, the Peru Turnpike was found to be 
the most available and easy road by which the Green Mountains could 
be pierced and it was incorporated into the route. But the delay at the 
gate, and the imposition of toll at the rate of ten cents a mile so chafed 
the tourists that an agitation was soon started which was destined to 
seal the fate of the turnpike. 

The Rutland (Vermont) Herald said of this road, in January, 19 14, 

By actual count there are 143 water bars on the six miles of road, mostly of the 
" comb " type, on which the low cars of recent years frequently become stalled. 
Many of the tourists after their first trip over the turnpike have carried from Man- 
chester, short pieces of heavy plank with which to bridge the trenches in front of the 
water bars. 

Aided by the protests of the automobile tourists, the local representa- 
tives succeeded in getting through the legislature of 19 13 a bill designed 
to free the Peru Turnpike. By this act the state highway commissioner 
was authorized to purchase the road, or to assist the towns in which it 
lay to acquire the same by condemnation. Or failing to secure satis- 
factory terms from the corporation, the commissioner was to be allowed 
to use the pressure which we have seen applied to the Passumpsic, that 
is, he was to build a public road parallel to the turnpike and leave the 
toll road to- its own devices. 

In September, 19 13, the author had the experience of passing over 
this turnpike, and of paying toll of fifty cents at the gate, a photograph 
of which he made at the time. The trip over the road is sufficiently 
described by the photographs which are here reproduced. 

None of the turnpike was ever built within the town of Manchester. 
It commenced at the line between that town and Winhall, near where 
the gate stood, and ran thence northeasterly across the corner of the 
latter town and into Peru, a length of about six miles. About a mile 
from the easterly end, the road to South Londonderry branches off, and 
nearly half the turnpike travel takes that road, making only five miles 
of turnpike used. 

Very early in the year 19 14 announcements of the immediate open- 
ing of the road appeared in various newspapers of New York and 
New England, but the realization was long in following. Encouraged 
by the support of the state, the towns of Winhall and Peru entered 
proceedings in the Bennington county court, for the taking of the road 
under the right of eminent domain. The commissioners appointed by 
the court duly held a hearing on the matter and made their report In the 

[277] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

summer of 191 6, fixing the price to be paid the corporation for the loss 
of its road with its franchise rights and all its real estate holdings at 
approximately twenty-two thousand dollars. 

The report receiving the approval of the court, the turnpike finally 
became free in the early summer of 191 7. 

The charter of the Burke Turnpike Company, granted November 9, 
1 81 5, allowed the building of a road thirty miles long, from the Canada 
line in Holland southerly to Burke Hollow. No evidence has been 
found that such a road was ever built, but the charter calls for comment 
on account of its providing that towns along the route might vote to have 
taxes worked out on the turnpike, in which case those working for that 
purpose should be exempt from toll. The equity of such a provision is 
not easily seen. Why should the towns do any work at all on a privately 
owned road maintained for profit; and why should a man, paying his 
taxes in labor, receive a premium in the shape of toll exemptions ? 



THE DANVILLE TURNPIKE 

We have followed the struggles of the Northern Turnpike Company 
of Vermont, and noted that it succeeded in building only eight miles of 
its road. We now find an act, passed November 11, 18 15, creating the 
Danville Turnpike Company, reciting that the rights of the Northern 
had expired, and giving the completed portion of its road to the new 
corporation. Thus the Danville is the only company which has been 
found which began its existence with a completed turnpike and a tollgate 
on it. This road connected the village of Danville with St. Johnsbury 
Plain, ending near the large scale factory of the Fairbanks Company. 

By 1833 the company had fallen Into bad financial condition, and on 
October 29 of that year an act was passed by which the corporation was 
to be dissolved, when It voted to accept the provisions of the act and 
paid a fine which had beent imposed on it for failure to keep its road in 
proper condition. 



THE WARREN TURNPIKE 

The Warren Turnpike Company received Its charter November 17, 
1825. The route over which this company built its road extended from 
Sterling and Adams mills in Warren to the " east, north, and south 
road," passing through Lincoln. The length of the road was eight miles 
and it seems to have been promptly built, for the company was back at 
the next session of the legislature asking to have an omission in its rates 
of toll supplied. This was done by an act which specified that a " person 
and horse " should pay a toll of six cents. 
[278] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

Easterly from Warren the turnpike followed up the valley of Lincoln 
Brook to the town line, thence taking a direct line to its terminus in 
Lincoln. 

THE SHERBURNE TURNPIKE 

November 6, 1826, the Sherburne Turnpike Company was formed 
to build a road over the route which the Woodstock and Rutland had 
tried to occupy in 1805. The year 1826 was more auspicious evidently, 
for the Sherburne was built from the " flat on the north side of the 
Queechy river in Bridgewater," up the river and over the hill, to a junc- 
tion with the Rutland and Stockbridge in the northwesterly corner of the 
town of Sherburne. In 1829 an alteration in the rates of toll was pro- 
vided by legislative act and the coveted privilege of reducing its tolls was 
bestowed on the company. Toll exemptions were reduced in 1835, and 
in 1 847 it was enacted that certain exemptions on loads of goods should 
not apply to any loads bought outside of the town of Sherburne. These 
dates show that this turnpike lived to a voting age, but the date of its 
becoming free has not been found. 

THE SEARSBURG TURNPIKE 

There does not seem to have been room for two companies in the 
territory granted to the Windham Turnpike Corporation, yet the Sears- 
burg Turnpike Company was chartered October 28, 1828, to build from 
the east line of Searsburg to the east line of Bennington. Nor are there 
evidences on the map that two turnpikes ever were built, and the only 
explanation seems to be that the Windham Company had allowed its 
road to become impassable and had abandoned it, and that the new 
company was formed to recover the road and put it into a satisfactory 
state of repair. But that must have been a hard job, for they had to 
ask the legislature of 1831 for an extension of one year on their time 
limit, within which additional time the road was completed. That it 
was operated for at least thirty years is seen from the act of November 
2, i860, in which the portion in Bennington and in the westerly part of 
Woodford was made free. 

Apparently the Searsburg, at some period, was a plank road, for the 
company is named in an act of 1852 as the Searsburg Plank Road Com- 
pany. A company to build a plank road connecting with the Searsburg 
Turnpike had been created in 1849, and in 1852 it was allowed to ex- 
tend its road, section two of the act providing that the Searsburg Plank 
Road Company might construct and operate such road. 

THE GOSHEN TURNPIKE 

A short piece of road to extend from " Blake's furnace in Brandon 
to Jones' sawmill in Goshen was chartered October 31, 1834, to the 

[279] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Goshen Turnpike Company. A slight jolt was given this company the 
next year by an act which required that the first meeting of the corpora- 
tion should be held within a year. In 1838, 1840, and 1842, acts were 
secured extending the time within which the road must be completed, 
and we are justified in assuming that the turnpike was opened for busi- 
ness about the end of the year 1842. 

October 26, 1852, after a scant ten years of life, the company ob» 
tained legislative authority to assign its stock to the towns involved, and 
to turn the road over to them whether they wished it or not. 

The first charter for a plank road in New England was granted 
November 7, 1849, tO) the St. Albans and Richford Plank Road Com- 
pany. This company proposed to build its road from St. Albans Bay 
to Richford and thence to the Canada line, but no reason has been found 
to believe it carried out its intentions. 



THE LAMOILLE COUNTY PLANK ROAD 

Two days later the Lamoille County Plank Road Company was 
granted a charter to build from Waterbury Street through Stowe and 
Morrlstown to Hyde Park, and the road of this company seems to have 
been the first plank road in New England, unless the Searsburg Turn- 
pike had changed over before that date. 

A peculiar privilege, noted in connection with several Vermont turn- 
pikes, was granted to this company in 1858, when it was authorized 
" to survey its road." That this was not a preliminary to construction 
is seen by the act further providing penalties unless needed repairs were 
made. Probably the intention was to allow a relocation, but it seems 
worthy of note that such a simple piece of business was regarded as out- 
side of the rights and privileges granted to turnpike companies, and only 
to be done after legislative permission had been secured. 

The same act abundantly testifies that the business of a plank road 
had not been remunerative, and that the materials of construction were 
too short-lived for road purposes. In It the company was forbidden to 
collect tolls after fifteen days from the passage of the act, unless the 
road was repaired and kept " to the satisfaction of Hon. Thomas deed 
of Morrlstown, whose decision shall be final." It is refreshing to note 
that the honorable gentleman's name is spelled with an " 1 " and not 
with an " r," for the opportunities for graft thus conferred upon him 
were limited only by the gross earnings of the road. 

A notable change in the manner of chartering corporations is found 
in the charter of the Bellwater Plank Road Company, which was 
granted November 13, 1849. Here we see the first attempt to regulate 
the issue of stock, the shares being fixed at a value of fifty dollars and 
established as personal property, while the total capital was fixed, elas- 
[280] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

tically, at ten thousand dollars, which might be increased " to any neces- 
sary amount." A further advance was made in allowing the company 
to fix its own rate of tolls, subject to reduction by proper authority if it 
appeared that over ten per cent was being earned. Except for the above 
items we would not give space to this company, for we have not learned 
that such a road was ever built. 



THE GLASTONBURY PLANK ROAD 

The Glastonbury Plank Road Company, created November 13, 1849, 
was the one which we have already noted as having been absorbed by the 
Searsburg Company. Its roa'd was to extend from the Searsburg Turn- 
pike, in Woodford, to the westerly line of the town of Somerset, pass- 
ing diagonally across the town of Glastonbury. The prospect must have 
been discouraging, for two years later the company appealed to the 
legislature and secured an extension of four years on its time limit. It 
must have been soon after this that the management of the Searsburg 
became interested and built the road, for the act of October 26, 1852, 
shows that the Glastonbury had been finished, and that an extension was 
then allowed from its eastern terminus, through Somerset to the Sears- 
burg Turnpike near Doane's Mills in Searsburg. 



THE VERGENNES AND BRISTOL PLANK ROAD 

The Vergennes and Bristol Plank Road Company received its fran- 
chise November 9, 1850, and, without asking any extensions of its time 
limit, built its turnpike between the places named. Nine years later the 
company was released from all obligation to keep its road planked but, 
instead, was allowed to " construct and repair their road with earth and 
gravel in the usual manner of constructing and repairing turnpike 
roads." This is interesting on account of the information regarding the 
life and durability of plank roads and the comparative expense of con- 
struction and maintenance. Here we have a plank road played out at 
the end of nine years, including the time spent in construction, and the 
proprietors convinced that the common dirt road is better and cheaper. 
That there was not travel enough over the road to pay for its upkeep 
is plainly to be seen, so we are left to conclude that decay was a promi- 
nent factor in its destruction. 

But the receipts from tolls were not sufficient to pay for a common 
dirt road, and in 1861 the company was allowed to surrender its charter 
and its turnpike. 

Previous to 1850 all turnpike corporations had been formed by en- 
acting that certain designated persons should form the corporation, but 
the charter of the Danville and Passumpsic Plank Road Company, en- 
acted November 13, 1850, followed a new line of its own. 

[281J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



Such persons as shall hereafter become Stockholders of said company are hereby 
constituted a body corporate by the name of . . . 

was the wording of its opening section. This company was to build 
from Danville to the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad near 
the McLaren place in Barnet, but a later act, passed in 1851, gave it 
an optional terminus in St. Johnsbury. McLaren was the early name 
of the village of East Barnet, at the station of Inwood on the railroad. 

What encouragement the promoters of this scheme could find is hard 
to see. Seventeen years before, the Danville Turnpike had been aban- 
doned after a disheartening struggle to maintain a road over the identi- 
cal route allowed by the supplemental act, and we can only conclude 
that the promoters reasoned that times had improved with the advent 
of the railroad, and that such a road would pay as a feeder to the larger 
means of transportation. But if they did so reason they failed to con- 
vince others, and their scheme passed into the inactive list. 



THE MOUNT MANSFIELD TURNPIKE 

Three attempts to climb Mount Mansfield are next noted. The 
Cambridge-Mount Mansfield Turnpike Road Company, created Oc- 
tober 27, 1866, calls for comment on account of its location requirement 
being diametrically opposite the usual conception in the minds of turn- 
pike promoters. It was to build 

from the residence of Edward Hanley in Cambridge, . . . on a zig zag line to the 
" Lake of the Clouds " so called, near that part of Mount Mansfield, known as the 
" Chin." 

This company was to be allowed to locate its own gates and deter- 
mine for itself its rates of toll, but even that privilege did not enable it 
to build. November 23, 1874, a duplicate of the charter was enacted, 
only this time the road was to commence at the residence of the " Widow 
Charles Gallup," and the stockholders were made liable for all debts 
in excess of one half the paid-in capital. The other attempt was made 
from the other side, " The Mount Mansfield Hotel Company at Stowe 
and such persons as may become stockholders " being incorporated as 
the Mount Mansfield Turnpike Company November 20, 1867. 

This company, under its franchise to build from " near the Half 
Way House in Stowe to the Summit House, in such a line as the said 
stockholders may determine," constructed five miles of mountain- 
climbing road up the valley of the west branch, and ending on the sum- 
mit. This road forms a branch of the well-known " Smugglers' Notch 
Road " and is reached by turning to the northwest about a mile north- 
erly from Stowe Center on the main road between Waterbury and 
Morristown. The Turnpike is now maintained, and tolls collected, by 
the management of the Summit House. 

In this company, also, the directors and stockholders were liable for 
[282] 



THE TURNPIKES OF VERMONT 

debts in excess of half the paid-in capital. The management was 
allowed to pick the location of its gates, but the rates of toll were to 
be fixed by the assistant judges of the county court. 

The last turnpike charter granted in Vermont was enacted by the 
legislature November i8, 1892, when the Elmore Pond Turnpike and 
Building Company was created. It may be objected that this was not 
a real turnpike company, for really that purpose seems to have been 
but a side issue, but the turnpike franchise is there. The purpose of the 
company seems to have been the development of the land around Elmore 
Pond, and the consequent sales, and for that purpose it proposed to 
construct a turnpike around the pond and to the summit of Elmore 
Mountain. It is amusing to note that the charter allows the building 
of a turnpike but does not provide that the company may operate it 
when built; and that it was authorized to vote to erect tailgates, but had 
no authority to so erect them nor to collect toll at them. While a road 
was very likely built, it is extremely doubtful if it ever was operated as 
a turnpike, for it would have been folly for anyone seeking to develop 
land to thus handicap his purpose. 

In addition to the fifty-three companies whose doings we have at- 
tempted to chronicle, the following thirty-eight corporations, of which 
we have learned nothing yet, were incorporated by the Vermont 
legislature : 

1803 Stamford Readsboro, through Stamford to the 

Massachusetts line. 

1804 Caledonia Newbury to Danville. 

1807 Chelsea Chelsea to Barre. 

181 1 Orange and Corinth Through Corinth to Connecticut 

River. 

181 3 Bridport Bridport to Vergennes. 

Burlington Vergennes to Burlington. 

1 814 Barre End of Winooski to Williamstown. 

Panton East and west across Panton. 

Memphremagog . Lyndon Corner to Narrows of lake. 

1815 Mansfield Cambridge to Stowe. 

Benson Massachusetts line to Fairhaven. 

West River Townshend to Winhall. 

Putney Through Putney and Brookline to 

Newfane. 
1818 Tinmouth West end of Green Mountain Turn- 
pike to Middleton. 

1822 Winhall From Peru Turnpike into Winhall. 

1823 Jamaica Jamaica to Winhall. 

1826 Ore-bed Somerset to Glastonbury. 

Ripton From the Green Mountain in Rip- 
ton, to the Warren Turnpike. 
1833 Pownal McAdam Southeasterly across Pownal. 

Readsboro Woodford City to Whitingham. 

1835 Lincoln Lincoln to Granville. 

Huntington Bristol to Huntington. 

[283] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

1841 Willoughby Lake Through Westmore. 

Readsboro and Woodford Through those towns. 

1842 Branch Danby to Mount Tabor. 

1849 Montpelier and Lamoille Plank . . Montpelier to Lamoille Valley. 

1850 Shelburne and Hinesburg Between those towns. 

Williston Williston to Burlington. 

Williston and Jericho Plank .... Between those towns. 

Georgia and Johnson " " " 

Hinesburg and Burlington " " " 

1851 St. Albans and Bakersfield Plank . . " 

Stamford and Readsboro " . . Through " " 

1852 Rutland and Chittendon Plank . . . Between " " 

1853 Forestdale Plank Brandon to Forestdale. 

i860 Fayston Fayston to Bristol. 

1865 Bakersfield and Waterville .... Between those towns. 

1874 Notch Stowe to Underbill. 



[284] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 




n 



Nl 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

THE first turnpike corporation in New England was created by 
the general assembly of Rhode Island at the February ses- 
sion in 1794. As in other states, the first charter has been 
found to be a pretty accurate forerunner of the later ones, and the 
following notes are given to show the usual practice in that state. 

The capital stock, number, and par value of the shares was fixed in 
the act of incorporation (fifty shares at one hundred dollars each for 
the first corporation), and each share of stock carried one vote at all 
meetings at which its holder was present. The time and place for hold- 
ing the annual meeting was specified, and provision made for calling 
and holding special meetings. The number necessary to constitute a 
quorum was established but the corporation was otherwise allowed to 
determine its own by-laws. The corporation was authorized to " ac- 
quire and convey " a limited amount of land, the quantity being evi- 
dently sufficient to provide for the roadway and grounds for the toll- 
houses and all kinds of personal property. Rates of toll were allowed 
as follows : 

Cents 

A waggon, Cart, or Ox-sled Team, not exceeding Four Cattle .... 12!/^ 

A Team of more than Four Cattle 15 

A Sleigh with more than One Horse I2l/^ 

A One Horse Sleigh 6 

A Coach, Chariot, or Phaeton 40 

A Chaise, Chair, or Sulkey 20 

A Horse and Horse Cart 6 

A Person and Horse 6 

Horses or Mules in Droves, per head 2 

Neat Cattle in Droves, per head i 

Swine in Droves, for every Fifteen 10 

For any less Number than Fifteen, each I 

Sheep and Store Shoats, each y^ 

Exemptions from toll were allowed thus : 

And that Foot Passengers be not liable to any toll nor nigh Inhabitants passing on 
said Turnpike Road, for the purposes of attending public Worship, Funerals, Town- 
meetings, or other Town Business, or going to and from Mills, or for the Purposes 
of Husbandry. 

" To ascertain the Produce of the said Toll, a fair account shall be 
kept," which account was to be open at any time for the inspection of 
any committee which the general assembly might appoint. 

The obligation of the corporation to maintain its road was plainly 

[287] 



TH E TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

stated, but it seems that the act provided that the road might b© aban- 
doned whenever the company desired. Witness : 

And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Corporation 
shall at all times keep the said Turnpike Road in good Repair, at the proper expense 
of the said Corporation, and their Successors and Assigns, for so long Time as they 
shall collect and receive the aforesaid Toll. 

The usual clause appears providing that when the original invest- 
ment, plus twelve per cent, had been repaid the road should become 
public property. 

As in New Hampshire, nearly every petty detail was the subject of 
a special legislative act, and the Rhode Island General Statutes, com- 
piled in 1857, contained but one chapter of four sections on the subject 
of " Turnpikes and Toll Bridges." It was provided that corporations 
of that nature could not hold land for any purpose other than that 
contemplated by the original charter, or amendments thereto. A justice 
of the supreme court, could, upon complaint of a road being in bad 
order, causa the gates to be opened and to remain open until the road 
was repaired to his satisfaction. The third section merely reiterated 
the provision in most of the charters that an account of tolls was to be 
kept and held open to the inspection of any committee of the general 
assembly, and section four put It up to the toll gatherer to behave him- 
self, by making him liable to damages if he demanded toll In excess of 
that legally allowed. For the first offense the complainant might re- 
cover from two to five dollars, while subsequent attempts at extortion 
were to be followed by a twenty-dollar penalty. 

In the revision of 1872 the same four sections appeared, with three 
additional ones, which provided that any corporation could sell its road 
to any town traversed by it on mutually agreed terms. Owners of land 
adjoining the turnpike were to be notified and a hearing given, after 
which the road might become a part of the public system and the 
corporation be relieved from responsibility for Its maintenance. Such 
money as the corporation received was first to be applied in settlement 
of its debts. 

The turnpike movement in Rhode Island increased rapidly, and by 
the year 1820 the state was crisscrossed with such roads, the town of 
Providence being a veritable turnpike center. Few companies were 
allowed to build within the town limits of Providence, nearly all being 
obliged to terminate their roads at the boundary. A map of " Greater 
Providence " in 19 16 is here reproduced, on which are shown the vari- 
ous turnpikes which entered that section, only three of which, the 
branch of the Providence and Douglas, the Pawtuxet, and the Pawtucket 
and Providence East, were allowed to build within the town limits. 
Special pains have been taken to show the termination of each of the 
others at what was then the boundary line of the town, and the map Is 
further interesting for showing what a mere nucleus of the present great 
city the town of 1820 was. 
[288] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

The early Rhode Island incorporations allowed the created companies 
to take over and repair existing roads, after which the investors were to 
recoup themselves by collecting tolls, but we soon find corporations char- 
tered for the purpose of building entirely new thoroughfares. The 
number of gates at which toll was to be collected was specified in the 
charters, but the location of such gates] was left to the discretion of the 
companies, subject sometimes to restrictions within a certain number 
of miles. 

Persons desiring the privilege of building turnpike roads made peti- 
tion for a charter to the general assembly, which petition was invari- 
ably referred to the next session, with an order to advertise giving notice 
to all parties interested. At the same time a committee would be ap- 
pointed by the assembly to view the route proposed and report on the 
same, such committee being usually instructed to present a " plat " to 
illustrate its report. Many more petitions have been found in the legis- 
lative records than acts of incorporation, which may indicate that the 
general assembly weeded out the unnecessary schemes. 

Late in the sixties the people became restless under the Imposition of 
tolls on certain of the roads over which they had to travel, a feeling 
which we find reflected in the legislative acts at that time. A joint special 
committee, which had been appointed to make an investigation of the 
toll bridges and turnpikes of the state and to devise some method by 
which all could be freed, made Its report to the May session of 1870. 
This committee had found two toll bridges and six turnpikes, and Its 
report was little more than a tabulation of such with a few comments 
on each. In conclusion, Inability to formulate any plan by which the 
roads and bridges could be made free was confessed. 

In January, 1871, Edward Darling was elected commissioner of 
turnpikes under authority of an act passed a few days earlier by which 
such an office was created. His term of ofiice was one year and his 
duties were to annually examine each turnpike and order such repairs 
as he found necessary. If the corporation failed to obey the orders of 
the commissioner, he was authorized to use the familiar weapon of 
opening the gate for free passage of all. If that persuasion failed for 
three years the road thereupon was to become forever free. Annual 
reports were required but only one appears to have been made. That 
was submitted to the general assembly at its January session in 1872 
and reported five turnpikes, on all of which repairs had been ordered. 
The commissioner hoped that all those roads would have become free 
before he fell under the necessity of writing another report. 

The comments of the commissioner and of the special committee on 
the respective roads will be mentioned In connection with each road 
later. 

Every Rhode Island turnpike was established on the American prin- 
ciple of private Investment, but a precedent must have been derived 
from the English turnpike trust system when the assembly enacted that 

[289] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

the Inability of the Proprietors of the Providence and NorwIchTurnpIke 
to keep their road in repair should be met by an obligation imposed 
upon the towns to expend money and labor on that road. This will be 
mentioned at greater length later. 



THE WEST GLOCESTER TURNPIKE 

The official name of the corporation by which this road was operated 
for many years was " The Society for establishing and supporting a 
Turnpike Road from Cepatchit Bridge in Glocester, to Connecticut 
Line," but the road was generally known as above Indicated. The 
corporation was created at the February session of the general as- 
sembly In 1794, and was the first turnpike corporation formed in New 
England. For a year or two prior to the Incorporation of this company, 
the old Mohegan Road from New London to Norwich, and the section 
in Greenwich, Connecticut, of the New York Post Road, had been 
operated as toll roads, but not by Incorporated companies. Commis- 
sioners had been appointed to manage such roads in behalf of the coun- 
ties within which they were located, and the receipts from tolls were 
used entirely on repairs of the road. Hence the West Glocester Turn- 
pike was the first of what we have chosen to call " commercial turn- 
pikes " in New England. 

The charter allowed the company to build Its road 

from Cepatchit Bridge in Glocester to Connecticut Line, on the great Road lead- 
ing from Providence to Killingly. 

One gate was allowed at any place within four miles of the Connecticut 
line. 

In the petition for a charter the subscribers had set forth that they 
had subscribed eight hundred and fifty pounds for the purpose of re- 
pairing the road which they desired for their turnpike, one hundred and 
fifty pounds for repairing the road toward Providence from " Cepatchit 
Bridge," and various stated sums for repairs on other connecting roads 
in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as in Rhode Island. So the 
total of the sums subscribed was made the amount of the capital stock 
of the company, and the amount which was to be earned, with twelve- 
per-cent interest, before the road was to become free. Work must have 
been commenced promptly, for the company appeared at the October 
session in the same year, stating that its original estimate of eight hun- 
dred and fifty pounds was not sufficient .to accomplish the necessary 
repairs on the old road, and asking that It might expend an additional 
one hundred and fifty, the same to be included in the amount for which 
reimbursement was to be allowed. This was granted by an act passed 
at 'the same session. 

In February,, 1800, this company made a rather comprehensive and 
amusing petition. Strange to say, differences of opinion had arisen with 
[250] 




Plate LXXIV 






In North Central Gloucester 
Entering Chepachet from the west 
Chepachet, R. I. 

Plate LXXV — West Glocester Turnpike 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

the assessors of taxes for the town of Gloucester, and the turnpike 
corporation appealed to the general assembly to enact that its capital 
stock, land, and buildings be exempted from taxation and relieved from 
past assessments. Either for the sake of getting good measure or to 
befog the issue, it was further asked that the toll gatherer of the com- 
pany should be allowed to sell intoxicating liquors without the formality 
of obtaining a license; and the trivial privilege of holding the cor- 
poration meetings in the tollhouse was solicited. Evidently the forces 
of temperance were on the alert, for all that was granted of the 
prayer was that meetings might be held in the tollhouse, and that 
Gloucester should not tax any shares of stock owned by residents of 
other towns. 

_ The length of the road operated by this corporation was about seven 
miles, so the thousand pounds which we have seen available for its 
repair spread out about seven hundred dollars a mile, which we have 
seen was sufficient to build certain of the Massachusetts roads of a simi- 
lar grade. But an insufficient sort of work must have been accomplished 
on this Rhode Island road, for after the company had had it under its 
control for six years, a committee of the general assembly, appointed 
for the purpose of examining the road, reported that it had been found 
" in very bad order," but that the necessary repairs had been made. 
Again, in 1817, complaint was made of the condition of the turnpike, 
which had been bad for several years. 

Very little has been found in local Rhode Island histories on the sub- 
ject of turnpikes, and only two of the books consulted are free from 
serious errors. A historian of Gloucester speaks of the tavern kept by 
Hezeklah Cady, in the west part of that town, and says that a tollgate 
stood opposite it. As Colonel Joseph Cady lived on the West Gloces- 
ter Turnpike, about two miles from the Connecticut line. In 1815, it 
seems probable that the gate in question was located on that turnpike. 
Only one other turnpike was ever built in the west part of Gloucester, 
and that was so close to the line of Foster that it was not known to be 
in the former town until steps had been taken to make the road free in 
1875. 

The joint committee of the general assembly, reporting at the May 
session of 1870, had found the West Glocester Turnpike In good con- 
dition, but no dividends had been declared for three years and the re- 
ceipts were not exceeding the expenditures. In spite of such a discourag- 
ing situation the corporation continued to operate its road for another 
eighteen years. 

At the May session of 1888 nine hundred dollars of the state's money 
was appropriated to compensate the town of Gloucester for assuming 
the care and responsibility of the turnpike, which was thereby declared 
free. The corporation received nothing beyond the relief from obliga- 
tion to maintain the road and thus closed Its ninety-four years of 
corporate! existence. 

[291] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE PROVIDENCE TO NORWICH TURNPIKE 

The old Post Road between Boston and New York passed through 
Providence and then followed the old Pequot Path which ran along 
practically the lines of the present Weybosset and Broad streets, 
through East Greenwich and over Kingston Hill, to Westerly, where It 
crossed the Pawcatuck River Into Connecticut, and continued thence to 
the ferry at New London. That ferry, being of great width, must 
have been a serious obstacle In the days when a canoe was all the business 
demanded, and by the beginning of the eighteenth century complaints 
were freely made of its inconvenience. In 171 1 the general assembly 
of Rhode Island ordered that a road should be laid out and built from 
Providence to the state line in the proper direction for Norwich, Con- 
necticut, the Intention being to reach the head of the Thames River, 
where It could be more easily crossed than at New London. The 
Connecticut general assembly passed a similar order at its October 
session in 171 2, and the road throughout was completed in 1714, being 
provided with a " safe and sufficient bridge " at the point where the 
Moosup had previously been forded. The road thus built was a portion 
of the route over which the mail riders, at the close of the Revolutionary 
War, were able to average only about forty miles a day In the best 
season, so it Is not surprising that this main line of travel was the sub- 
ject of early efforts at Improvement. 

In October, 1794, action for that end was taken in both Rhode Island 
and Connecticut, the latter state endeavoring to establish a tollgate on 
the Post Road, with nominal tolls, the entire receipts to be expended for 
repairs on the road. In the same month the Rhode Island general 
assembly Incorporated *' The Providence and Norwich Society for 
establishing a turnpike-road from Providence to Connecticut line, 
through Johnston, Scltuate, Foster, and Coventry." 

This corporation was allowed to take over the Post Road as far as 
the Connecticut line and, when it had expended eighteen hundred pounds 
In repairing and improving the road, It was to be allowed to erect its 
tollgate at any place within nine miles of the Connecticut boundary, and 
to proceed with the collection of tolls. By an act of the January ses- 
sion of 1795 the location of the gate was permitted two miles nearer 
Providence. 

A curious situation developed at the January session In 1798, when 
certain citizens resident along the Post Road recited their grievances. 
Prior to the acquisition of the road by the turnpike company those citi- 
zens had " worked out their taxes " on the town highways, and a reason- 
able proportion of their labor had been expended on the road which 
was most used by them. Now that the corporation was responsible for 
the maintenance of the road the town's energies were entirely given to 
other sections and, the turnpike company neglecting to properly fulfill 
[292] 







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Approaching Wawaloam Lake from the east 
Between Chepachet and Harmony 
Wawaloam Lake from the west 

Plate LXXVII — Glocester Turnpike 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

its duties, the road and the abutting owners suffered accordingly. 
Therefore those citizens, having in mind the English turnpike trusts 
which, faihng to properly maintain their roads, devised their obligations 
to the municipalities, petitioned that the towns of Johnston and Crans- 
ton might be obliged to include their portion of the Providence and 
Norwich Turnpike as a road district and keep it in repair. 

This petition was twice referred, and it was two years before action 
was finally taken upon it. Then in February, 1800, It was enacted: 

That the Town Councils and Surveyors of the towns of Johnston and Cranston be 
and they are hereby directed to cause a just proportion of highway taxes and highway 
labour to be expended and done in and upon the said turnpike road, by the inhabi- 
tants living upon or near the same, who usually paid taxes or laboured upon the said 
road before the charter of incorporation was granted to the turnpilce company. 

Upon first thought such a law seems to be most unjust as apparently 
it imposed the burden upon the two towns named of maintaining a high- 
way for the use of which their citizens were obliged to pay toll, but 
upon second consideration the reader will remember that only one toll- 
gate was allowed on this road, and that at a considerable distance west 
of either of the towns named. As the greater part of the travel over 
the road in Johnston and Cranston, by the citizens of those towns, was 
to and from Providence, it is seen that In reality such citizens had the 
free use of the road while contributing largely to Its destruction. 

But the fact that the road was owned by a corporation which was 
supposed to be deriving revenue therefrom was a point not to be over- 
come, and the law remained upon the statute books only one year. The 
two towns concerned entered their remonstrance at the next October 
session, and the act was repealed in the following February. 

For two years longer the corporation struggled along and in October, 
1803, secured the passage of an act by which it was allowed to raise ten 
thousand dollars by a lottery, the proceeds " to be laid out and expended 
In the repairing and amending the turnpike-road of said society." Three 
managers for this lottery were appointed and, since the state stood 
sponsor for the scheme, they were to give bonds with sureties to the 
satisfaction of the general treasurer. 

Originally the company was allowed one gate within nine miles of the 
state line. This was changed so that the gate might be anywhere 
within eleven miles of that boundary, and again to make the eastern 
limit fourteen miles away. In February, 1805, the western gate was 
placed within five miles of Connecticut's jurisdiction, and another gate 
was allowed within eight miles of the bridge In Providence when the 
road was properly repaired. Many other acts have been found making 
changes In the manner of holding meetings, altering locations of the 
gates, and revising the location of the road, until. In 1841, the name was 
changed, or perhaps It is better to say abbreviated, to " The Providence 
and Norwich Turnpike Society," and the charter generally revamped 
to match thoae issued to later companies. 

[293] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

The portion of the road lying within the town of Johnston was 
deeded to that town by the corporation on August 27, 1852, but the 
town apparently did not appreciate the gift, as its acceptance did not 
materialize until September 9, 1865, over thirteen years later. Scituate 
accepted the deed of the portion within its territory in 1866. A petition 
was made in January, 1857, that the charter of the company might be 
annulled and, although no action was taken on the petition, it seems that 
the whole road was given up to the public about that time or soon after. 
In any case none of it was found in operation as a toll road by the com- 
mittee of 1870. 

The road which we have been considering commenced at the westerly 
line of Providence, at the present corner of Westminster and Stokes 
streets in Olneyville, and followed southwesterly along the present lines 
of Plainfield Street westerly, forming the boundary between Johnston 
and Cranston, to South Scituate and Richmond. Thence it bore south- 
westerly again, crossing corners of Foster and Coventry, and entered 
Connecticut near the little village of Oneco. 

The length in Rhode Island was about twenty-one miles, and its con- 
tinuation to Norwich added about nineteen miles more. 

The Proprietors of the Providence and Boston Turnpike Road were 
next incorporated at the October session of 1800. This company never 
built its road, the contemplated service being rendered a few years later 
by a Massachusetts company, the Norfolk and Bristol. The charter 
of the Providence and Boston calls for a passing notice, however, on 
account of Its utter disregard of the state boundary, the corporation 
being authorized to build and operate Its road within the state of Mas- 
sachusetts as far as a point one mile from the Wrentham meeting-house. 

THE RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT TURNPIKE 

This road formed the direct connection between Providence and 
Hartford, and It was quite often called the " Hartford Turnpike." The 
petition for a charter was made to the assembly at the May session of 
1802, and asked the franchise to build a turnpike 

from tar bridge (so called) near Colonel Christopher OIney's, in Providence, by the 
south end of Moshanticutt pond . . . and on the direct^/ rou/ to the northerly 
part of John Colwill's hill in Foster and from thence on the most direct rou? to 
Connecticut line. 

The petitioners stated that they were willing to spend fifteen thousand 
dollars on the construction of the road in return for the privilege of 
collecting tolls. 

Tar Bridge was the name given to the bridge over the Woonasqua- 
tucket River where Manton Avenue now crosses, and the reference to 
Colonel OIney's place suggests the origin of the name of the Olneyville 
section of Providence. 

[294] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

The charter was granted in February, 1803, and gave the corpora- 
tion the imposing name of " The Rhode Island and Connecticut Society 
for establishing a turnpike-road from or near the west line of the town 
of Providence to Connecticut line, through Johnston, Scituate, and 
Foster." Fortunately for the treasurer national banks had not then 
been established, so he was not obliged to sign that name to checks. It 
was provided that, when the company had expended the stated sum of 
fifteen thousand dollars, it might erect two gates and proceed with the 
collection of tolls. 

Apparently the promoters had not waited for the formality of being 
incorporated but had gone ahead with the preliminaries for opening 
their road, for the next act passed by the assembly, after that of in- 
corporation, provided for the appointment of a committee to appraise 
the damages on land where the company's agents had not been able to 
make an agreement, and empowered such committee to give possession 
to the corporation after payment or tender of the award. 

A complete report of the location and of the awards of damages 
was rendered in October, 1804, from which it is seen that the road 
commenced in Providence at a point on the Providence and Norwich 
Turnpike. Damages had been awarded to twenty-one owners with a 
total of twelve hundred and sixty-one dollars. 

In 1805 an extension of two years was granted on the time within 
which the road must be completed, as the corporation had been unable 
to finish within the required limit. 

Proceedings were commenced in the next year, 1806, for carrying the 
turnpike through to a connection with the Boston Turnpike over which 
connection with Hartford was to be had. In that year the Connecticut 
and Rhode Island Turnpike Company was created by the Connecticut 
legislature to connect with the Rhode Island company's road at the state 
line, and to build through Killingly, Pomfret, and Ashford. Evidently 
these two corporations were really one, but the distinction between states 
was more sharply drawn than in the case of the Providence and Boston, 
which we have just noticed. It is clear that both roads were under one 
management in 1 8 1 6, for permission was then obtained to treat the two 
roads as one and to locate a gate in Connecticut at which collections 
would be made for the use of the westerly miles of the Rhode Island 
road. The Connecticut section of the road was made free about 1840, 
but the remainder continued under the imposition of tolls for another 
thirty-one years. 

The management of this road offered to sell, through the joint com- 
mittee of 1 87 1, all the property and franchise of the corporation for 
two thousand dollars. The road was reported to be in good condition, 
and the gross receipts were stated to be about twelve hundred dollars 
per annum. The report of the turnpike commissioner, which was made 
to the general assembly a year and a half later, stated that he had found 
the road very bad and had ordered repairs. But the assembly had 

[295] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

enacted that the road should be free, and the towns were then engaged 
in the necessary work. 

In May, 1871, such action had been taken by the assembly. Five 
hundred dollars was awarded to the corporation, and one thousand to 
be divided proportionally between the towns of Johnston, Scituate, and 
Foster, provided the terms were accepted by all interests. The terms 
were accepted and the road became free, but soon a peculiar fact was 
brought to light. The course of the road across the town of Foster had 
borne a little too far to the north, and for about a mile it lay just over 
the boundary line and in the town of Gloucester. Now that town had 
not been consulted, and its citizens showed no avidity to take over and 
maintain a mile of road that was hardly in the town at all, so an act was 
passed in 1875 appropriating two hundred dollars to be paid to Glouces- 
ter if it would accept the road. But the town still held off and in May 
of the same year the two hundred dollars was raised to five hundred, 
to which the town agreed. 

This turnpike commenced in Providence at the present corner of 
Hartford Avenue and Plainfield Street, the latter being the old Provi- 
dence and Norwich Turnpike. Hartford Avenue was the old Rhode 
Island and Connecticut Turnpike, which crossed the town of Johnston, 
passing through Pocasset and Elmdale in Scituate, and entered the town 
of Killingly, Connecticut, about a half mile south of Killingly Pond. 

" The Proprietors of the Greenwich Turnpike-Road " were incorpo- 
rated at the February session of 1803 to build from 

the compact part of the town of East Greenwich, Westwardly through East Green- 
wich, West Greenwich, and Coventry, towards Sterling, as far Westward as the 
boundary line of this state, upon the present road leading from said East Greenwich 
to Sterling. 

No Other acts have been found referring to this proposition, and 
since any business at all seemed to require frequent calls upon the law- 
makers for permission to do one little thing or another, and further, 
since we can find no road on the map which follows the route described 
with any appearance of turnpike requirements, we are led to believe 
that this company never fulfilled its expectations. 

THE GLOCESTER TURNPIKE 

The first wagon which reached Providence from Connecticut by any 
road north of the Norwich Post Road arrived in that town in Septem- 
ber, 1722, and so poor were all the northern roads for many years after, 
that, it is said, one traveler between Providence and Pomfret, in 1776, 
consumed two days in covering the necessary thirty-six miles. The route 
followed was probably over the old Killingly road, a part of which we 
have already seen improved under the name of West Glocester Turn- 
pike. A farther section of that road is now in line for development. 
[296] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

" The Glocester Turnpike Company in the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations," was created at the June session of the 
general assembly in 1804, and was given the old road through John- 
ston, Smithfield, and Gloucester, ending at Chepachet Bridge, a length 
of seven miles. The corporation was to be allowed to straighten the 
road, if it could purchase the necessary land, but was required to keep 
the location to the southwest of Chestnut-Oak Hill. 

This company seems to have had an uneventful, although long career. 
Unlike most of the others it bothered the general assembly very little, 
only three acts being found subsequent to that of incorporation. Miss 
Perry's " History of Gloucester " notes the location of the gate opposite 
the tavern of Richard Aldrich in the eastern part of the town, although 
she erroneously attributes the toll collecting to a turnpike corporation 
which did not carry out its plans and which was not authorized to build 
in that end of Gloucester. There was no other turnpike than the 
Glocester which could have had a gate In that section. The road evi- 
dently appeared to be prosperous, for a petition was made in 1837 to 
have the corporation accounts examined to see if the collections had not 
repaid the original Investment with interest. Commencing In 1839 the 
gate was leased for a fixed price per annum, the lessee to have the gross 
collections for his own. The committee of 1870 found this practice in 
force and reported that, for the year 1869, the gate had been leased for 
the sum of thirteen hundred dollars, from which the net receipts had been 
four hundred. 

The business done in 1869 had enabled the corporation to finally 
pay Its last debts and declare a dividend of six per cent, which excellent 
showing caused the stock to be held at thirty-five dollars a share. The 
committee found the road in good condition, but the town was averse to 
assuming its maintenance, which later events make us suspect was a 
matter of business shrewdness rather than satisfaction with turnpike 
conditions. When the town did finally assume the care of the three 
roads within its limits, it was paid a goodly sum by the state for so 
doing. The commissioner, in 1871, deemed it necessary to order re- 
pairs to be made on this road. 

At the May session of 1888, fifteen hundred dollars was appro- 
priated to make the Glocester Turnpike a free public road, three hun- 
dred and seventy-five going to the town of Smithfield and eleven hun- 
dred and twenty-five to Gloucester, the corporation getting nothing. 

The Glocester Turnpike extended from the village of Greenville in 
the town of Smithfield, northwesterly through Harmony, to the east- 
erly end of the West Glocester Turnpike at Chepachet Bridge. Al- 
drlch's Tavern must have been In Harmony, If Miss Perry's story of the 
gate is well founded, for there the sign giving rates of toll was hung. 
The same may be seen to-day in the rooms of the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society in Providence. 

[297] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE RHODE ISLAND TURNPIKE 

The petition for a charter to build this road was entered with the 
February session of 1804 and was followed by an amusing method of 
procedure. At the corresponding session of 1805 an act was passed 
upon the foregoing petition. First it was voted that a charter, as 
prayed for, should be granted. The second section provided for appeals 
from any awards of damages which might be made under authority of 
the charter which was about to be issued. The third told the expected 
corporation that, when it had its charter it must not lay out its road 
through any land for which it had not paidj or tendered payment; and 
the fourth provided that the charter should be void in two years unless 
utilized. Then, in an entirely separate act, the charter was enacted. 

Authority was granted to build a road " in Portsmouth, on the island 
of Rhode Island," and the route was defined as 

beginning at the fork of the east and west roads near Mr. Job Durfey's, and from 
thence on a southeasterly course, until it shall meet with the east road near the 
corner of the orchard late belonging to Mrs. Bathsheba Fish. 

This corporation bothered the general assembly but little, but signs 
of life are visible, for it secured an act In 1840 by which its charter M'^as 
revived. From this it is not to be assumed that the corporation had 
temporarily given up business, but rather that some trifling formality 
In the holding of its annual meeting had been omitted. The corporation 
laws of Rhode Island were so narrow that failure to hold an annual 
meeting to elect officers has been observed, in another case, as invalidat- 
ing the charter. According to the Index of special laws, William An- 
thony made some petition regarding this road In 1853, but the matter 
referred to could not be found by the pages Indicated. However, It 
seems likely that the road was In operation at as late a date as that. 

The Rhode Island Turnpike is locally known as such on the Island 
of Rhode Island to-day by the older residents, at least. It commenced 
near the Bristol Ferry at the northerly end of the island, where the old 
roads, running up the east and west sides thereof, came together, and 
from thence it ran southerly and southeasterly, about a mile and three 
quarters, to a point in the old East Road, now called the Newtown 
Road, near the present village of Portsmouth. 

This Bristol Ferry was an ancient institution, being the ferry of which 
mention was made in an earlier page In quoting an advertisement Issued 
in 1720. It first appears in the Portsmouth records under date of 
November i, 1642, when a ferryman was appointed and a " necke of 
land " was granted to help him eke out a living. 



[298] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 



THE DOUGLAS TURNPIKE 

The petition for this road was made in October, 1803, but it was not 
until February, 1805, that the charter was issued. The original name 
of the coi-poration was " The Smithfield Turnpike Company " and its 
authorized route was " from Providence to the line of Massachusetts 
in the town of Douglas or Uxbridge." Construction evidently pro- 
ceeded slowly, as the layout and award of damages had not been com- 
pleted in May, 1807. In that month the corporation made petition to 
be allowed to build a branch of its turnpike 

from Providence over common land, by the south-west corner of the North burying 
ground, from thence north-westerly nearly two miles till it shall open into said 
turnpike-road as already established. 

This petition was granted at the June session of 1807 and the work 
then proceeded promptly. Clearly a better entrance into Providence 
than that originally laid out was needed to justify the project, and the 
branch, allowed in 1807, provided it. The first layout began at the 
North Providence line near Orms Street, and was on the back side of 
the old Cove, not at all convenient for access from the old compact 
parts of Providence. 

At the October session of 1808 the name of the company was 
changed to " The Providence and Douglas Turnpike Company," and 
another branch was authorized to be built " near the cotton factory 
lately erected by Almy and Brown in Smithfield." Under the name of 
Smithfield the corporation had then opened its road from Providence 
through North Providence, Smithfield, and Burrillville to " the country 
road " in Douglas, Massachusetts. Three gates were allowed, but none 
of them could be placed on any portion of an appropriated old road. 

Although the road had been completed and was earning money, pay- 
ments for stock subscriptions were slow in coming in, and in May, 18 10, 
authority was secured to sell " at public vendue " any shares for which 
payment had not been made. 

Although permission to build the branch in Smithfield had been 
obtained in 1808, nothing was done toward that end until late in 1820, 
when the assembly appointed a committee to appraise the damages 
consequent upon the layout. The branch was built within the next nine- 
teen months but, on account of the long interval between 1808 and 
1820, doubts were raised regarding the legality of the proceedings, and 
legislation was sought to legalize what had been done. Although the 
layout of the road was made legal it does not seem to have been made 
satisfactory, for alterations were found necessary within three years. 

In June, 1839, it was enacted that the gates might be moved to any 
location the company desired provided ( i ) none were placed within a 
mile and a half of the state house, (2) none on any old road, and (3) 

[299] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

none within four miles of another. Three whole or six half-gates were 
allowed to be placed on the main road and one whole or its equivalent 
in half-gates could bar travel on the Slater branch. 

The main road of this corporation commenced at the present corner 
of Douglas Avenue and Goddard Street in what was then North Provi- 
dence, and ran thence northwesterly, following the lines of Douglas 
Avenue and continuing in a course easily picked out on the map by its 
straightness, through Smithfield, North Smithfield, and the northwest 
corner of Burrillville, to the Massachusetts line in Uxbridge, at which 
point it joined the road of the Douglas, Sutton, and Oxford Turnpike 
Corporation in Massachusetts. The branch provided for by the act of 
1807 was the present Branch Avenue in Providence, while the branch 
built in 1820-21 left the main road at the village of Smithfield and ran 
northerly through Primrose to Slatersville. 

The eight miles of the main road, north of Smithfield Village, was 
turned over to the public by permission of the assembly in 1845, the 
remainder of the road continuing in operation for another year. The 
town council of North Providence laid out the turnpike and its branch 
as public roads August 24, 1846. 

A road of earlier date traversed the country covered by the lower 
section of this turnpike, but the new road, while it seems to have been 
superimposed for part of the way, left the line of the old road for quite 
a portion of the distance. Although abandoned many years ago, por- 
tions of the embankments of the early road still exist in places. 

In Providence and North Providence this road is to-day a busy street, 
but northerly to the Massachusetts line it is a sorry old road, except 
when occasionally a state highway enters it from the northeast and, 
after following the old turnpike for a short distance, bears off to the 
southwest. 

THE LOISQUISSET TURNPIKE 

Loisquisset was the old Indian name for the region around the vil- 
lage of Lime Rock in the present town of Lincoln, so it was quite ap- 
propriate that the turnpike which was to serve that section should bear 
the name given by the original inhabitants. The Loisquisset Turnpike 
Company was created by the general assembly at the October session 
of 1805, and was allowed to take over and improve the old road from 
" near John Mann's," in Smithfield, to the Providence line. Smithfield, 
at that date, comprised the whole region on the west bank of the Black- 
stone River, north of North Providence, but the Loisquisset was in that 
part which was later set off as the town of Lincoln. By some it is 
thought that this turnpike reached as far north as Union Village, but 
the fact that only one full gate was allowed prevents our concluding 
that a road as long as that was contemplated. Rather, we think the 
northerly termination was at the village of Lime Rock. 
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Plate LXXIX — Powder Mill Turnpike 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

A petition to be allowed to resurvey the limits of the road was made 
by the company in 1824, in consequence of which an act was passed the 
following year permitting it to be done. This proceeding was not as 
trivial as appears at first thought, for the committee appointed to super- 
vise the work also had authority to make alterations and new locations 
in the road. 

It seems that this road bore a heavy traffic in lime from the quarries 
and kilns at Lime Rock, which was formerly the center of a thriving 
industry. In 1830 the corporation was allowed to impose extra tolls 
on loads of lime exceeding a specified weight. 

The joint committee of 1870 found this road in operation and re- 
ported that it could be bought for one thousand dollars, adding that 
negotiations were then under way between the corporation and the town 
of North Providence for the public opening of the turnpike. In con- 
sequence thereof the corporation conveyed its road to the town of North 
Providence on the twenty-ninth of June, 1870, the town having previ- 
ously voted to accept it if offered. 

The old turnpike commenced at what was then the town limit of 
Providence, on the present Charles Street, near the corner of West 
River Street, and followed northerly along the Charles Street of to-day, 
and over the continuation thereof, through North Providence and Lin- 
coln to Lime Rock. 

JOHN AND PHILIP BROWNS' ROAD 

Another stupendous name was given to a corporation at the October 
session of 1806, when " The John and Philip Browns' Road Company, 
from Massachusetts line, in Glocester, southeasterly to the house of 
Nathan Williams, passing by the store of Captain William Rhodes," 
was created. Strange to say the names of John and Philip Brown are 
not to be found among the incorporators of this company, and we are left 
to wonder why they were so prominently mentioned. The petition, filed 
a year earlier, gives the further Information that the road was proposed 
to start at AUum Pond Hill (now Wallum), and was to be six miles 
long. 

No further legislation appears in connection with this company and 
no road is seen on the map which is suggestive of being the result of 
this company's efforts. Since another company, three years later, sought 
unsuccessfully to obtain a charter covering the same route, we feel con- 
vinced that nothing was done under this franchise. One local history 
has much to tell about Captain William Rhodes, his store, and many of 
those named in the act of incorporation, but not a word about " The 
John and Philip Browns' Road Company, from Massachusetts line, in 
Glocester, southeasterly to the house of Nathan Williams, passing by 
the store of Captain William Rhodes." 

In the Massachusetts act which incorporated the Brookfield and 

[301 J 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



Charlton Turnpike Corporation, the John and Philip Browns' Road is 
mentioned in a manner which seems to indicate that the road had been 
built, but we have observed in other acts a certain confidence in all 
schemes being carried out, hence we still feel that the Rhode Island 
road was not built. But the Massachusetts act gives us one interesting 
point, — Philip Brown's house was in Massachusetts, in Oxford, South 
Gore. 

PROVIDENCE AND PAWTUCKET TURNPIKE 
CORPORATION 

The road of this corporation served as an important link in a busy 
line of travel, and it is to-day an interurban avenue teeming with traffic. 
North Main Street, from the southerly end of the North Burying 
Ground in Providence, and Pawtucket Avenue in Pawtucket, date from 
the opening of this road. 

The petition for incorporation was entered at the October session 
of 1806, and a committee was at once appointed to view the route. 
Most expeditiously did the committee work, for its report was made in 
a very few days, and then the whole matter was referred to the next 
session, with an order for a public advertisement. 

In 1807, at the June session, the act of incorporation was passed, 
giving a franchise from 

the north line of the town of Providence, near the dw^elling-house of the late Jere- 
miah Dexter, and run from thence northerly, on the east side of the old road, and 
passing by the westerly end of Jeremiah Sayles' dwelling-house, extend to such part 
of Pawtucket village as the committee hereinafter named shall direct. 

The road was to be three rods in width, and it is Interesting to note 
that, while originally the entire length was In the town of North Provi- 
dence, the nearest point In that town to-day Is nearly a mile from the 
road. 

This corporation does not appear very frequently on the legislative 
records, only four acts being passed In relation to It during Its twenty- 
six years of corporate life, two of these being for the purpose of deter- 
mining If the state would be justified In taking the road, on account 
of sufficiency In Its earnings. 

In consequence of the two acts just mentioned, another act was passed 
at the June session in 1833, by which the state asserted its rights, ap- 
pointed a committee to take possession of the road and all the corpora- 
tion's property, and to operate the same In behalf of the state. The 
committee was Instructed at the same time to offer the turnpike to the 
Boston and Providence Railroad Company, which was then In the 
process of formation, which is Interesting as showing the transition 
from turnpike to railroad, and how people generally regarded the rail- 
road as merely an Improved form of turnpike. But the railroad people 
fought shy of the alluring morsel, as we learn from the committee's 
[302] 




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THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

report in 1834, giving noncommittal replies to two propositions from 
the state's representatives, after which the committee gave it up, as- 
sumed the management of the road, and appointed Thomas Burgess 
as the agent of the state. A certain history asserts that the purchase 
of this turnpike by the railroad company was contemplated in the origi- 
nal charter of the railroad but, if so, the compiler of Rhode Island's 
special laws failed to include such section in the published records. 

While, as corporation property, the road made little legislative fuss, 
as a state turnpike it required thirty-nine separate acts of the general 
assembly during its thirty-six years under state control. 

In 1 841 it was enacted that the turnpike should be extended to the 
Massachusetts line, thus including what is now Pleasant Street and a 
portion of Main Street, in the heart of Pawtucket, with the Pawtucket 
Bridge, within the limits liable to toll. 

The Massachusetts line was a sore subject between the two states, 
as it had been a matter of controversy since the charter granted to 
Rhode Island by Charles II in 1663. Under its charter granted in 1629 
Plymouth Colony seemed to be entitled to the territory as far west as 
the center of the Narraganset, Seekonk, Pawtucket, and Blackstone 
rivers up to the present south line of the state of Massachusetts, but 
the charter granted by Charles II was so vaguely worded that the 
Rhode Islanders were able to put a far different interpretation upon it. 
According to their version, their easterly boundary ran due north from 
the ocean to a point in the present town of Lakeville, three English miles 
east-northeast from the head of Assonet Bay in the town of Freetown; 
thence in a straight line to Fox Point at the mouth of the Seekonk River ; 
thence northerly along the easterly bank of that river to Pawtucket 
Falls, and thence due north to the present northeast corner of the state. 
With such a large area in dispute the parties could not come to an agree- 
ment and the matter was made the subject of an appeal to the Crown. 

The commissioners appointed to adjust the matter made their find- 
ing known in 1741 and, while bringing the extreme eastern line. much 
farther to the west, still upheld Rhode Island's contention that the line 
followed the easterly bank of the Seekonk River as far north as Paw- 
tucket Falls. This decision, which was confirmed by the Crown in 1746; 
remained in force, although the subject of much contention between the 
states, until the present boundary was established by the decree of the 
supreme court of the United States in 1861. This boundary question 
has been treated in greater detail on account of several turnpikes and 
bridges falling within the disputed area. Of these Pawtucket Bridge 
was one. 

The first bridge was erected at the joint expense of the two colonies 
in 1 7 13, and was demolished by legislative order In 1730, after which 
It was renewed again jointly. Down to this time Massachusetts had 
asserted her claim to the center of the river and, therefore, was willing 
to assume one half of the cost of bridging the same, but after the firid- 

[303] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

ing of the commissioners In 1741, she was obliged to accept the easterly 
bank as the line, and when further repairs became necessary in 1772, 
the Bay Colony declined to share the cost of the bridge and only paid 
for the repairs on the eastern abutment. Hence the authority of the 
Rhode Island assembly to Include the ancient bridge site within the 
turnpike limits. 

The turnpike agent's report for 1843 shows a regard for the aesthetic 
and practical value of trees, for he reported that shade and ornamental 
trees had been grown along almost the entire road. In seeking a supply 
of gravel he had contracted with the town of North Providence to 
obtain that material by making the excavation for a desired street, 
agreeing to complete the work in four years. In the year and a half 
during which the arrangement had been in operation, the gravel thus 
obtained had cost the state two hundred and thirty dollars. The exten- 
sion to the Massachusetts line had cost a large sum, including, as it 
did, " two of the principal streets and the bridge in Pawtucket." The 
bridge had been rebuilt and the streets put in proper condition. 

Much trouble arose about 1848 over encroachments which abutting 
owners had made upon the turnpike right of way, and a -committee 
appointed to deal with such cases compiled a list of twenty such offenses 
and notified each offender to move off. Two sets of cellar steps seem 
to have given the most trouble, and the attorney general was instructed 
to institute proceedings against those responsible for them, but one 
set was finally allowed to remain after the owner had Inclosed them with 
an iron railing. 

The march of progress Is seen In the history of this road, for when 
gas was Introduced Into Pawtucket in 1848, permission was given to lay 
pipes along the turnpike, and the agent was authorized to erect eight 
lanterns, using the new Illumlnant along the road. 

In 1849 the salary of the agent was substantially increased, being 
raised from fifty to seventy-five dollars per annnum. How often It is 
seen that prosperity ruins a good man; the next year we see the final 
settlement with Thomas Burgess, " late agent." 

A new tollhouse was provided for in an act of June, 1853. It was 
to be erected on the site of the old one and was not to cost in excess of 
one thousand dollars. The location of this house and the gate was 
opposite the present location of PIdge Avenue, where the old road to 
Pawtucket, now known as Main Street, branched off. 

In 1857 Pawtucket Bridge demanded further attention. The agent 
in that year reported that thq bridge was then fourteen years old and 
that many of its timbers were in so decayed a condition as to be unsafe. 
He was much worried because the bridge was high above the rocks and, 
if the under part should give way, " the whole structure would fall with 
fearful ruin." 

July 6, 1858, the old bridge was closed and at once demolished. 
Timber bridges had been found so short-lived that the opinion was 

[304] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

general that some morei substantial form of construction should be used, 
and the present stone arch bridge was commenced immediately, and 
opened for public travel on the fourth of November following. 

In the days of the Indians the remains of an old channel of the river 
existed on the westerly bank, extending from above the falls around the 
same, and into the river again a short distance below. In the effort to 
provide the towns on the Blackstone River with an annual supply of 
herring and such other fish as seek the sources of our rivers, this old 
channel was deepened, in 17 14, to provide a runway through which the 
fish might pass around the falls. After the construction of the first dam, 
in 17 1 8, which was built just below the point where the old channel left 
the river, the advantages of the fishway for the utilization of power 
were soon observed, and in 1730 a dam was thrown across its lower end 
and an anchor mill established, to be followed by several other indus- 
tries, all driven by the water power from this old fishway. By 1790 a 
hive of Industry was located on the bank and we find the old run known 
by the name of " Sergeant's Trench." ^ In Its course of but a few rods 
it passed the westerly end of the Pawtucket Bridge, and hence the road 
approaching the bridge had to pass over it. In 1854 we find the trench 
occupying the attention of the general assembly In connection with the 
Providence and Pawtucket Turnpike, and an appropriation was voted 
for two hundred and fifty dollars to be used in repairing the trench 
under the turnpike. If the mill owners would contribute an equal amount. 
But the mill men held off and petitioned the assembly, at its June ses- 
sion in the same year, to bear the whole expense, now Increased to six 
hundred dollars, which the assembly graciously consented to do. 

A diligence running between Pawtucket and Providence was estab- 
lished by Horace Field about 1823, Goodrich tells us, and was sold to 
Simon H. Arnold In December, 1825. Arnold at once Issued the usual 
form of announcement, notifying the public that the round trip would 
be made twice each day, leaving Pawtucket at nine and two o'clock, and 
Providence at twelve and four. Commencing in 1836 Wetherell and 
Bennett ran an omnibus line for eighteen years, selling out to Sterry Fry, 
who operated the same until the advent of the horse cars. 

The death knell of the turnpike was sounded October 25, 1847, on 
which day the Providence and Worcester Railroad was opened. The 
convenience of this route and the low fares which were; offered gave it 
a monopoly of the travel between the neighboring cities, and the turn- 
pike earnings soon became too small for profit. 

The march of progress again appears in 1863, this time in the shape 
of one of the agencies which were working the turnpikes into the past. 
The Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls Street Railway Company 
was then projecting a horse railway to connect those cities, and in the 
year named was granted permission to lay its tracks " over and along 
the whole or any part of " the state's turnpike. Specified payments were 

1 " Historical Sketch of Pawtucket," Goodrich. 

[305] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

to be made for this privilege and, for the next six years travelers on the 
horse cars had the novel experience of passing through a toUgate. 

The general assembly, at its January session in 1869, instructed the 
general treasurer to quitclaim the state's interest in the road to Provi- 
dence, North Providence, and Pawtucket. The agent was instructed to 
spend no more money on the road unless absolutely necessary, and to 
throw the gate open forever when properly notified. The road became 
free on April 24, 1869, on which occasion the Tower Light Battery fired 
a salute of twenty-five guns, while a general celebration was being held 
at the tollhouse/ 

The Pawtucket and Providence was by far the most remunerative 
turnpike which has come under our observation. Reports of the busi- 
ness done may be seen in the Rhode Island State Library, and show 
through the period of the state's control to about 1847 that the earnings 
ran at an average of nearly eighteen hundred dollars a mile per year, 
while the net receipts paid to the general treasurer held close to twenty- 
five hundred dollars a year. 

The road formed the Rhode Island continuation of the Norfolk and 
Bristol Turnpike in Massachusetts, and over it passed the extensive 
traffic between Boston and Providence, including that between the first- 
named city and New York. 



WICKFORD TURNPIKE COMPANY 

This corporation was created at the October session of 1807 and its 
chartered route was described as 

the road reported at the May session by Messrs. Potter, Reynolds and Anthony, a 
committee for that purpose. 

Were this all the information available, we should be at a loss as to 
where this company proposed to build, but in the preamble of the act 
we read that it intended to construct 

from the village of Wickford, in North Kingston, in this state, to the state of Con- 
necticut, at the south end of Beach Pond. 

The old road which this corporation sought to appropriate is shown 
on the maps of to-day and is of ancient lineage. Formerly it was called 
the " Ten Rod Road " on account of the excessive width which was given 
it to provide public pasturage for the droves of cattle driven, for ship- 
ment abroad, from Connecticut to Wickford. 

Although the corporation proceeded rapidly with its preliminaries, 
having its layout made before its act of incorporation was passed, it 
does not seem to have ever done any business. In 1823 the charter was 
revived, and again in 1829, as the company had not met to organize. 

Fuller recites in his " History of Warwick " that that town voted, 

1 Grieve's " History of Pawtucket." 
[306] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

in 1805, to instruct its representative to vote against the erection of any 
turnpike gate in Kent County " to the injury of the inhabitants of said 
county," which incident may account for the failure to build this road. 
Although the representative did not succeed in preventing the authoriza- 
tion of a gate two years later, the popular wish, thus expressed, may 
have been sufficient to prevent the utilization of the charter. 

THE FARNUM ROAD 

At the February session of 1808 the Farnum and Providence Turn- 
pike Company was created for the purpose of building a road from 
" Tripptown," in North Providence, to Appleby's Road in Smithfield. 
Evidently the route thus specified was not enough to encourage the 
prosecution of the work, for the company petitioned the next year to 
be allowed to extend its road northeasterly to the line of the state of 
Massachusetts near Allum Pond, meanwhile delaying the construction 
of its main line of road. The petition was not granted, and it was re- 
newed in 181 1 and again in 1812, after which the project of the exten- 
sion seems to have been abandoned by the promoters of this enterprise, 
and the corporation proceeded with the road which was allowed it. 

The report of the locating committee was rendered In October, 1812. 
One full gate or two half ones was the allowance for this road, and the 
committee decreed that one should be placed near the powder mill, and 
if that was a half-gate, the other should be erected " north of the old 
road over Wolf Hill." 

Work then proceeded, but at the end of seven years the road was 
uncompleted and the corporation was In financial difficulties. In con- 
sequence of an execution issued against the company the property was 
sold at auction, and was bought by Stephen and Ellsha Steere. At the 
June session in 18 19 those men obtained a renewal of the charter In their 
own behalf, with authority to finish the road. The Powder Mill Turn- 
pike, which had been incorporated after the one under present consid- 
eration, had been constructed in the meantime, and that road was 
now made the southerly termination of the Farnum and Providence. 
The road was then completed as originally proposed north of the 
Powder Mill Turnpike, and became one of the successful and long-lived 
Rhode Island turnpikes. A revision of the charter was secured In 
1828 whereby the privileges accorded to the later companies were 
bestowed on this one. 

The joint committee of 1870 found the officials of this company an 
uncommunicative lot, and reported that it had been able to learn noth- 
ing of the road's affairs. So the report merely stated that the road 
extended from Centerdale to Smithfield, and was five miles long, which 
brought the northerly end to the present village of Smithfield. But 
the turnpike commissioner, according to his report in 1872, found only 
four miles of road. 

[307] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

The Farnum and Providence Turnpike was made free by act of the 
general assembly at the January session in 1873. Five hundred dol- 
lars was then appropriated to compensate the corporation. 

The southerly end of the old turnpike in Centerdale is known to-day 
as Waterman Avenue. 



THE POWDER MILL TURNPIKE 

The petition for a charter for this utility was first made in 1807' and 
was renewed in 1808 and 1809. The prayer was finally granted by the 
general assembly of February, 18 10, which created the Powder Mill 
Turnpike Corporation and allowed it to build a three-rod road which 
was to 

begin at Sprague's tavern (formerly owned by the widow Waterman) at the south- 
easterly end of the Glocester turnpike-road in Smithfield ; from thence eastwardly 
until it reaches the westerly line of the town of Providence on the plain near Fenner 
Angell's. 

By the construction of this turnpike improved roads were provided 
all the way from Providence to the state line, on the way to Putnam, 
and over the route thus provided a daily stage between Providence and 
Pomfret struggled along for many years. 

The road was completed and opened for travelers in 18 15, according 
to Angell in his " Annals of Centerdale." Two gates were established, 
one at the present corner of Smith Street and Fruit Hill Avenue, and 
the other at the corner of the road to Spragueville, about halfway be- 
tween Centerdale and Greenville, where George Mowry once kept a 
tavern. The southerly end of the turnpike was near the corner of Smith 
and Holden streets, well within the present limits of Providence, and 
almost under the shadow of the state capitol. The road through Provi- 
dence and North Providence is now called Smith Street, which name 
was applied to it in 1874. Beyond North Providence it is still known 
as the " Powder Mill Pike," and has been improved of late years with 
the help of the state until it is now a fine stretch of road. The Chepachet 
line of the Providence Street Railway system follows the old turnpike 
for its entire length. 

In 1 816 permission was granted to move the gate but not toward 
Providence. If it was located on any portion of an old road anyone was 
to be allowed to pass free upon declaring that no portion of his journey 
had been, or was to be, made on any part of the road which the corpo- 
ration had built. In 1829 an excess toll of a half-cent per hundred- 
weight was allowed on loads exceeding five thousand pounds, if the 
vehicle was furnished with tires less than five inches in width. 

The Powder Mill is mentioned by the joint committee and by the 
turnpike commissioner in the respective reports, but no detailed state- 
ment is made by either. 
[308] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

The road was made free by act of the general assembly at the 
January session, of 1873, one thousand dollars being appropriated and 
paid to the corporation. March 3, 1873, the town council of North 
Providence voted to accept the turnpike within the town limits " under 
the terms and conditions fixed by the general assembly " at Its January 
session. 



THE WOONASQUATUCKET TURNPIKE 

Atwells Avenue, In Providence, is of mongrel birth, originally being 
both turnpike and public road. About 1809 the Providence town coun- 
cil laid out and built a four-rod road extending from Aborn Street 
almost due west to the Woonasquatucket River, which then formed the 
westerly limit of the town. At the February session In 18 10 the 
Woonasquatucket Turnpike Corporation was created, with authority 
to continue that road northwesterly " till it shall come to the road lead- 
ing from Tar Bridge to the village of Tripptown." Tar Bridge, we 
have already seen, was the bridge which carried the street, leading 
northerly from Olneyvllle Square over the river of the long name. 
Tripptown was the old name given to the modern village of Manton, 
and the road recited as the northwesterly terminus of the new turnpike 
is now known as Manton Avenue. 

Financing the enterprise must have, been dliBcult, for in 1 8 1 2 per- 
mission was obtained to levy an assessment, not exceeding five dollars, 
on each share of stock. Instances of the fussiness of the Rhode Island 
laws are found in 18 14 and 1815, In each of which years the corpora- 
tion had to appeal to the general assembly for a renewal of Its charter. 
The first time the franchise had been invalidated because the corpora- 
tion had failed to elect Its officers for the ensuing year. No provision 
existed that oflicers should hold office until their successors were quali- 
fied, consequently the company found itself without any official heads, 
and no business could be done. The second time the difliculty arose 
from the failure to hold the annual meeting. As the company secured 
authority again In 1815 to levy an assessment on the shares, we may 
imagine that the trouble was due to lack of enthusiasm, and that the 
building of the road was a slow process. But It was finally completed 
and operated for probably thirty-five years. 

A petition having reference to this turnpike was entered at the state 
house by Andrew WlUiams In 1852, but no action has been found In 
consequence of it. It is easy to see, however, that It had for Its object 
the freeing of the road, and that action was rendered unnecessary by 
the action of the town. 

In 1854 the town of North Providence took over the turnpike, mak- 
ing it a part of the public system, and by the annexation of 1874, the 
whole length of the old toll road was included within the city of Provi- 
dence. The plan prepared at the time the road was surrendered to the 

[309] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

town shows the toUgate at the corner of Valley Street with the toll 
gatherer's house on the northeasterly corner. Atwells Avenue, from 
the Woonasquatucket River to the junction with Manton Avenue, was 
the Woonasquatucket Turnpike. 

THE VALLEY FALLS TURNPIKE 

This road was the beginning of the present Broad Street in Paw- 
tucket and Central Falls. It was first built by the Valley Falls Turnpike 
Company, under a charter granted in February, 1813, by which author- 
ity was conferred to build from the northwesterly part of Pawtucket 
on the old road from Pawtucket Bridge to Providence, " northerly 
crossing the new bridge, now building at the valley falls, across Black- 
stone River," and on to an intersection with the Diamond Hill or Old 
Mendon Road. According to Grieve in his " History of Pawtucket," 
the northerly terminus was at the crossroads at the Catholic Oak in 
Lonsdale. 

The road was built by Isaac Wilkinson, the son of the Oziel Wilkin- 
son who was so prominent in the construction of the Norfolk and Bris- 
tol Turnpike. This family, in addition to being among the pioneers 
of Pawtucket's manufacturers, was prominent in several of the turnpike 
developments in their neighborhood. 

In 1842 the corporation made petition for the privilege of having its 
turnpike resurveyed, but a counter-petition was made by certain citizens 
who alleged that the charter had been forfeited, and secured the ap- 
pointment of a committee to investigate their charges. Curiously 
enough the same committee was authorized to make the asked-for sur- 
vey. The committee reported in January, 1843, giving the details of 
the new lines which had been determined as the boundaries of the road, 
and the assembly enacted that " said turnpike be, and the same is 
hereby, established and confirmed " as reported, which plainly enough 
disposed of the petition for annulment of the charter. 

The turnpike was laid out, under the name of Broad Street, by the 
town of North Providence in 1864. 

THE COVENTRY AND CRANSTON TURNPIKE 

The hustling little group of factory villages along the boundary line 
between Coventry and Warwick were fairly well supplied with trans- 
portation over the river roads, except the ones called Anthony and 
Washington in the eastern part of Coventry. Being located well up the 
south branch of the Pawtuxet, and around a long bend in the same, the 
mill owners of those places found themselves at a decided disadvantage 
when it came to shipping their goods. 

An early road had been built by the colony in 1737, which came over 
Natick Hill, passing Edmond's gristmill, which has given way to the 
[310] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

Lippitt Mills, and up the river valley to the southeast corner of the 
town of Scituate; and this road, while offering no service to Anthony 
and Washington, was all that the needs of the other villages seemed to 
require until about 1810. Until then the villages on the upper river 
had been obliged to reach Providence by an old road through Apponaug. 

In 181 1 the mill owners of Washington and Anthony joined with the 
proprietors of the Roger Williams and the Lippitt mills, In a petition 
to the general assembly for a new and direct road, connecting all those 
manufacturing villages. At the February session, 1812, a road as de- 
sired was laid out and established by the assembly, but it was required 
that the petitioners should construct the same at their own expense, 
which did not appeal to the mill men as attractive, without the privilege 
of collecting tolls. So they next asked for a turnpike charter. 

So the Coventry and Cranston Turnpike Company was formed in 
February, 18 13, with a franchise 

from the factory of the Coventry Manufacturing Company, by the Lippitt and 
Roger Williams Manufacturing Companies' factories, towards Monkeytown and 
Providence. 

The mill of the Coventry Manufacturing Company was located in 
Anthony, and was one of the first cotton mills in the state, having been 
built In 1805—06, and substantially enlarged In 18 10. The Lippitt fac- 
tory was located in the village to which it gave its name, and the Roger 
Williams gave employment to the men of the village later called Phenix. 
In the month of May, 1821, fire laid the Roger' Williams factory low, 
and another building promptly rising, as from the ashes, recalled the 
mythical bird and named the place. 

From Fuller's " History of Warwick " we learn that the turnpike 
was three miles, one hundred and three rods, and twenty-two links in 
length, reaching from Anthony, through Phenix and Lippitt, to an 
already existing highway in the southerly part of Cranston. 

The location of the road must have been a difficult matter, for the 
corporation returned to the general assembly three months after re- 
ceiving its charter to ask permission to make alterations In its prescribed 
route. That was granted, and in less than two years they were back, 
stating that they had bought the land over which they desired to build 
an alteration of their road, and would the assembly allow them to so 
build. Naturally no objection was offered, and the road was changed 
accordingly. 

Fuller says that the tollgate stood near the Lippitt Mills, and that 
the toll gatherer at one time was Caleb Atwood, who was also the land- 
lord of the tavern near-by. 

The gate has been gone so many years that no one has yet been 
found who dares hazard a guess as to the date when the road became 
free, even the Insistent questioning of the lawyers in a case tried in 
Coventry many years ago failing to bring it out. 

[311] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



BURRILLVILLE TURNPIKE COMPANY 

We have seen that the Farnum and Providence Turnpike Company 
sought for several years to secure a charter by which its road might 
be connected with the northwesterly part of the state. The general 
assembly seems to have realized the desirability of the road, but lacked 
confidence in a company which, In over four years, had not commenced 
to build the few miles, contemplated in Its original charter. 

So the Burrillville Turnpike Company was incorporated at the 
February session in 1813 in consequence of the repeated petitions by 
the Farnum and Providence. Its road was to lead from the latter 
company's road " to the guide post In Burrillville, near Nathan Wil- 
liams'," but we are unable to identify it with any roads which appear 
on the present-day maps, and are obliged to conclude that the charter 
never bore fruit. 



THE FOSTER AND SCITUATE TURNPIKE 

The petition for this road was first made in June, 181 1, at which time 
the petitioners desired to build from the Rhode Island and Connecticut 
boundary, through Hopkins Mills, to the Rhode Island and Connecticut 
Turnpike In the easterly part of the town of Scituate. But the assembly, 
doubtless having in mind the delays and difficulties of the Farnum and 
Providence, deferred action, finally granting a charter at the October 
session of 18 13 to the Foster and Scituate Turnpike Society. The 
length of road, however, was curtailed, and a franchise was granted 
only from the Connecticut line to Hopkins Mills, a place In the north- 
easterly part of the town of Foster. 

An unusual privilege was allowed in the charter of this company 
which was designed to meet the difficulty of raising ready money. The 
proposed road was to be divided into two hundred sections of equal 
length or cost to build, and whoever would undertake to construct and 
maintain one or more of such sections could be paid in stock, one share 
for each section. As the allowed road was about four and a half miles 
In length, the sections would average about one hundred and ninety 
feet, for the building and maintaining of which thirty dollars in stock at 
par value was to be paid. How much difficulty would a modern corpora- 
tion find in recording that that amount of cash had been received from 
sale of stock and at once paid out on account of work performed? But 
such a detail had to receive the sanction, in advance, of the general 
assembly a century ago. 

Even with the special privilege outlined above, the construction of 
the turnpike seems to have been a slow matter. The first meeting was 
appointed for a day in April, 18 14, but the promoters failed to gather 
on that date and had to apply for a legislative act authorizing them to 
[312] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

meet on October i6. By that time the corporation seems to have es- 
tablished a reputation for ability to carry out its plans, for the assembly 
then granted it permission to extend its route easterly to its originally 
desired connection with the Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike. 

The promoters of this enterprise expected that another turnpike 
would be chartered in Connecticut, over which they would have direct 
connection with Hartford by way of Danielson and Windham. But that 
hope was long deferred for the expected corporation, the Providence 
Turnpike Company, was not formed until 1825. The Connecticut legis- 
lature then granted a franchise, but only from the state line to Danielson. 

The Rhode Island road started from a point on the state line, " near 
the house of Captain George Baker," about midway on the westerly 
line of the town of Foster and opposite the village of South Killingly 
in Connecticut, and proceeded directly to Hopkins' Mills, where Jona- 
than Hopkins was then operating the saw and grist mills which he had 
established about twenty-four years before. Thence it bore nearly due 
east through the villages of Chopmist, Trimtown, and North Scituate 
to a junction with the Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike at the 
southern end of Moswansicut Pond, in the northeast corner of Scituate. 

That the turnpike was not profitable is seen from an act passed in 
January, 1848, by which the rates of toll were revised, being substan- 
tially increased on the common classes of traffic. 

The road was still in operation in 1858, in which year it appeared 
in the assembly halls, asking for certain amendments in its charter, but 
it was given up in 1866, in which year the portion in Scituate was deeded 
to that town. That portion was an old road which was first laid out in 
1731- 

THE FOSTER AND SCITUATE CENTRAL TURNPIKE 

The corporation responsible for this road was first formed by the 
June session of 18 14, and promptly commenced work, although It did 
not carry it to completion. All that we know about the first chapter of 
this road's history is what Is told us in the preamble of the act creating 
the Foster and Glocester Applan Way Society, an account of which 
follows this. From that we learn that enough of the Foster and Scituate 
Central was finished in a year to justify listing it among the turnpikes 
of the state. But the work languished and the corporation's rights 
expired before all was done. At the October session of 1822 a new act 
of Incorporation, creating the same company, with the same name and 
the same franchise, was passed, and by this corporation the road was 
pushed to completion. Six gates were allowed, the most westerly to be 
within six miles of the Connecticut line, and the next within twelve miles 
thereof. Alterations were made in the location between Scituate and 
Knapp's Hill in Johnston in 1824, and an increase of stock was allowed 
in 1828. 

[313] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

This road touched Connecticut three eighths of a mile south of 
where the Foster and Scituate met that state. It is shown on the road 
maps as the " Central Pike " and as " Saundersville Pike," and swings 
in a semicircular course across the towns of Foster, Scituate, and John- 
ston, crossing the north end of Barden Reservoir, passing through 
Saundersville and entering Providence over Sunset Avenue to its con- 
nection with Plainfield Street, the old Providence and Norwich 
Turnpike. 

In 1842, in response to a petition, it was enacted that unless the 
corporation repaired its road properly within twelve months the charter 
should stand repealed. Under conditions as serious as this indicates, 
it is doubtful if the terms were met, and this probably marks the end of 
the turnpike operation. 

THE FOSTER AND GLOCESTER APPIAN WAY 

Not satisfied with the poetic accord of Foster and Glocester, but 
indulging in fantastic day dreams of the magnificent roadway they were 
to construct, the projectors of this road, having in mind the substantial 
pavement of large and well-fitting blocks of stone which characterized 
the road of Appius Claudius Caecus, sought incorporation under the 
name of the Foster and Glocester Appian Way Society. Their charter 
was granted in June, 18 15, and the preamble gives a valuable statement 
of the number and location of the turnpikes which passed through the 
towns named. It sjrates: 

There are five turnpikes leading from Providence to Connecticut through the 
towns of Foster and Glocester; the southernmost [the Providence and Norwich] 
by the Friends Meeting-house in Foster; the second [the Foster and Scituate Cen- 
tral which was not completed at that time] through that town near Colonel 
Nathaniel Stone's and by Captain George Baker's; the third [the Foster and Scitu- 
ate] by Hopkins Mills and said Baker; the fourth [the Rhode Island and Connecti- 
cut] through the northerly part of Foster by Samuel Hopkins' and Elisha Aldrich's ; 
and the fifth [the West Glocester] through Glocester by Chepachet. 

Further comment is made on the great advantages which would result 
from the opening of a road running at right angles with all of those 
which the incorporators desired the privilege of building, but, since 
it does not appear that the plans were ever carried out, we will merely 
comment on a few of the references noted in the above quotation, and 
in the act of incorporation. 

The Foster and Scituate Central Turnpike had been chartered at the 
June session in 18 14, and was then under construction, but the work was 
interrupted, being resumed and finished under a new franchise issued in 
October, 1822. The Friends' meeting-house still stands, although used 
now by another denomination, in the village of Vernon, in the southerly 
part of Foster, oa the old Providence and Norwich Turnpike. 

It evidently was the intention of the incorporators of this company 

[314] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

to build a road from the Providence and Norwich Turnpike, in the vil- 
lage of Vernon, to the Connecticut line, in the northwest corner of 
Gloucester, where it was to meet the road of the Thompson Turnpike 
Company, a Connecticut corporation formed in 1803. It is hard to 
follow the reasoning which could make such a road seem advisable. To 
divert traffic which had already shown indications of reaching Provi- 
dence, and to turn it toward Norwich, which it could better reach by 
going another way, seems to this generation a misconception. 

The charter which was granted for this road also contained the pro- 
vision noted in connection with the Foster and Scituate, by which it was 
to be allowed to divide the road into sections, the construction and care 
of which might be assumed in payment for stock. 

According to " A Gazetteer of the States of Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut," 1 the promoters of this road contemplated an ultimate exten- 
sion to Canada but, as said before, it does not appear that any part of 
this " Appian Way " was ever built. 



THE NEW LONDON TURNPIKE 

When one considers the importance of the railroad division between 
Providence and New London and observes the tremendous traffic which 
daily passes betwieen those cities, it indeed seems strange that the turn- 
pike which preceded the railroad was so late in being built. Not until 
18 15 was a petition entered for a franchise covering this route. 

Before the European saw this region the Indians had their well- 
beaten path leading from Providence to Westerly and thence to New 
London. Later, known as the Pequot Path, this trail developed into 
the early colonial Post Road, over which a post was established as early 
as 1690, and which was used by Madam Knight in 1704. Starting in 
Providence at what was then the head of the bay, the path crossed a 
ford at the foot of what is now Steeple Street, and followed the lines of 
the present Weybosset and Broad streets and Elmwood Avenue, through 
East Greenwich and over Kingston Hill, passing on the north of 
Charlestown Pond, and entered Connecticut by a ford of the Pawcatuck 
River where the town of Westerly now stands. In subsequent develop- 
ment of the post route, the Providence and Norwich road was opened, 
but it is significant of the engineering instincts of the Indians that the 
highly developed railroad returned to the primeval location. But from 
1795 to 1820 the line of Improved highways between Providence and 
New London lay through Norwich ; and Westerly and Stonington, with 
all the east side of the Thames River, were left on a side route. 

In May, 1816, the Providence and Pawcatuck Turnpike Society was 
incorporated with the privilege of building from Providence to the 
Nathaniel Arnold Bridge In West Greenwich, and thence southwesterly 

1 By John C. Pease and John M. Niles, Hartford, 1819. 

[315] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

to Pawcatuck- Bridge in Westerly. Promising as the route seemed the 
corporation had hard work in constructing Its. road and In raising the 
money therefor. Three years after the Incorporation the company 
secured the passage of an act by which it was allowed to erect a gate 
as soon as it had completed six miles of road, and additional gates as 
fast as more six-mile sections were finished. In 1820 it was provided 
that the gates might be spaced four miles apart instead of six, which all 
shows that every little addition to the finances was welcome. 

Pawcatuck Bridge was an old establishment connecting the villages 
of Westerly, Rhode Island, and Pawcatuck, Connecticut, so we see In 
the first turnpike proposal a return to the way of the Indian. A public 
stage road was built about 1815 from the head of the Mystic River, 
across Stonlngton to Westerly, and this was at first Intended to form a 
part of the Improved route. But some Insurmountable force was In 
opposition to a road through Westerly. The Providence and Pawca- 
tuck never built Its road beyond to-day's village of Wyoming In the town 
of Richmond, and another corporation took up the burden from that 
point. 

The Hopkinton and Richmond Turnpike Corporation was formed 
by an act of the February session of 1820, Its franchise extending from 
a point on the Connecticut line southwesterly from Hopkinton City, and 
at the end of a Connecticut road from New London, thence north- 
easterly to a connection with the Providence and Pawcatuck. The Con- 
necticut road just referred to was the Groton and Stonlngton Turnpike, 
which had been chartered in 181 8 and built from Groton Ferry, which 
crossed the Thames River, to the Rhode Island line. It was expected 
that the Connecticut road would follow the new stage road to Westerly, 
but a sudden change in the plans threw it up through North Stonlngton, 
and the Hopkinton and Richmond bridged the space to the Providence 
and Pawcatuck, completing the turnpike connection from Providence 
to the ferry by which' New London was entered. 

The opening of this route revolutionized travel between Boston 
and New York, which now proceeded to New London by stage, and 
thence to New York by a steamship which lay overnight at New Haven. 
Not until about this time was It considered practicable for any form of 
boat to make regular trips around Point Judith, but soon we find a 
scheduled line from New York to Providence, which superseded the 
New London Turnpike for through travel about 1830. By the opening 
of the railroad from Providence to New London, it would seem that 
the turnpike had been dealt its deathblow, but it lasted many years 
longer, although not a prosperous enterprise. 

The attorney-general was instructed. In 1857, to examine the charter 
under which the turnpike was operated, and advise the general as- 
sembly how the same could be amended so that the corporation could 
be compelled to keep its road in good condition during the winter. 

To follow the New London Turnpike to-day one should start at the 
[316] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

corner of Elmwood Avenue and Parkis Street, that being at the old 
Providence town line, and follow out Elmwood and Reservoir avenues 
to Blackmore Pond. From there to the Sockanosset Reservoir the old 
road has been changed and does not now appear on the map, but the 
turnpike is found again in the road which skirts the reservoir estate on 
the southeast side; thence through Natick, Centerville, and Crompton, 
in Warwick, and Wyoming and Hope Valley, in Richmond, to Hopkin- 
ton " City " and straight ahead to the limits of the state. A glorious 
view is to be had when passing over Prospect Hill, midway between 
Natick and Centerville, sweeping the bay from Rocky Point to Pawtuxet. 

There seems to be no record of the transfer of the turnpike to the 
town of Cranston, and we have been unable to determine when the road 
became free of toll. 

That there was a test of strength over the location of the new turn- 
pike route from Providence to New London, and that the advocates of 
a road through Westerly fought to the last ditch may be inferred from 
the incorporation of another company soon after the formation of the 
Hopkinton and Richmond. That was the Wickford and Pawcatuck 
Turnpike Company, chartered at the May session of 1822 to build from 
the village of Wickford to Pawcatuck Bridge. If the new turnpike 
would not pass through Westerly, the interests of that town would build 
a turnpike of their own with a parallel entrance into Providence. But 
this must have been the last card of the Pawcatuck Bridge advocates, 
for no such road was built, and apparently the opposition to the Provi- 
dence and Pawcatuck' s connection with the Hopkinton and Richmond 
was heard no more. 



THE SMITHFIELD TURNPIKE 

This proposition was first heard in 1818 when the petition was made 
which resulted in the creation of the Cumberland and Smithfield Turn- 
pike Corporation. Nothing was done by this company, but in May, 
1823, a new petition was made for a franchise over the same route, and 
in June of the same year a charter was granted creating the Smithfield 
Turnpike Corporation. The route allowed was 

from the Friends' meeting-house in Smithfield southerly to the branch of the Doug- 
lass Turnpike at the Moshassock Bridge. 

Friends' meeting-houses in Rhode Island seem to have been as thick 
as the proverbial thieves, and the reference above to one of them helps 
us but little. It seems, however, from reading both the act and the 
petition that it was intended to have the road terminate about at the 
present village of Lonsdale, but it was never built that far. Steere's 
" History of Smithfield " tells of a Quaker church which stood on the 
river at Lower Smithfield, and which was mentioned in a deed given 
in 1708. That may have been the one mentioned in the charter for the 

[317] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Smithfield Turnpike, although the fact of its being " on the river " is 
hardly consistent with our conclusion that Lonsdale was the northerly- 
objective point. 

An additional franchise to build a branch of the turnpike was secured 
in 1826, by which the corporation was authorized to build from its road 
northeasterly to the Smithfield Road at the southerly end of Scott's 
Pond. This was clearly constructed, as was the main turnpike from the 
junction southerly. Together the road and its branch formed the 
street known to-day as Smithfield Avenue in Providence, Pawtucket, 
and Lincoln. 

With the authorization for the branch, permission was given to in- 
crease the capital to provide the sinews for its building, and the com- 
pany was allowed to collect extra tolls on heavily loaded teams. Lime 
was here a favored industry as is indicated by the easier tolls imposed 
upon its carriage. 

The Providence and Worcester Railroad, which had been opened to 
Pawtucket in 1847, was seen pushing its way northward in 1848, when 
it encountered the Smithfield Turnpike at an angle awkward for cross- 
ing. On the petition by the railroad company the general assembly 
authorized the supreme court to relocate the turnpike to provide a 
proper crossing. That was in June, 1848, and a later act in January, 
1849, causes a smile. The first act had put it up to the court to per- 
sonally relocate the turnpike, and another act was necessary before 
three commissioners could be appointed to do the detail work. The 
result of these proceedings is to be seen to-day in the sharp bend made 
by Smithfield Avenue where it crosses the railroad in the northerly part 
of Providence. 

The town council of North Providence laid out the Smithfield Turn- 
pike as a public highway April 4, 1870. 



THE PAWTUXET TURNPIKE 

Eddy Street, in Providence, is another thoroughfare which has been 
in part a turnpike. The portion from the junction with Broad Street, 
in the Edgewood District, to the corner of Richmond Street by the coal 
wharves, was built by the Pawtuxet Turnpike Corporation, which was 
formed at the January session of 1825. In the franchise the route was 
thus described: 

from the Providence and Pawtuxet road, about two miles northerly of Pawtuxet, 
northerly, between the two hospitals, until it enters the compact part of said town 
[Providence] at Eddy's Point. 

Three rods was to be the width of the road, and one gate was allowed 
provided that It was not placed within two miles of the state house, 
which was then on the east side of the river. At the June session in the 
same year the corporation was allowed to Include the portion of the old 
[318] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

road from its junction therewith to the present corner of Berwick Lane, 
which was " within half a mile of Pawtuxet Bridge." Before this was 
done, however, the village of Pawtuxet was required to put the portion 
of the road thus to be given to private interests in satisfactory repair. 
No gate was to be erected on such portion of the old road. 

The map of Providence, prepared by Daniel Anthony in 1803, shows 
the two hospitals mentioned above well out of town and to the south. 
A road, apparently the predecessor of the modern Plain Street, is in- 
dicated as the " Road to New Hospital," while another, about on the 
lines of the present Hospital Street, is marked " Road to Hospital." 
The two hospitals gave place some fifty years ago to the present efficient 
Rhode Island Hospital. Eddy's Point we find on the same map at the 
foot of Ship Street, and we can see by the present-day maps that Eddy 
Street points straight for that section. 

The life of the corporation was uneventful as far as written records 
show for many years, although it is easily to be seen that a great deal 
of internal quarreling and external bickering must have gone on. But 
in 1 841 a storm broke, and the corporate skeleton in the closet came 
out in full view. With the January session of that year was filed a 
petition by certain of the stockholders in the corporation, asserting that 
they were not properly treated in the management of the company's 
affairs, that money which should be devoted to the payment of divi- 
dends or repairs on the road was spent in a manner detrimental to the 
stockholders' interests, and that the management of the business was 
improperly conducted in other particulars. They prayed that a com- 
mittee might be appointed with power to examine the corporation's 
books, inspect the road, and issue such orders as would best conserve 
the interests of the investors. Another petition was presented by the 
owners of land adjacent to the turnpike, many of whom had built their 
dwellings on its side. These complained that the road was not built in 
conformity with the franchise requirements, being in the wrong location, 
that the gate had been erected, notwithstanding the prohibition, within 
two miles of the state house, and that toll was exacted from persons 
engaged in agricultural work and who were exempt from such demands. 
It was further set forth that the form of construction of the road was 
such that water would not flow from the adjoining lands but was held 
back in standing pools. The corporation would neither place culverts 
across its road nor allow others to do so. To those dwellers along the 
road who asked permission to lay sidewalks at the side of the street 
in front of their houses, invariable refusals had been given. So they, 
too, begged for the appointment of a committee with power to remedy 
their grievances. 

To the complaint of illegality In the location of gate and road the 
assembly gave prompt and complete answer, which must have raised 
little hope among the petitioners of any further favor. It was enacted 
that, however illegal, the gate and the road should remain where they 

[319] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

were, and their locations were confirmed and established. But the com- 
mittee was appointed as asked, and upon its recommendation a further 
act was passed at the same session, which required the corporation to be 
more human. 

That part of the turnpike within the city limits of Providence was 
deeded to that municipality April 7, 1846, but the city advisers seem to 
have doubted the legality of the transfer, and acceptance of the road 
was delayed until the general assembly could be asked to sanction the 
same. At the January session of 1847 the desired sanction was ob- 
tained, conditional upon the consent of the city and all the adjoining 
property owners, and on July 3, 1847, the city made formal acceptance 
of the road. 

Complaints again arose In 1853, when another committee was ap- 
pointed to examine the books and inspect the road. Adverse action on 
account of any report which this committee might makes was forestalled 
by the corporation's completing negotiations with the town of Crans- 
ton to take over the balance of the road. Hence in April, 1855, the 
Cranston portion of the turnpike was deeded to that town, which had 
already voted to accept the same if it was offered. 

By the two actions noted above, the entire turnpike became free, but 
apparently the corporation continued to maintain its existence and trans- 
act some kind of business, for in 1862 the attorney-general was in- 
structed to ascertain if the company was still legally doing business and 
if its rights had not been forfeited. 

THE RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT CENTRAL 

TURNPIKE 

This proposed road is Included In the list here, because one history 
has been found which speaks of it as a turnpike which was constructed. 
It clearly never was built. Its franchise allowed a location from the 
westerly end of the Woonasquatucket Turnpike, through Johnston, a 
corner of Scituate, and the southwest part of Gloucester, to the Con- 
necticut line, heading for " Pomfret Factory." 

Had such a road been built it would have been laid between the 
Rhode Island and Connecticut, and the Glocester turnpikes, which are 
nowhere over four miles apart, and which extend between the same 
terminal districts. There was no need for such a turnpike, and It re- 
quired a year and a half to persuade the assembly to grant the charter 
which was enacted In June, 1825. 

THE MINERAL SPRING TURNPIKE 

The Smithfield and Glocester Turnpike Corporation was created In 
June, 1825, to build from the village of Pawtucket westerly to the 
Powder Mill Turnpike and thence to the Connecticut line. The west- 
[320] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 



erly end of this proposed route was open to the same criticisms as the 
Rhode Island and Connecticut Central, as it was to pass halfway be- 
tween the Rhode Island and Connecticut, and the Glocester turnpikes. 
It is hard to see, at this day, why so many were anxious to provide direct 
connections from Providence to the eastern part of Connecticut, and we 
must remember that, at that time, many of the waterfalls of the Quine- 
baug and Shetucket valleys had been utilized for small textile mills. 
Small as was the output of these mills it must have been the prospect 
of the freight from them that raised such hopes of turnpike prosperity. 
But the section east of the Powder Mill Turnpike had other reasons for 
rosy hopes, which seemed sufficiently well-founded to enable the pro- 
moters to build that part. 

Near the mineral spring which has given a local name to the north- 
west part of Pawtucket, a deposit of bog iron was found by the early 
settlers, and by the beginning of the eighteenth century a rough cart 
path ran from Pawtucket Falls over the route now followed by Mineral 
Spring Avenue. Ironworks were in operation at Pawtucket Falls before 
the erection of the Pawtucket Bridge, and a forge stood on the banks 
of the Moshassuck River where the iron was converted into blooms to 
be carted to the works at the falls. The installation of the first carding 
and spinning mill in America at Pawtucket in 1790, and the rapid 
growth of that industry gave a tremendous impetus to the ironworks, 
which were called upon to provide the wear-resisting parts of the new 
machinery. For it must be borne in mind that England, jealously seek- 
ing to maintain a monopoly of the textile trade, prohibited the exporta- 
tion of any of the machines or plans thereof. Hence the early carding 
and spinning machinery in Pawtucket was constructed from the memory 
of Samuel Slater who had operated such in the old country. 

As long as the turnpike corporation was burdened with the obliga- 
tion to build clear to the Connecticut line, it was found impossible to 
make any headway, and the promoters were obliged to return to the 
general assembly in October, 1826, for a revision of the charter. 
Then the name of the corporation was changed to the Mineral Spring 
Turnpike Corporation, and the franchise was cut down so that it only 
covered that part of the original route which lay east of the Powder 
Mill Turnpike. That was a more businesslike proposition and the road 
was built during the next year, 1827. Under an agreement made with 
the first corporation, the town of North Providence contributed for ten 
years the receipts of the town landing at Pawtucket toward the con- 
struction and maintenance of the turnpike. 

Angell's " Annals of Centerdale " speaks of this road as running 
through a district not previously served on east and west lines, but as 
being handicapped by being laid over long hills, a fault with so many 
turnpikes. A glance at the map will show how well the road, as finally 
constructed, met the needs of the community. Pawtucket now, as well 
as Providence, was provided with direct and improved connections with 

[321] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

the rapidly opening textile districts in eastern Connecticut and central 
Massachusetts, as the new road intersected both the Douglas and the 
Powder Mill turnpikes. 

North Providence purchased the turnpike from its owners in 1867 
and named it Mineral Spring Avenue. It commenced in Pawtucket at 
the southeasterly corner of Mineral Spring Cemetery, and at the present 
corner with Main Street. 



THE EAST TURNPIKE 

This road was built by the Pawtucket and Providence East Turnpike 
Corporation which was chartered in October, 1825. It is the present 
East Avenue, in Pawtucket, and Hope Street, in Providence, and to one 
familiar with the congested city conditions now found along the greater 
part of its borders, the description of the route as given in the charter 
must be amusing. It reads 

from the village of Pawtucket, in North Providence, through the farms of Timothy 
Greene, Thomas Arnold, and others, and ending at Olney's lane, so called, in said 
Providence. 

The end in the village of Pawtucket was at what is now the corner 
of East Avenue, Church, and Pleasant streets, and the Providence 
termination was then as now at Olney's Lane, at a point which was then 
the highest point in the town, being later selected as the location of the 
Hope Reservoir of the city's waterworks. To those who wonder at the 
choice of a route, attention is called to the map of Providence In 1803, 
which will be found as Plate Ixxxi. By that It will be seen that the 
College Hill section of Providence was then the larger part of the town 
and, owing to the unhealthy Influence of the old Cove, which occupied 
the site of the present Union Station, seemed likely to be the coming 
center. Even so, the promoters of the East Turnpike must have antici- 
pated pleasure driving and the teaming of store stocks rather than a 
heavy traffic, and it does not seem possible that, as late as 1825, anyone 
could have figured remunerative returns from the Investment. 

Although we may criticize their judgment on turnpike locations, to 
the owners of the East Turnpike we must give credit for ability to see 
when their Investment was doomed. For this corporation. In 1837, 
secured the passage of an act by which it was authorized to make a rail- 
road of its turnpike and to extend the same to India Point, to which the 
Boston and Providence Railroad had been built in June, 1835. At the 
time of this act the New York, Providence, and Boston Railroad was 
pushing Its construction between Westerly and the Providence River, 
intending to connect with the Boston and Providence by means of a 
ferry, and to have its terminus at a convenient point on the opposite side 
of the harbor. In addition to the right to extend Its turnpike and con- 
vert it into a railroad, the Pawtucket and Providence East Corporation 
[322] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

secured a franchise for a full-fledged railroad to be built from some 
point on the line of the New York, Providence, and Boston Railroad 
to Central Falls, and thence up the valley of the Blackstone River to the 
Massachusetts line, a clear anticipation of the Providence and Worces- 
ter Railroad. 

It has already been pointed out that the early conception of a rail- 
road was that it was to be an improved form of turnpike, on which any 
private party was to be at liberty to drive his own horse attached to his 
own vehicle, and on a schedule of his own improvisation. Section six 
of the amended charter of this company allowed the collection of toll 
from all passengers and on all property, at such rates as the directors 
might establish. The directors were further empowered to make rules 
regulating the form of cars and wheels and limiting the loads, always : 

PROVIDED, that no regulation shall be adopted by said corporation that shall 
exclude individuals residing on said road, from travelling on the same in private 
cars ; conforming in all things to such regulations, and paying such tolls as may be 
required by said corporation. 

Warehouses were to be erected and tollhouses built, and tollgates were 
to be swung across the tracks. 

In 1839 the name of the corporation was changed to the Providence 
and Boston Branch Railroad Company, not appropriate at all for a 
road reaching toward Worcester, and it was allowed until 1844 to com- 
plete its railroad. Thei expiration of its rights was followed promptly 
by the incorporation in May, 1844, of the Providence and Worcester 
Railroad Company, and construction by that company ended all hopes 
of extensions by the East Turnpike. 

In October, 1843, the portion of the East Turnpike between the 
crossing of the Providence and Pawtucket Turnpike and the end at 
Church Street, in Pawtucket, was thrown open for free passage, but 
collections continued for passing over the balance of the road. In May, 
1850, the corporation secured authority to erect an additional gate on 
the southerly side of Harrington's, or Herrendon's, Lane, at which half 
tolls were to be assessed. 

Nothing further has been found concerning this road until 1872, 
and apparently it gradually died away. The committee which reported 
in May, 1870, had not discovered such a turnpike at all, but the turn- 
pike commissioner had had it called to his attention. He reported that 
he had found no one conducting the affairs of the road and had been 
unable to learn the names of any stockholders or officials of the corpora- 
tion. Providence and North Providence were then acting with the 
object of laying out the turnpike as a free public highway. So the East 
Turnpike became such in 1872, 



[323] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



PROPOSED TURNPIKE FROM PROVIDENCE TO WARREN 

A charter for such a road was granted by the January session of 
1827 to the Providence and Warren Turnpike Corporation, and the 
turnpike was to be built in connection with that of the Providence and 
Bristol, for which a charter was issued In Massachusetts in 1829. 

The road would have commenced somewhere in Providence and run 
eastwardly to the river, somewhere near India Point where a bridge 
was to be built connecting with the Massachusetts road. That turnpike, 
as we have already seen, contemplated just one straight shoot across 
Massachusetts territory, after which the traveler was to again enter 
Rhode Island in the town of Barrington, and proceed as directly as 
possible to the town of Warren. But such a road was never built. 



FALL RIVER AND V^ATUPPA TURNPIKE 

This Is the only turnpike which has been noted as being entirely 
transferred into another state by a change in boundary lines. Origi- 
nally chartered by the Rhode Island assembly and built in Rhode 
Island territory, this road, by the adjustment of the state line which was 
made in 1861, became throughout its length subject to Massachusetts 
laws, and was finally made free in accordance with them. 

Previous to 1861 the state line passed almost through the center of 
the present city of Fall River and crossed the narrow neck between the 
two Watuppa Ponds, leaving a considerable section east of the ponds 
in Rhode Island. Hence the authority of Rhode Island to grant the 
franchise for this road. 

At the May session of the general assembly in 1827, the Fall River 
and Watupper Turnpike Company was incorporated with the franchise 
to build a turnpike from the line between Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island at the corner of the " first great lot and the mill share of the 
Pocasset purchase," thence " southeasterly to the Narrows on the road 
that divides the Watupper Ponds "; and thence eastwardly to the line 
of the town of Westport. In 1838 it was enacted that the erection 
and maintenance of the bridge across the Narrows, should be forever 
Incumbent upon the turnpike corporation. 

In consequence of the charter just recited the present Pleasant Street 
in Fall River was built, and It was operated as a toll road until Septem- 
ber, 1864, when the city acquired the turnpike and made it free. The 
western end of the turnpike was the corner of what is now Plymouth 
Avenue and Pleasant Street, while Its eastern terminus was a short dis- 
tance east of the ponds. 

This road is well known to trolley tourists, as over it the high-speed 
electric cars to New Bedford enter and leave Fall River. 

[324] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 



THE PROVIDENCE AND NORWICH CITY TURNPIKE 

Although it is plain that this proposed public utility was never con- 
structed, it seems to merit more than a mere mention of the incorpora- 
tion. Duty Green appears to have been the moving spirit in promoting 
such a road and his petition was twice referred, resulting finally in the 
granting of a charter for the Providence and Norwich City Turnpike 
Corporation by the general assembly at its June session in 1830. How, 
with the knowledge that the original Providence and Norwich Turnpike 
had had such a hard time making both ends meet, Mr. Green could 
have figured that a paralleling road, dividing the business, could ever 
succeed is beyond present-day calculations. But evidently he did, and 
others, too, for a connecting turnpike was chartered in Connecticut, form- 
ing part of the same scheme. That was the Shetucket Turnpike, the 
corporation for which was created by an act passed in May, 1829, about 
the time that Duty Green made his first petition. 

The Rhode Island Company was to be allowed to build from the 
intersection at the state line with the Connecticut road, as straight as 
it could to Hoyle's Tavern in Providence. No such straight road exists 
to-day and it is safe to say that none ever did. 

Hoyle's Tavern was an ancient inn which stood in the fork between 
High (now Westminster) and Cranston streets. 

According to the index of the Rhode Island special acts, a petition 
was made in 1857 fo'' t^^ annulment of the charter of this corporation, 
but only a little study is needed to show that the petition had reference 
to the first Providence and Norwich Turnpike and not to this project. 



THE STONE BRIDGE AND FALL RIVER TURNPIKE 

This road was the original of the present Bay Street inl Fall River, 
extending from what was then the state boundary, at the corner with 
William Street, to the Stone Bridge; mostly along the shore of Mount 
Hope Bay. It was built by the Stone Bridge and Fall River Turnpike 
Company, which was created at the January session of 1838. 

Stone Bridge was then about thirty years old, having been com- 
menced in 1806 and completed about the end of the following year. 
Its total length was one thousand five hundred and twenty-four feet, 
of which eight hundred and sixty-four feet were between the abutments 
of an old and insecure bridge. Parallel walls, filled between, were built 
across the entire distance with the exception of sixty-five feet over the 
river channel which was provided with a drawbridge. Originally the 
cost was estimated at eighty thousand dollars. Passengers between 
Newport and Boston previously needed two days for the trip by way 
of Providence but, after the bridge was opened, could go in one day by 
way of Fall River and Taunton. 

[325] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

This corporation had a good idea of the conditions necessary to 
produce business, for it early proposed the construction of a public road 
to connect its turnpike with the Tiverton Print Works, only asking in 
return that it might include the cost of such road in its capitalization. 
That construction was slow is seen from the act passed in June, 1839, 
by which it was provided that, when the road was finished as far south 
as the " old road by Earl B. Anthony's store," and the branch to the 
Print Works was completed, one gate might be erected and tolls col- 
lected. But no dividends were to be paid until the whole turnpike was 
finished. 

Anthony's store stood on the southwest corner of the present Globe 
and South Main streets, and the Tiverton Print Works were, on the 
northerly side of Globe Street, from which it appears that the building 
of a public road as a feeder really meant the repairing and maintaining 
of Globe Street, which had probably existed as an old lane for many 
years. 

The portion of the turnpike within the present limits of Rhode 
Island, lying close along the shore of the Bay, occupied the natural 
location for the coming railroad, and was appropriated for the laying 
of its track by the Newport and Fall River Railroad Company in 1862. 
The Fall River city records, under date of March 2, 1863, show a 
peculiar disposition of the Massachusetts portion of the turnpike, it 
being ordered : 

That so much of the road, known as the Fall River and Stone Bridge Turnpike, 
as is within the limits of the city, be regarded as a Public Highway so long as for 
public travel, its free use is allowed and that it be in charge of the Superintendent 
of Streets and Highways, and repaired as are others of the city. 

A satisfactory disposition, no doubt, and one not likely to be disturbed, 
but It makes Bay Street interesting as a street which is " regarded as a 
Public Highway," without being definitely so laid out. 

This road, too, was affected by the adjustment of the boundary be- 
tween Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1861, the same being shifted 
from the northerly end of the turnpike to a point about two miles 
farther south. 

Forty-three turnpike corporations were created by the Rhode Island 
assembly. Besides the thirty-two which have been noted in the preced- 
ing pages the following were formed, but it does not appear that any 
of them built a road. 

1824 Cumberland S. Arnold's in Smithfield to Manville 

thence northerly to Mendon Road. 

1827 Worcester Friends' meeting-house in Smithfield to 

Massachusetts line near Blackstone 
Village. 

1828 Foster Branch Connecticut line northeasterly about 

four miles to Foster and Scituate 
Central Turnpike. 
[326] 



THE TURNPIKES OF RHODE ISLAND 

1830 Woonsocket Falls Woonsocket Falls to Loisquisset Turn- 
pike. 

Foster Valley From Foster and Scituate Turnpike at 

Hopkins Mills to Connecticut line. 

1836 Worcester Massachusetts line in Cumberland to the 

Blackstone River; down that river to 
Crook Fall River Valley; through 
said valley to the Great Road in 
Smithfield. 
Moshassock Southerly end of the Worcester Turn- 
pike to Scott's Pond. 

1842 Peacedale Peacedale to Narragansett Pier. 

1853 Pawtuxet Plank Road Providence to Pawtuxet Village. 

1856 Silver Hook Road Near the present Silver Hook Bridge. 

1859 The River Road From High Street in Central Falls 

northerly through Valley Falls, Lons- 
dale, Ashton, Albion, and Manville, 
to the road from Manville to Woon- 
socket. A branch to Granite Ledge 
on Sayles Hill in Smithfield. 



[327] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 



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THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

A LL parts of the state being within easy distance of the salt water, 
/\ Connecticut was settled throughout its extent at a very early 
X jL date and, according to the census of 1790, then possessed a 
density of population which had not been equaled in 19 10 by Maine, 
New Hampshire, or Vermont. Such being the case it is but natural 
that roads existed in all directions, connecting all the towns with each 
other and leaving little room in which a new route for a turnpike could 
be projected. Previous comments on early New England roads are 
fully applicable here, and the wretched condition of such roads as were 
in use is amply demonstrated by the fact that, in this small state, one 
hundred and twenty-one franchises for turnpike improvement were 
granted between the years 1795 and 1853, the larger part of which 
resulted in development. In consequence of there being roads of some 
quality wherever needed, nearly all the turnpike charters issued in Con- 
necticut were for the improvement of a road previously existing but 
which the neighboring inhabitants were unable to maintain in proper 
order. Owing to the lack of turnpike characteristics due to the new 
roads following the lines of the old, it has often been difficult to deter- 
mine which of various roads was the one improved by the turnpike 
system. 

Connecticut in its early efforts tried the method of Charles II, under 
which the maintenance of a road was sought from those using it, and 
erected tollgates at two places on the Old Post Road from Boston to 
New York, vainly hoping that the receipts thus collected would be suffi- 
cient for the annual repairs of the road. Only in the case of the 
Mohegan Road was this method continued. 

Next the plan of granting the right to make such improvements to 
private investors under the form of corporations was adopted, but in 
this Connecticut failed to realize the great improvement made in 
America over the English practice and formed its turnpike corporations 
along the lines of the English turnpike trusts. 

Under the idea that the turnpike companies, like the English trusts, 
assumed a road already laid out and were not bound to build anything 
but a road, the towns through which turnpikes were projected were 
obliged to purchase and pay for the land needed for a new road, or 
for alterations in an old one, and to build all the necessary bridges. 
Consequently much hostility was caused against all turnpike companies, 
and many towns were seriously strained in their financial resources. 

[331] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



In some cases a new turnpike was laid out on petition of the local 
residents who needed it. Then a committee would be appointed by the 
assembly to view the route and lay out the road, reporting the same 
with recommendations as to the method of building it. If the assembly 
saw fit to accept the report it would do so, and then declare the road laid 
out as a public highway " subject to a bill," which meant that the layout 
was not to take effect until a turnpike corporation was formed which 
would undertake the construction. Many of these layouts are recorded 
in the office of the secretary of state in Hartford. Often a layout covers 
much more ground than the subsequently formed corporation was will- 
ing to assume, and sometimes one has to look for two corporations to 
account for one committee's action. 

Similar procedure was followed when a group of investors had them- 
selves selected a route over which they wished to open a new road. 
Upon their petition a committee would be appointed, which would lay 
out the road and advise as to the number and location of the tollgates 
which were to be allowed upon it. The corporation then was usually 
formed immediately after the acceptance of the report. 

When a group of turnpike promoters had selected an old road on 
which they desired to make their investment, they would petition the 
assembly asking that that road might be given them in return for their 
advancing the money to put it in sufficient repair and that they might 
have the further privilege of collecting tolls from all traveling over it. 
If the road was recorded as a properly laid out public highway the 
charter of the new company would describe it as it appeared upon the 
records, and then declare it discontinued as a public road. Next a 
corporation would be formed for the purpose of reconstructing the 
route and opening a turnpike and operating the same thereafter. A 
bond was usually required to guarantee that the promoters would pro- 
ceed in good faith and carry out the purposes of their incorporation. 

In many cases the old road, or roads, were so crooked that the altera- 
tions due to building a direct route practically constituted new locations, 
and In such cases the county court, and sometimes the assembly, would 
make the layout in the form customary for public roads, describing the 
new route and declaring the same laid out as a public highway. Then the 
assembly would undo the public dedication, declare the road discon- 
tinued, and give it to the turnpike company. 

Except as above the Connecticut practice differed little from that of 
the other New England states. Every corporation was the result of a 
special legislative act and the tolls of each were prescribed separately. 
The usual list of exemptions is found in all cases, favoring the church- 
goers, the members of the militia, and those doing business with the 
local mills. No general laws were ever enacted for the organization 
of turnpike corporations nor to simplify their incorporation, but early 
acts established laws for the government of companies operating roads. 

The first of these, enacted in 1803, was apparently experimental, as 
[332] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

•it was only to remalni In force for three years, but withi slight modifica- 
tions It was permanently renewed at the expiration of that time. For 
each turnpike In the state three commissioners were to be appointed 
for the purpose of watching that road and seeing that It was kept in 
good order. As found In the Revised Statutes of 1835 this law pro- 
vided for two commissioners appointed by the senate, who were re- 
quired to Inspect their road at least once a year. When they saw fit to 
order repairs they were empowered to open the gates until their orders 
had been obeyed. They could fix a limit of the time within which compli- 
ance with their orders should be made and, if the corporation neglected 
for a month after that to make the repairs, the general assembly could 
declare the charter forfeited. The commissioners had to examine the 
books and accounts of the company and make report to the assembly 
on a form prescribed by an act of 1804. For their arduous labors they 
were allowed the sum of two dollars per diem, paid by the corporation 
over which they were set. These laws are interesting as being the first 
instances of public-service commissions. 

The early Connecticut corporations were chartered with no other 
limit to their corporate lives than the one which provided the repeal 
when the original investment, plus twelve per cent, had been repaid. As 
the failure of turnpikes became evident it was realized that those com- 
panies were perpetually chartered, and an effort was made by the as- 
sembly of 1835 to secure the right to repeal such franchises. An act 
was then passed which allowed: 

( 1 ) All existing gates might remain where they were with the con- 
sent of the road's commissioners and one court judge. 

(2) The location of gates which had been moved was confirmed 
and collections of accounts at such gates was allowed, 

(3) The commissioners and a judge might change any gates after 
having given a public hearing. 

(4) The charter of all companies which accepted the terms of this 
act were made subject to repeal by the assembly; and all companies 
which did accept were obliged to formally vote to do so and file a record 
of such vote with the secretary of state. 

It Is hard to see that any additional privileges were granted by this 
act, and one wonders why any company should have seen fit to accept 
it at the price specified, but ten companies are on record In the secretary 
of state's office as having so voted. 

Several more sections of general law for turnpikes are found in the 
compilation made in 1835, among them the wise provision that any 
corporation could enter upon adjoining land for the purpose of making 
such drains as were necessary to keep the roadbed dry. Contracts with 
frequent or heavy travelers were allowed as might be mutually agreed. 
Double tolls might be recovered in action against anyone who had 
evaded payment. In which event double costs of court were also assessed. 
Many disputes had arisen over the responsibility for the bridges, in 

[333] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

cases where the^company had gone ahead with the erection of one, look-, 
ing to the town to pay later. To settle such it had been enacted that, 
wherever a company had built a bridge which was not definitely stated 
in the act of incorporation as one which the town should build, such 
bridge should be the corporation's, and the corporation should main- 
tain it. 

The early exemptions from toll had included all those 

going to or returning from mill for the use of their families, or passing to attend 
their ordinary farm business. . . . 

This also had caused disputes and a law had been passed by which no 
one traveling a distance in excess of four miles could lay claim to ex- 
emption under that clause. Seven dollars' penalty was laid upon a toll 
gatherer who collected excess tolls. 

In 1837 it was provided that executions against a turnpike, or toll- 
bridge, company might be collected by the judge's putting a receiver 
in charge of one of more gates to collect the tolls for the benefit of the 
creditor until the debt was canceled. 

An improvement over the laws of other states was secured in 1844 
when It was enacted that any town might, upon the neglect of a corpora- 
tion to keep its road in repair, do the necessary work itself and collect 
the cost from the company. To hasten payment no tolls were allowed 
while the debt was unpaid. 

A law by which any corporation could unload its road upon the towns 
traversed was passed in 1854, and forfeiture of the franchise was estab- 
lished as the penalty for neglecting repairs about the same time. Vari- 
ous modifications of the same appeared in the next twenty years. 



THE MOHEGAN ROAD 

The road through the Mohegan's country, connecting New London 
with Norwich, was first laid out in 1670 by Joshua Raymond, who was 
paid for opening the highway by the grant of a farm on the route. 
Miss Caulkins' " History of Norwich " tells us that it was little more 
than an Indian trail for over a century, having numerous windings, 
fords, and precipitous hills. The travel over it was chiefly by those on 
horseback or in oxcarts. In 1789 an association was formed to effect 
improvements in the old road, and a lottery authorized by the legisla- 
ture was drawn in Norwich in June, 1791, to assist, in the work. Evi- 
dently a great deal of work was accomplished, for the distance between 
the two towns was materially reduced, and where the journey twice 
over the road had seldom been performed in a single day, after the 
improvements it could easily be done in four hours. 

Such blessings seemed to the general assembly worth paying for 
and, in May, 1792, an act was passed establishing a tollgate, the second 
[334] 






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in America and the first in New England, on the newly made old road. 
Tolls were specified in old currency, ninepence being levied on a four- 
wheeled pleasure carriage, and threepence on a loaded wagon or cart, 
while a " man and horse " paid only a penny. The proceeds of the tolls 
were to be devoted to the repair and maintenance of the road, chiefly 
in the Mohegan Reservation. The road soon became an important 
thoroughfare and a heavy traffic in cattle and produce passed over it 
on the way to the deep water docks of New London, there to be shipped 
abroad. 

Early repairs seem to have been needed, for we find that the com- 
missioners had felt obliged to advance from their own funds four hun- 
dred dollars In addition to the toll collections, and an act in 1805 
allowed them to practically double the tolls until they were repaid. 

The road under charge of the commissioners and subject to toll was 
extended In 1806 to " Norwich Landing," from a point a little south- 
erly from "Trading Cove Bridge," and In 18 12, to the courthouse in 
Norwich. 

In 1824, for some reason, it was enacted that three tenths of the net 
proceeds of the toll collections at the gate In Montville should be paid 
to the town of Waterford. By this it need not be Inferred that there 
was more than one gate, for the indications are that there was not. 
Apparently on account of the strangeness of giving money collected In 
one town to another, it was made clear that such was the intention. 
This division continued until about 1837, after which all net proceeds 
were required to be spent on repairs, chiefly on that part passing through 
the reservation. 

The New London, Wllllmantic, and Palmer Railroad, now the Cen- 
tral Vermont, opened its Iron road parallel to the Mohegan Road in 
1849, with the usual result that toll collections ceased soon after. 

By act of the general assembly the gate was abolished July 3, 1852. 

About 1900 the Montville Street Railway opened its line between 
New London and Norwich, following in large part the lines of the old 
Mohegan Road. The trip over this line has ever since been deservedly 
popular for, aside from the historic associations, the pilgrim Is well 
repaid with beautiful scenery. 

The Mohegan Road was never owned by a corporation but was 
managed throughout by commissioners In the Interest of the road Itself. 
In this it stands alone among all early American roads as the only one 
operated throughout in accordance with the principles established by 
Charles II, in 1663. 

THE GREENWICH ROAD 

In October, 1792, the general assembly established a gate on the 
" main County or stage road In the town of Greenwich," the same to 
be erected by commissioners acting In behalf of the county and the pro- 

[335] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

ceeds to be applied to the maintenance of the road. Thus was created 
the third tollgate in America. This was an effort to improve the con- 
ditions which we have already noticed in the New York Advertiser's 
statement of the road along the Sound being " rough, rocky, and un- 
comfortable " and often impassable for wheeled vehicles. The road 
affected was a part of the Old Post Road between Boston and New 
York, a route which had been in use then for over a century, and which 
formed a part of the journey of Madam Knight. As nothing was re- 
quired beyond the erection of the gate, the road already being there, 
it seems certain that the road promptly became a toll road, although 
further information has not been found. 

The Connecticut Turnpike Company, formed in 1806, was a much 
more extended proposition and was allowed to absorb the Old Post 
Road and its tollgate, of which more In Its turn. 



THE NEW LONDON AND WINDHAM COUNTY TURNPIKE 

This road followed the Old Post Road and formed a continuation 
of the road of the Providence and Norwich Society, etc., of which we 
have already read as existing in Rhode Island. In the effort to improve 
the condition of traveling over this route, the Connecticut assembly in 
October, 1794, at the same time that the Rhode Island corporation was 
chartered, authorized the county to erect a tollgate on the road, the 
proceeds from which were to be devoted to the proper maintenance of 
the highway. But a condition was attached that the gate should not be 
erected until the road was first put in good repair. That proved too 
much of a burden and improvements waited until the next spring, when 
a corporation was formed to do the work. 

In May, 1795, the New London and Windham County Society re- 
ceived a franchise to build a turnpike from Norwich to the Rhode Island 
line, through Norwich, Lisbon, Preston, Plainfield, and Sterling. One 
gate was allowed within ten miles of Norwich courthouse and another 
within five miles of the Rhode Island line. That the road was im- 
proved In reasonably prompt time is seen from the passage of an act, 
in 1 80 1, by which changes In the rates of toll were allowed. 

The New London and Windham County Turnpike evidently started 
from Norwich and followed up the westerly bank of the Shetucket River 
as far as the confluence with the Quinebaug, above which it crossed 
the first-named stream, and on the bridge thus necessitated erected its 
tollgate. Thence it followed up the valley of the Quinebaug to Plain- 
field Center, from which place it struck an easterly course and joined 
the Rhode Island road at what is now Oneco Station on the railroad 
between Providence and Willlmantlc. 

Sometime prior to 1808 the gate near the Rhode Island line was 
moved to another location without formality and the assembly, at its 
[336] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

October session in 1808, ordered it put back at once and forbade the 
collection of tolls until it was done. 

In May, 1836, the right to collect tolls from those passing over the 
Shetucket River bridge was taken from the company. 

Operation as a turnpike was continued for fifty-five years at least 
for, in 1849, a relocation around Bundy's Hill, in Lisbon, was approved 
by the assembly and a new gate location was allowed, but no record 
has yet been found to show when the entire road became free to the 
public. 

THE OXFORD TURNPIKE 

The Oxford Turnpike Company was formed at the May session of 
1795 and given authority to open a road from Southbury to Derby. 
This was clearly a privilege of improving a previously existing road 
for the charter stated that the incorporators were to be allowed to erect 
their gate as soon as they had expended seven hundred pounds' lawful 
money. 

In considering the territory which this road was to serve it must be 
borne in mind that Derby, at that date, was a much larger town, terri- 
torially, than it is to-day. Old Derby included the present towns of 
Seymour, Beacon Falls, and Oxford, and the terminal proposed for the 
turnpike was not the present village of Derby, but one of the villages 
of the old town, which is now known as Seymour, and then was called 
Chusetown. But a change was made in the plan, for Orcutt and Beards- 
ley tell us in their " History of Derby," that when first constructed the 
turnpike did not come quite to the village of Chusetown, but turned 
from the Little River some distance above its mouth, over the hill and 
up the Naugatuck River, crossing at Pines Bridge and joining the turn- 
pike from Naugatuck to New Haven on Beacon Brook. As constructed 
the turnpike seems to be about the same as the present main road to 
Southbury. 

This road was built about the time that New Haven was building 
the long wharf by which it was hoped to make that city a port of entry, 
and soon after there was a large trade for many miles around, much of 
it coming over the Oxford Turnpike.^ 

An act of 1797 allowed the company to pass free "the stage to 
Massachusetts," which leaves rather a confused idea of the route fol- 
lowed by that stage, and the terminal town in Massachusetts, for the 
location and direction of the turnpike do not seem favorable for such 
traveling. 

Tolls were collected on this old road for nearly ninety years, and 
the turnpike was finally made free sometime between 1880 and 1887. 
1 "Seymour Past and Present," Campbell, Sharpe, and Bassett. 



[337] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



HARTFORD TO NORWICH TURNPIKE 

The Hartford, New London, Windham, and Tolland County Turn- 
pike Society was the full name of the corporation which built this road, 
receiving its charter from the October session in 1795. Its route was 
thus described: 

from the city of Hartford to the city of Norwich, from the court-house in Hartford 
to the court-house in Norwich. 

It may be interesting to note that Hartford and Norwich, with three 
other Connecticut towns, were incorporated as cities in January, 1784, 
thirty-eight years before that degree was conferred upon Boston. 

On this road of about twenty-seven miles' length, two tollgates were 
allowed, to be located between East Hartford and Joshua Hyde's house 
in Franklin. The first meeting was to be held in Coventry. Considera- 
tion of the project during the succeeding winter evidently showed the 
promoters that they had a difficult problem on their hands, for they 
sought the assembly in the following May and secured a modification 
of their franchise so that they were only bound to build from White's 
Monument in Bolton to Joshua Hyde's in Franklin, thus avoiding the 
question of a means of crossing the Connecticut River at Hartford and 
being relieved of construction through the compact portions of the two 
terminal cities. 

The road was built, by which term in Connecticut we mean that it 
was improved from its pioneer crudity to a form to justify the collection 
of tolls, but built in rather a shoddy way, for we learn that in 1800 com- 
plaint was made to the assembly that the corporation was not keeping 
It in proper repair. A committee was appointed to investigate, but the 
company got busy and had its road in satisfactory shape when the 
legislators arrived, so a favorable report was made. 

Joshua Hyde was born in Norwich In 1756," and after his marriage 
with Cynthia Tracy, in 1779, settled in that part of Norwich which was 
later set off as Franklin. His( house stood about a mile above Yantic, 
where the Franklin and the Lebanon roads come together, and almost 
on the boundary line between Franklin and Bozrah. He was a promi- 
nent man in his day, representing his town in the assembly and serving 
as a member of the constitutional convention of 1818. He died in 
FrankHn In 1830. 



THE NORWALK AND DANBURY TURNPIKE 

The turnpike connecting Norwalk and Danbury extended from Semi 
Pog Brook In Danbury to Belden's Bridge In Norwalk, the Improve- 
ments being made by the Norwalk and Danbury Turnpike Company 
which was created by act of the October session of 1795. This road is 
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known to-day as the old turnpike and extends almost directly from one 
terminal to the other, passing through South Wilton, Wilton, George- 
town, and Topstone. 

In 1800 the company was permitted to make contracts " to pass by 
the year " with anyone living within three quarters of a mile of a gate. 
Apparently the business had not prospered by 1802, for the privilege 
of taking tolls had been taken away and the assembly came to the relief 
of the harassed corporation by decreeing that it might renew collections 
when it had repaired the road. 

The Norwalk and Danbury was about eighteen miles in length, but 
only one gate was allowed to be erected. 



TURNPIKE FROM BETHEL TO WESTON 

In May, 1797, the Fairfield, Weston, and Reading Turnpike Com- 
pany was incorporated to improve the road from the meeting-house in 
Bethel in Danbury to a point in Weston. An act relative to tolls shows 
that the road was in operation in 1801. 

This turnpike continued in active life until 1834, when the portion 
between Bethel and Wild Cat Road was thrown open to the public. 
The balance continued in private control for four years longer, when 
the charter was repealed in May, 1838. 



THE SAUGATUCK TURNPIKE COMPANY 

Many of the references to the turnpikes of Connecticut refer to the 
Saugatuck Turnpike as an accomplished fact, but it was never built. 
The Saugatuck Turnpike Company was incorporated in October, 1797, 
and given a franchise to build a turnpike road from Dragon Bridge 
to Byram River, including a section from Fairfield to Norwalk over 
Saquituck River and Sasco Creek, such a route having been laid out by 
the assembly a year earlier. 

In May, 1798, practically the entire franchise was repealed, and a 
new layout was made for the part crossing the Saquituck River and the 
creek. The towns of Fairfield and Norwalk were then required to build 
the bridge and its approaches, being allowed the privilege of collecting 
tolls on the same. In May, 1800, the two towns, having completed the 
new bridge, were allowed to discontinue the old one which lay about 
eighty rods up-stream from its successor. 

In the report of the committee which laid out the road for the 
Connecticut Turnpike Company, dated May 18, 1806, we may read: 

The toll bridge at Saugatuck was built in 1799, is twenty feet wide from outside 
to outside of the railing and thirty-eight rods long, and cost about one thousand dol- 
lars. The toll is about half the toll at a turnpike-gate and is let for two hundred 
dollars annually. The bridge has hitherto required and still requires all the toll to 

[339] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

be expended in repairs and probably must be rebuilt in the course of six or eight 
years from this time. 

The above, considered with the fact that the franchise of the Con- 
necticut Turnpike Company covered almost exactly the same route, 
seems to satisfactorily dispose of any question of the failure of the 
Saugatuck Turnpike to materialize. 

THE STRAITS TURNPIKE 

The thirty-six miles between New Haven and Litchfield were cov- 
ered by the road built by the Straits Turnpike Company, which was 
incorporated in October, 1797, the franchise reading from courthouse 
to courthouse. Watrous, in his contribution to the " History of New 
Haven," says that the road ran through the westerly part of New 
Haven and the village of Westville, then called Hotchkisstown, where 
it was later joined by the Rimmon Falls Turnpike. 

The name of " Straits " was derived from a section along the road 
which had long borne that name and which was thus described by a 
writer in the early thirties. 

About fourteen miles from New Haven the main road to Waterbury passes by 
Beacon Mountain, a rude ridge of almost naiced rock stretching south-west. At this 
place is Collins' tavern, long known as an excellent public house, and the Straits- 
ville post office. About half a mile south of Mr. CoUins's the road passes through 
a narrow defile formed by a gap in the mountain, barely sufficient in width for a 
road and a small but sprightly brook which winds through the narrow passage. On 
both sides the cliffs are lofty, particularly on the west; on the east, at a little dis- 
tance from the road, they overhang in a threatening manner."^ 

The first meeting of the corporation was held in the house of Irijah 
Terrill, in Waterbury, in November, 1797. Much controversy arose 
over the location of the turnpike as Waterbury citizens wanted it to 
pass through the center of their town, while the people of Watertown 
made similar demands for their district. Anderson's " History of 
Waterbury " tells that a great deal of bitterness was bred of the con- 
tention, which we can imagine was not appeased when the final con- 
struction left Waterbury well to one side. The turnpike crossed Nau- 
gatuck River on Salem Bridge, so called from its location in Salem 
Society, the early name of Naugatuck. The town of Salem is in a part 
of the state remote from the Naugatuck River and had no connection 
with the naming of this bridge. 

Bronson's " History of Waterbury " recites that the first bridge over 
the Naugatuck at Salem Society was built by the town of Waterbury in 
1736 and was washed away in the winter of 1740—41. In 1743 the 
town, groaning under the expense of maintaining the structure, peti- 
tioned the assembly to be allowed to collect tolls for passage across the 
river. Whether that was allowed or not is not known, but if not, it was 

* " Connecticut Historical Collections," J. W. Barber. 

[340] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

conceded later, for the bridge was a toll bridge in 1761. Repairs at a 
cost of eighty pounds were made in 1748—49. 

The Salem Bridge, known as the Naugatuck Bridge in later years, 
soon became a bone of contention between the town of Waterbury and 
the turnpike corporation. First the company, tiring of waiting for the 
town to act, made some necessary repairs and then vainly tried to collect 
pay from the town for the same. After several years the bridge was 
washed away and the town, considering the fact that the turnpike com- 
pany sent all its travelers over the bridge and collected its tolls on or 
near it, refused to rebuild and sought to put that expense on the corpora- 
tion. But this was one of the old turnpikes, and its franchise had not 
placed the burden of bridges or land upon it, so the town was obliged 
to provide a new bridge. That in its turn soon followed its predecessor 
downstream, and again the town sought to shift the burden of 
rebuilding. 

Claiming that the cause of the last catastrophe was a dike which the 
corporation had built a short distance above the bridge for the purpose 
of protecting its road where it crossed the low ground, the town brought 
suit to compel the company to pay the damages. It was claimed that the 
dike had so diverted the current of the river that it had undermined one 
of the abutments, causing it to tip and launch the bridge structure into 
the river. But again the town was a loser and had to rebuild the bridge 
and pay the costs. 

It seems remarkable that permission should have been necessary for 
such an ordinary matter, but we find that in May, 1806, the company 
secured an act of the assembly allowing it to erect houses at its gates. 
Each house was allowed a lot of land not to exceed five acres, but the 
total cost of house and land was not to be more than seven hundred 
dollars in each case. 

The Straits Turnpike was operated in its entirety until May, 1821, 
when all that portion between Westville and New Haven was made 
free. How long the balance remained a toll road we have not 
ascertained. 



THE NEW MILFORD AND LITCHFIELD TURNPIKE 

The charter granted to the New Milford and Litchfield Turnpike 
Company in October, 1797, allowed it to open its road from the 
Friends' meeting-house in New Milford to some forgotten point in 
Litchfield, and to erect two gates for its collections. Construction was 
not rapid, as we find an act passed in 1798, allowing collections to begin 
at one gate when the road was completed in Litchfield, but by the end 
of 1 800 the entire road was in service. The allowed tolls were found 
at that datei to be insufficient, so an act was secured by which they were 
doubled. 

[341] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



The original turnpike was built over Mount Tom in Litchfield, and 
we can imagine that the resulting grade was a trial for all concerned, 
but it was endured for nearly half a century. Then, about 1841, the 
towns of Litchfield and Washington laid out a section of road passing 
east and southeast of Mount Tom and having the turnpike on each end. 
This they asked the corporation to construct, take over as a part of its 
road, and discontinue the old section over the mountain. An accommo- 
dating assembly gave its sanction, but the corporation was slow to act, 
legislative proceedings being observed in 1843 and 1844, extending the 
time within which the relocation should be made. 



THE BOSTON TURNPIKE 

The middle route from New York to Boston, over which President 
Washington traveled on his trip in 1789, ran from Hartford to the 
northeasterly corner of Connecticut, where it entered the neighboring 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Travelers over this route were 
obliged to cross the Connecticut River between Hartford and East 
Hartford by means of an old established ferry. 

Goodwin's " East Hartford History and Traditions " gives a com- 
plete story of this ferry, and from it we learn that it was first authorized 
by a lease given by the town of Hartford, in 1681, to Thomas Cadwell, 
who operated it, collecting tolls fixed by the town for seven years, after 
which his widow continued the business for an equal length of time. In 
1728, apparently to make the operation more legal, Hartford secured 
from the assembly a charter under which to continue the ferry. In 
1737 the charter was renewed, this time with the provision that the 
assembly was to fix the rates of toll. That the business was good is 
seen from the fact that the proceeds of the collections were sufficient 
in 1748 to provide firewood for the town schools. 

East Hartford was established as a separate town in 1783 and one 
half of the rights in the ferry was granted to it. The ferry continued 
to be controlled by the two towns until the opening of the Boston Turn- 
pike, and for eleven years after provided the only means of crossing 
the broad river at that point. 

The Boston Turnpike Company was formed by an act of the October 
session of 1797. It was granted a franchise over the roads 

from Hartford, through East Hartford, Bolton, Coventry, Mansfield, Ashford, 
Pomfret, and Thompson, to Massachusetts line. 

Four gates were to be allowed, — one within two miles of the state 
boundary; one within one mile of Mashamaquet Brook in Pomfret; one 
within one mile of the line between the towns of Mansfield and Willing- 
ton ; and one at the notch of the mountain In Bolton. The capital stock 
of the corporation was fixed within the elastic limit of four thousand 
eight hundred pounds and more. 
[342] 




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THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

The project was bitterly opposed, especially in East Hartford and 
Porafret. The former town succeeded at first in keeping the turnpike 
out, as an act of May, 1798, deprived the company of the right to build 
its road west of " White's Monument " in Bolton, but that advantage 
was reversed in 1 8 1 2 and the toll road entered the town. But Goodwin 
says that the people succeeded in keeping the tollgates out of the town 
at all times. Pomfret folks fought the enterprise at all points and when 
beaten sought to have changes made in the route, but they had to submit 
and were forced to levy a heavy tax to pay for the land.^ 

The Boston Turnpike, as finally constructed, commenced at the 
corner of Burnside Avenue and Tolland Street in East Hartford Vil- 
lage, where it formed a junction with the Hartford and Tolland Turn- 
pike which was built in 1802 and over which the Boston travelers 
continued their journey to the ferry. Thence it ran easterly through 
Burnside and past the old powder mills to Manchester Green, from 
which place it continued directly to the pass through the mountain range 
at Bolton Notch, where the present-day trains between Willimantic and 
Hartford wind their way around a sharp curve, cut through the solid 
rock, with perpendicular walls seventy feet in height. Continuing its 
easterly course the turnpike passed across the foot of what has since 
become the Willimantic Reservoir, and into Quarryville, which long had 
an established reputation for its production of smooth thin layers of 
beautiful slate which served for flagging in many of our towns and 
cities. 

After leaving North Coventry the old road proceeded directly to 
its crossing of the Willimantic River where now the Central Vermont 
Railway trains stop at Mansfield Depot. A change in the course oc- 
curred here and the road went northeasterly across the towns of Mans- 
field and Ashford, passing the villages of West Ashford and Ashford 
before reaching the point where the Connecticut and Rhode Island 
Turnpike, to Providence, later joined it. From that point it went 
easterly again through the towns of Eastford and Pomfret and north- 
erly and northeasterly across the town of Thompson to the northeast 
corner of the state where it joined the road of the Ninth Massachusetts 
Turnpike Corporation in the town of Douglas. 

The journey to Boston was continued over the roads of the Ninth 
Massachusetts, the Hartford and Dedham, and the Norfolk and Bris- 
tol, after which the traveler pursued his way toll-free over Boston Neck 
and into the town of Boston. 

The Old Farmer's Almanac, in 1802, gave the distance from Boston 
to Hartford as one hundred and six miles, with taverns from one to 
seven miles apart. Those on the Boston Turnpike were Jacobs' Tavern 
in Thompson, seven miles from the last tavern in Douglas, and Nichols' 
in Thompson two miles from Jacobs'. Another seven miles brought 
the traveler to Grosvenor's in Pomfret, and seven miles farther to 

' "History of Windham County," Lamed. 

[343] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Spring's in Ashford, which town maintained two other hostelrles, Per- 
kins' and Clark's, three and five miles respectively beyond Spring's. 
Covering four miles from Clark's, Utley's in Wlllington came Into view, 
and another four miles revealed the sign displayed by Dunham in 
Mansfield. The only chance to obtain accommodations between Mans- 
field and East Hartford was at Kimball's Tavern in Coventry, six 
miles from Dunham's, and It was six miles thence to Woodbridge's in 
East Hartford. Woodbrldge must have kept his house well In the 
eastern part of the town, for another tavern is noted in East Hartford, 
nine miles farther west, kept by Little. One mile farther, over the 
ferry, the pilgrim could rest his weary bones In the bed provided by 
Bull of Hartford. As the distance from the center of Hartford to 
the eastern line of Manchester along the old turnpike Is but little over 
eleven miles, it Is evident that one looking for the site of Woodbridge's 
Tavern should wend his way to Manchester Green. To the antiquary 
such a pilgrimage would be well worth taking, for see what Goodwin 
has to say on the subject. 

One of the older public hostelries was that kept by the Wells family. This 
tavern [noted as still standing] was in its day one of the most resorted to in town. 
It was kept in 1811 by the Woodbridge family and in 1817, by a Mr. Buckler. It 
has a low spacious bar room with a slat enclosed bar, until recently intact, with a 
large fireplace on one side. The " best chamber " was until lately complete in its 
ancient furnishings, with flowery blue wall-paper, and two high post bedsteads 
canopied with large figured blue curtains. It had curtain rests like rosettes of brass, 
and brass andirons in its fireplace, over which hung old-time prints of historic scenes, 
cheaply colored and nearly a hundred years old. The other chambers were as bare 
as barracks. A low ceiled hall with two corner fireplaces and a bench around the 
wall was kept for dancing parties which used especially to resort here in sleighing 
time, having gay times and racing their horses, with tremendous jangling of bells, 
up and down the street. Their sleighs were large high-backed green and yellow 
affairs with yellow or red linings. 

The barns and sheds that stood north of this tavern, close to the road, were 
burned down a number of years ago. 

It is further recorded that Woodbridge's was one of the stopping places 
of President Monroe on his eastern tour in 18 17. 

After ten years of turnpike operation the tolls were found insuffi- 
cient and an act was secured in October, 1807, by which they were 
increased by about one third. In 18 12, as already mentioned, authority 
was obtained for the extension of the road westerly from White's Mon- 
ument in Bolton to a junction with the Hartford and Tolland Turn- 
pike, and another whole or two half gates were allowed. 

Four years previous to this, however, the ferry had become subject to 
the competition of a toll bridge which was allowed by a charter granted 
in 1808, and which no doubt greatly increased the popularity of the 
Middle Route. 

On account of its position the Boston Turnpike was often locally 
called the " Middle Turnpike " and as such it Is marked on one of the 
maps published to-day. It continued subject to toll along its whole 
[344] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

length until 1845 when all that part In Pomfret was made free. Similar 
action was had in reference to Eastford in 1850, and by 1879 all rights 
to collect toll had ceased. 

Just west of Mansfield Four Corners a road branched off to Spring- 
field over which the stages from that city to Norwich used to come, 
continuing their journey southward over the Windham and Mansfield 
Turnpike, whose intersection with the Boston formed the Four Corners. 
Fuller's Tavern is still standing in the northwesterly of the four corners, 
and the ell of the house opposite is the old tollhouse, which formerly 
stood about halfway to the Springfield road on foundation stones which 
are still to be seen. At the summit of the next hill easterly may be seen 
one of the old milestones telling off twenty-three miles from Hartford 
courthouse. 

Farther east, where the turnpike crosses the Fenton River, is the old 
Mason mill where an old-time cart is yet occasionally turned out. The 
old " up-and-down " saw is still in use, a relic of the days ere circular 
saws were known. 



THE TALCOTT MOUNTAIN TURNPIKE 

This road extended from the west line of Hartford through Far- 
mington and Simsbury to New Hartford and was opened by the Talcott 
Mountain Turnpike Company under authority of a charter granted in 
May, 1798. Apparently an expert bookkeeper was not employed in 
the early days for the assembly of 1799 deemed it necessary to appoint 
a committee to " liquidate the accounts " of the company, determine 
the amount of stock, audit the accounts, and thereafter report yearly 
to the assembly. 

A change of location was made in the year 1807 across the town of 
Farmington, and the responsibility for a bridge over the Farmington 
River was imposed upon the company. Further alterations In the route 
were made in 18 16. 

The Talcott Mountain Turnpike connected in New Hartford with 
the Greenwoods Turnpike, which continued the journey to the Massa- 
chusetts hne In Sheffield, where It joined the road of the Twelfth Massa- 
chusetts Turnpike Corporation. These three turnpikes, with their 
extension In New York, formed the great highway between Hartford 
and Albany and a heavy traffic passed over them for over half a cen- 
tury. Apparently the system was much more extended than we have 
outlined for Dr. Timothy Dwight, in his travels, mentioned a continuous 
turnpike to Wattles' Ferry on the Susquehanna River, and he amusingly 
calls it a " branch of the Greenwoods." 

The Greenwoods Turnpike was made free in 1872 and as this one 
was so closely linked with it, but nearer the developed parts of the state, 
it is probable that the Talcott Mountain was given up but a few years 
earlier. 

[345] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE OUSATONIC TURNPIKE 

The turnpike thus named extended from New Milford to Derby on 
the northeast bank of the Housatonic River, following close to the shore 
and winding in and out as the river changed its course. The corpora- 
tion which provided this utility was formed in May, 1798, and named 
the Ousatonic Turnpike Company. Three gates were authorized, but 
even with that frequency it became necessary to secure increased rates 
of toll within nine years. Owing to some clerical error the franchise 
did not clearly specify that New Milford was to be the northerly ter- 
minus, so an amending act was passed in May, 1800, in which the 
corporation was plainly allowed to build to the meeting-house in New 
Milford. 

A peculiar effect of Connecticut laws, which has been often noted, 
first appears in connection with this road. It seems that a turnpike 
corporation, although obliged to remove stones and cut trees from its 
route, did not have any title to the material thus partly prepared for 
sale. The Ousatonic Turnpike Company petitioned the assembly of 
1807, asking that it might be the owner of such timber and stone, but 
the matter was referred to the next assembly. 

In October, 18 13, the portion between Southbury and New Milford, 
about a third of the total mileage, was discontinued as a turnpike and, 
in addition to the loss of that much road, the corporation was obliged 
to deduct from the amount of its capital stock the recorded cost of 
making that part of the road, which was three thousand seven hundred 
dollars. 

The River Turnpike Company was incorporated at the May session 
of 1834 and given the northerly half of the Ousatonic Company's road. 
The division was made at Zoar Bridge in Oxford, all southerly of that 
point remaining the road of the Ousatonic. Whatever this deal may 
have been the Ousatonic seems to have kept a string on the property, 
for after seven years of the experiment, as the River Turnpike Com- 
pany had abandoned the effort to make both ends meet, that corpora- 
tion was dissolved and the road which it had tried to operate was re- 
stored to its original owner, the Ousatonic Company. 

One year more saw the finish. In 1842 the road was reported as 
out of repair and the corporation took the poor debtor's oath. So the 
Ousatonic's charter was repealed and its road given to the public. 

Scanning the map in 191 6, the prospects for a road located along 
the Housatonic valley seem to have been as good as any in the state. 
In connection with the New Milford and Litchfield and the Derby turn- 
pikes, this road offered an Improved route all the way from Litchfield 
to New Haven and on the easy grades of a river location. Following 
down the valley It served the large territory tributary to it with its 
yields of produce from fertile farms. The Housatonic Railroad Com- 
[346] 





Tollgate in Norfolk, Conn., on Greenwoods Turnpike 

Views of Maple Avenue, Hartford, Hartford and New Haven Turnpike 

Plate LXXXVII 





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THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

pany was not Incorporated until shortly after the turnpike had been 
abandoned, and when it built its railroad it did not follow the river 
along the route of the turnpike but left the valley at New Milford and 
bore straight for Bridgeport. That the turnpike management should 
have been in financial difficulties during the years which we have seen 
to be the most prosperous for other such enterprises, that is, the decade 
preceding the introduction of railroads, is hard to understand. 

THE DERBY TURNPIKE 

About 1836 the Connecticut assembly made an appropriation for 
the purpose of having compiled all the special and private laws which 
had been passed since the establishment of the Union. The learned 
gentleman to whom was intrusted the work contemplated acquitted him- 
self well, arranging the laws under subject headings and not chrono- 
logically as was done in most of the other states. But he made one 
peculiar error in treating acts establishing turnpike companies. If the 
charter of a company had later been repealed, even if it was after many 
years during which the road had been built and operated, he omitted 
the act creating that company from his compilation, merely citing its 
heading with a note that the act had been repealed. Thus we read of 
the Derby Turnpike Company only that it was created in May, 1798, 
and that its charter was repealed in May, 1832. 

But another error appears here, for the Derby Turnpike was the 
last in Connecticut to surrender its privileges, collecting its tolls until 
1895, so the charter could not have been revoked on the date given. 
Even had the canceling of the franchise taken effect in 1832 the fact 
that the road was built and had then been in operation for over thirty 
years entitled the company to have its act of incorporation printed in 
full with the others. 

The Derby Turnpike is known as such to-day, although no longer 
are tolls collected. It ran from the center of New Haven to Derby 
Landing, a distance of eight miles. It is now known, also, as West 
Chapel Street in New Haven and as New Haven Avenue in Derby. 

Watrous in the " History of New Haven " says that although there 
were other roads to Derby the turnpike was the best. The capital stock 
for this eight-mile road was $7520. The gate stood a few miles from 
New Haven, just west of Maltby Lakes. The easterly end was at 
York Street. 

The expectations which prevailed] in Derby of the results which the 
turnpike would produce are most amusing In the light of later knowl- 
edge of the tendency of commerce. The " History of Derby " by 
Orcutt and Beardsley recounts that great expectations were had of the 
amount of New Haven trade which would come to Derby, little realiz- 
ing that the larger place would inevitably draw the business from the 
smaller. 

[347] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Previous to the opening of the Derby the Oxford Turnpike had been 
completed in the northerly part of Derby, passing close to the village 
of Chusetown, now Seymour, about four and a half miles up the Nauga- 
tuck River from the end of the Derby Turnpike. The Derby people 
interested themselves most strangely in having turnpike connection made 
between these two roads, apparently little appreciating that such an 
improvement would make of their town nothing more than a way 
station, past which the commerce of the upper valleys would flow un- 
interruptedly to New Haven. 

At a town meeting in 1803 Derby voted " to do something " relative 
to a turnpike from the Oxford to Derby Landing. But the assembly 
could not be convinced of the need of that particular utility and, after 
two years of fruitless effort to have a franchise issued, the town laid 
out and built the road. 

New Haven, which became a city in 1774, by. 1847 had laid out so 
many improvements near the line of the Derby Turnpike that the op- 
eration of the easterly portion became unprofitable, so In the latter year 
the company secured the passage of an act releasing it from responsi- 
bility for the road between York and Kensington streets in New Haven. 

In 1895 the last turnpike in Connecticut passed out of existence, as 
the Derby was then made free. Eight thousand dollars was awarded 
to the corporation in compensation and the city of New Haven and 
the towns of Orange and Derby became the owners of the turnpike. 



THE GREENWOODS TURNPIKE 

As already mentioned in the account of the Talcott Mountain Turn- 
pike, that road, in connection with the road of the Greenwoods Turn- 
pike Company, formed the Connecticut portion of an important and 
much-traveled route from Hartford to Albany, and by New York ex- 
tensions, to the Susquehanna River. The Greenwoods Company was 
incorporated at the October session of 1798 and allowed to build 

from Eldad Shepard's in New Hartford to Sheffield line. 

Crissey's " History of Norfolk " and Boyd's " Annals of Winches- 
ter " give pertinent facts about this old road, from which the following 
has been gathered. 

Through Winchester it passed along the easterly and northerly edge 
of Mad River, passing through what later became the borough of 
Winsted. A new and more direct route was thus opened, and the travel 
was diverted from the old north road over Wallen's Hill and the old 
south road, through old Winchester, to the more favorable grades of 
the road along the bottom of the river valleys. The turnpike was 
finished in 1799 at a cost of nineteen thousand five hundred dollars, 
and for many years paid a good dividend and was somewhat sought 
[348] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

as an investment. The first gate was located in West Norfolk and was 
a primitive swing affair. Later, 'when it became necessary to construct 
a second gate, the site was shifted farther east, on which ground the 
third and last gate was built, which continued its collections until the 
road was finally dedicated to the public good. 

An alteration was made in the location of the road in i8i i, by which 
land was taken from eight owners, the total award for such damages 
being $48.87. Further alterations were made in 1842, when recom- 
mendations which had been made in 1830 were carried out. In 1853 
a portion of the road in Norfolk was made free. 

The last of the old turnpike came in 1872 when, on the first of 
October, the gate ceased to obstruct travelers. During the last years 
the collections had run between eight and twelve hundred dollars each 
year. The length of the turnpike was about twenty-four miles so, 
accepting Crissey's statement of the cost, this road was built at the rate 
of about eight hundred and fifteen dollars a mile, which accords with 
the costs of similar Massachusetts roads of that period. 

THE HARTFORD AND NEW HAVEN TURNPIKE 

The Connecticut Colonial Records show that in 171 7 Captain John 
Munson had set up a wagon and was granted the exclusive privilege of 
being a common carrier between New Haven and Hartford for seven 
years. He was obligated to make the trip once a month at least except 
during the winter months of December, January, February, and March, 
starting on the first Monday of the month and making the round trip 
within a week. The early road passed through Wethersfield, Farming- 
ton, Middletown, and Wallingford, and does not seem to have caused 
complaint until 1759 when the general assembly was advised that its 
condition was bad. A committee reported to the 1760 session, advising 
certain changes which were ordered and assessed upon the towns. Such 
a road served until the turnpike march of progress. 

The Hartford and New Haven Turnpike Company was created by 
another act of the October session in 1798, and seems to have been one 
of the first corporations to disregard the old roads and lay out a new 
route on turnpike fallacies, — the straight line. This road went about 
as straight from one city to the other as it could be laid out, passing 
through the northerly part of New Haven over what is now Whitney 
Avenue, thence through the southeast part of Hampden, the westerly 
part of Wallingford, and the center of Meriden. Crossing the easterly 
part of Berlin, the southeast corner of Newington, and the northwest 
quarter of Wethersfield, it entered Hartford over the street now known 
as Maple Avenue. 

Watrous has recorded that the first meeting of the corporation was 
held in November, 1798, at which time the stock was offered for sub- 
scription. The outlook must have seemed promising, for by Decem- 

[349] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

ber 6 it was announced that all shares had been taken with an overflow 
list of those anxious to buy. The southerly termination in New Haven 
was at Grove Street, at which street a branch later authorized also 
ended. 

Blake, in the " History of Hampden," says that the original road 
crossed Mill River just above where the dam now impounds the waters 
of Whitney Lake. When in 1861 the level of the lake was raised, it 
became necessary to move the turnpike, and the bridge which had car- 
ried the stages over Mill River was moved about a quarter of a mile 
up the lake where it was again put in service on another road which 
crossed a narrow part of the lake. This bridge was one of those ever 
interesting old structures, — a covered timber-latticed truss, such as are 
so familiar even yet in northern New England. The one on the turn- 
pike was built in 1823 by Ithiel Town, the originator of such bridges, 
and was composed of oak planks three inches thick and eight and a 
half to nine inches wide. These, arranged in a lattice form, were 
fastened at their intersections with wooden treenails. Bridges of this 
style are shown in the illustrations of the bridge at Bellows Falls 
(Plate Ixvi) and of the Stevens Village toll bridge (Plate Ixx). 
The expense of moving the bridge on Whitney Lake was two hundred 
and fifty dollars, and it remained in its new location at least as late as 
1886, and doubtless much longer. For a quarter of a century after the 
changes in the old road the early roadbed could plainly be seen along 
the north shore at the lower end of Whitney Lake. 

" A Century of Meriden " by Curtis states that " as much joy and 
excitement" attended the opening of the turnpike in 1799 as greeted 
the railroad thirty-eight years later. The record of damages paid by 
the corporation enabled that historian to draw a most interesting de- 
scription of Meriden at the beginning of the nineteenth century, which, 
however, is not of general interest. One item, however, is interesting. 
Samuel Yale occupied a house in the center of the town facing on what 
had previously been the main street. The turnpike, reverencing noth- 
ing which stood in its direct path, cut its way so close to the rear of 
Mr. Yale's dwelling that the house stood like a precipice above the 
roadway and soon became an eyesore and a source of so much mortifica- 
tion to the town that the citizens bought the house and moved it away. 
It is hoped that his neighbors were generous and gave Mr. Yale a good 
price, for he only received fifty-seven dollars for damages from the 
corporation. 

The turnpike is now Meriden's Broad Street, and at the corner of 
East Main Street a tavern built by Dr. Insign Hough in 1792 long 
served the travelers as a halfway stop for dinner. The Old Farmer's 
Almanac tells us that this tavern was kept by one Robinson in 1802. 
Other bonifaces along the Hartford and New Haven Turnpike in that 
year were Wright of Wethersfield, Riley of Worthington, Carrington 
of Wallingford, and Ives of North Haven, while Nichols and Butler 
[350] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

provided the comforts demanded by the traveler who had completed the 
long trip to New Haven. 

This was the turnpike of which Secretary Gallatin reported that its 
thirty-four and three fourths miles had cost $79,261, or about $2280 
a mile, and that the net income of the entire road did not exceed $3000 
a year. By which we have reason to believe that the investment paid 
about three and eight tenths per cent previous to 1807. Captain Bailey 
of Connecticut, who built the first section of the First Massachusetts 
Turnpike from Western, now Warren, to Palmer in 1796 and 1797, 
found the business sufficiently good to encourage him to take the con- 
tract to build the Hartford and New Haven Turnpike. His price in 
Massachusetts had been three dollars a rod, so it is to be supposed that 
he tried to get the same figure on the later job, but the Massachusetts 
men thought that they had paid too much by half, so perhaps he had 
to shade his figure. 

In 1 8 15 a branch was authorized in New Haven by which Temple 
Street was extended to the northerly end of Church Street, after which 
two entrances into New Haven were available. 



THE LITCHFIELD AND HARWINTON TURNPIKE 

In October, 1798,, the charter for this road was given to the Litch- 
field and Harwinton Turnpike Company. The route was described as 
from Litchfield courthouse to the corner of the Simsbury and Hartford 
roads. It is evident from the further sections of the act that the road 
was to pass through the town of Harwinton and into that portion of 
the town of Bristol which was later set off as Burlington. Just where 
the road ran is anybody's guess, so here is ours. Let us say that the 
turnpike started from Litchfield, near the courthouse, and proceeded 
in a semicircular course to East Litchfield, thence easterly across Har- 
winton and about a mile into the present town of Burlington, at which 
point it was later joined by the road of the Farmington and Bristol 
Company. It is probable that the franchise covered a greater distance 
and reached into the town of Farmington, as we have to go that far to 
find conditions which justify the description of " the corner of the Sims- 
bury and Hartford roads," but it is clear that the road was not built east 
of the point named above. When the Farmington and Bristol was laid 
out its route was specified in precise detail and it defined the easterly 
end of the Litchfield and Harwinton as stated. 

No mention of this road has been found in any history. In 1803 
it was allowed to collect; toll from passing mail carriages, and in 1820 
permission was granted to move the gates. Again, in 1827, the as- 
sembly took notice of the corporate existence, confirming certain pro- 
ceedings and allowing changes in the road. 

Commencing in 1844 general laws successively appeared as a result 

[35iJ 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

of which the abandonment of a road, or the freeing of the same by a 
town, might be accomplished automatically and without formality. 
Hence the end of many Connecticut turnpikes is veiled in obscurity. 

The Farmington and Bristol, which must have been an integral part 
of the scheme by which the Litchfield and Harwinton was of use to the 
community, gave up the struggle in 1819, reporting its entire investment 
a loss, and it seems strange that this road should have done business as 
much as eight years longer. It does not seem possible that it could have 
continued many years alone. 



THE WINDHAM TURNPIKE 

The first white settlers in Windham County found an old Indian trail 
leading from Canterbury through Plainfield to Greenwich on Narra- 
gansett Bay, and they soon developed it into a road which was then 
considered passable. Soon after 1699, when Major Fitch had estab- 
lished his home at Peagscomsuck in Canterbury, a road was cut out to 
that point from Windham. These, offering the best route then avail- 
able by which the Windham County colonists could reach Providence, 
became a road of importance which was later known as the " Great 
Road." It seems that the act of 171 2, to which reference was had in 
speaking of the Providence and Norwich Turnpike in Rhode Island, 
contemplated the improvement of a part of this road and that some 
work was actually done in the town of Plainfield in consequence, but 
generally the " Great Road " appears to have, like Topsy, " just 
growed." 

Under date of September 28, 1795, a report was made to the as- 
sembly by a committee which had been appointed to view this road, make 
alterations, and advise regarding the establishment of tollgates upon it 
when completed. It had been found possible to improve the road by 
changing its layout at six places in Plainfield, seven in Canterbury, and 
two in Windham, each of which was described by a surveyor's record, 
after which the report continued: 

We would further observe that upon a view of said road we find it proceeds in 
a very direct course from Windham to Providence ; that it is a road of great travel- 
ling but extremely rough and out of repair in many places; that it is capable of 
being made a pleasant road for carriages; but in some of the most parts of it the 
Inhabitants are the thinly settled and the least able to repair it and it is the opinion 
of your committee that after suitable repairs are made upon said road there ought 
to be a Turnpike Erected and Established on said road in the town of Canterbury 
. . . and that the avails thereof will probably be sufficient to support and maintain 
said road with a reasonable toll. 

The report was accepted and the alterations declared laid out and 
established, and then the whole matter was laid aside until capitalists 
with sufficient courage should appear to undertake the work. They 
were slow in coming forward, but finally in May, 1799, the Windham 
[352] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

Turnpike Company was incorporated for that purpose, with the addi- 
tional privilege of extending the road to the Boston Turnpike in North 
Coventry. 

Windham, being on the " Great Road," had for many years seen 
the tide of western emigration flowing past its doors to the new settle- 
ments in Wyoming County, New York, western Massachusetts, and 
southern Vermont, and consequently had been at great expense in main- 
taining its roads and the several bridges over the three large rivers 
which crossed its territory. In 1771 a destructive flood carried away 
nearly every bridge in the town and the poor inhabitants rebelled, re- 
fusing to rebuild bridges for the accommodation of strangers who were 
merely passing that way. In this they were overruled, the assembly 
directing the town to rebuild the bridge over the Shetucket on the road 
from Windham to Hartford, called the Old Town Bridge, and one 
over the Willimantic, known as the Ironworks Bridge. The first bridge 
across the Shetucket was built in 1722 and was probably on the site of 
the Old Town Bridge, and the Ironworks Bridge was first erected in 
1727 ^ on the site of the present stone arch bridge in Willimantic over 
which the trolley cars pass as they leave for Norwich. Each of these 
bridges figured In the turnpike layout. 

That over the Shetucket evidently did not fall within the mathemati- 
cal situation required for an ideal turnpike, and the road builders re- 
fused to utilize It and called upon the town to provide another in a 
different location. The town being loaded with the burden of provid- 
ing the bridges and land for the new road naturally wanted the turn- 
pike to pass over such bridges as were already provided, and strenu- 
ously objected to building another bridge within a short distance of the 
older one which it had been forced to build. But again the town was 
overruled and until 1806 two bridges threw their shadows on the She- 
tucket. The turnpike was the original of the Plains Road from Wind- 
ham to Willimantic, and the turnpike bridge was on the site of the 
present Bingham Bridge. The Ironworks Bridge was acceptable to the 
corporation and the turnpike crossed the Willimantic on that. Again, 
between Mansfield and Coventry, the turnpike crossed the Willimantic, 
but there the burden was put upon the company and the towns were free 
from that expense. 

Besides the gate recommended by the committee in Canterbury an- 
other was allowed which was to be " somewhere between the dwelling- 
house of Stephen Turner and the iron works bridge over the Williman- 
tic river." By the best information obtainable to-day Stephen Turner 
lived in what Is now South Coventry Village, so the management was 
not very closely confined In locating its gate. 

Main and Union streets, which are really one, In Willimantic were 
laid out in 1707 to enable the first Windham settlers at the Horseshoe 
to carry home the meadow hay which they cut on the banks of the WIl- 

"• Larned's " History of Windham County." 

[353] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

limantic River. The turnpike entered this old road at the point where 
the name changes, and occupied it from there westerly. 

The Windham Turnpike when finally completed commenced on the 
New London and Windham County Turnpike in Plainfield Center and 
led westerly, crossing the Quinebaug River and passing through Can- 
terbury Center, Westminster, and Scotland to Windham Green, where 
the courthouse stood. Thence, as already described, through Willi- 
mantic and; along the road now followed by the South Coventry trolley 
cars to that village. There it provided the main street on which South 
Coventry later concentrated and passed to the north of Lake Wamgum- 
baug to a junction with the Boston Turnpike in North Coventry. A 
glance at the map will show that this road offered as direct a road from 
Providence to Hartford as could be made through the hills of eastern 
Connecticut. It was an important route before the day of the turnpike, 
and it continued so until the railroad took the burdens from the horse. 

It was several years before the entire project was completed, as is 
seen from an act passed in 1804, which allowed two additional gates 
when the road was finished. 

A breaking away from the old conceptions which placed the cost of 
providing the land for turnpikes on the towns is seen in an act of May, 
1835. The corporation had petitioned for an alteration in its road 
from the bridge across the Willimantic River between Mansfield and 
Coventry to Joseph Talcott's In Coventry and asked that the cost of the 
land should be imposed upon the town. The alteration was allowed but 
not the share of the expense. The corporation had to buy Its own land, 
the only concession being that It might Increase Its capital by the amount 
of that cost. 

The Hop River Turnpike was built about 1835 and entered the 
Windham at the westerly end of the present city of Willimantic oppo- 
site the poor farm. Willimantic by this time was becoming a place of 
importance, and travelers bound there over the Hop River objected to 
paying another toll for passing a mile over the Windham. So an act 
passed In 1838 provided that such persons might pass the gate which 
stood on Wlllimantlc's main street for half toll. 

The Windham Turnpike passed Into history In 1852 when its 
corporation was dissolved. 



THE CANAAN AND LITCHFIELD TURNPIKE 

This road was authorized from Litchfield courthouse to the Shef- 
field Massachusetts line, but it Is unlikely that it was ever built over that 
whole distance. At Canaan Village the Greenwoods Turnpike was 
encountered. It having been under construction when the charter now 
being considered was granted, and since that road gave access to the 
Massachusetts line It was useless to build another over the same ground. 
[354] 




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In the southern part of Franklin, Conn. 
South of the Connecticut Agricultural College 
Intersection with the Boston Turnpike 

Plate XC — Windham and Mansfield Turnpike 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

The Canaan and Litchfield Turnpike Company was enacted into life at 
the May session in 1799. 

The turnpike commenced in Litchfield near the courthouse, and ran 
directly to Goshen Center, thence it bore northwesterly, cutting off a 
small corner of Cornwall and passing through Cornwall Hollow into 
the town of Canaan. Another northwesterly bearing carried it through 
Huntsville and South Canaan, from which place the road headed north- 
erly to Canaan Village, where it joined the Greenwoods Turnpike. The 
turnpike was the means of giving to Cornwall its first blessing of a daily 
mail, the post-office being established in Cornwall Hollow, we read in 
Gold's " History of Cornwall." 

Apparently established credits and book accounts were not recog- 
nized as legitimate in those early days, for this company had to apply 
to the assembly for permission " to contract for tolls by the year or less 
term," which was granted at the May term in 1801. 

The life of this corporation must have been a quiet, uneventful one, 
for it lasted for many years. In connection with the Straits Turnpike 
it offered a long-distance route from New Haven to Albany and beyond 
to the valley of the Susquehanna, and it is probable that much heavy 
teaming passed over it for many years. 

In 1853 the corporation, representing that by the opening of rail- 
roads up the Housatonic and Naugatuck valleys its business had been 
seriously reduced, was released from its obligations to maintain the 
road. 

THE FARMINGTON RIVER TURNPIKE 

The opening of the nineteenth century was marked by the incorpora- 
tion of three turnpike corporations, of which the Farmington River 
Turnpike Company was one, being created by the assembly in its May 
session of 1800. 

The road of this company started in New Hartford at the junction 
of the Talcott Mountain and Greenwoods turnpikes, and followed up 
the east bank of the Farmington River to the Massachusetts line, where 
it joined the Tenth Massachusetts Turnpike, thus providing another 
through route from Hartford to Albany by way of Lee and Lenox. 
It passed through the Connecticut towns of Barkhamsted, Hartland, 
and Colebrook. The length was but twelve and a half miles and two 
gates were allowed, at one of which could be collected only half the 
rates allowed at the other. 

About 1803 the town of Barkhamsted built a bridge across the 
Farmington River at Pleasant Valley, and so much of the travel over 
the Farmington River Turnpike was diverted to the Greenwoods by 
this bridge that the assembly was petitioned to allow the abandonment 
of all of the turnpike south of the point of diversion. Hence no road 
is found to-day on the east bank between Pleasant Valley and New 

[355] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



Hartford. In consequence of the same act the corporation was allowed 
to Improve a new road from the bridge to the Greenwoods Turnpike 
and include the same in its turnpike system. 

An addition to the road was provided by an act of 1813, since which 
time no mention of this corporation has been found. Local histories 
are also silent. 



THE WINDHAM AND MANSFIELD TURNPIKE 

The Windham and Mansfield Turnpike Company was another 
product of the 1800 May session and its route was defined as running 
from Joshua Hyde's in Franklin to the meeting-house in Stafford. The 
layout had been made by a committee which made its report at the same 
time that the act of incorporation was passed, and the description of 
the route teems with references to the houses of old-time residents. 
First it passed Joshua Hyde's house, then Samuel Hyde's Tavern and 
the houses of Daniel Ladd, Levi Gager, arid Ephraim Browning, after 
which the route reached Manning's Bridge, an old-time structure which 
crossed the Shetucket River at the northwesterly corner of the town of 
Franklin. Then in Windham it passed Colonel Thomas Dyer's house 
and climbed Sawyer's Hill to Windham Green. Gilbert's Bridge car- 
ried the turnpike over the Natchaug River into Mansfield, in which 
town it passed Major Crocker's, Roswell Eaton's, and Captain Bar- 
rows' houses and Samuel Thompson's Tavern, crossing the Boston 
Turnpike at Bardsley's Corner. Thence it passed through the center 
of Willington to Stafford meeting-house. 

To-day the old road is still in use as the main road across the town 
of Franklin north and south, but the mile adjacent to the Shetucket 
River crossing has long been discontinued. Near where the Willimantic- 
Norwich trolleys cross on an overhead bridge and the highway turns 
sharply to the left to cross the Central Vermont Railroad at grade, an 
old wood road can be seen bearing straight ahead to the north. That 
is the old turnpike and a mile along it will bring one to the site of 
Manning's Bridge. The bridge disappeared many years ago, but the 
roads on each side leading to it can still be traced. Gilbert's Bridge, 
too, has long been gone, and its site Is covered by the impounded waters 
of the Willlmantlc waterworks. 

In May, 1806, authority was secured to extend the turnpike from 
Stafford Center toward the Massachusetts line. The Stafford Pool 
Turnpike Company, which later changed Its name to the Stafford Min- 
eral Spring, assumed the management of a portion of this road under 
permission given in an act of October, 18 13. 

No more has been found concerning the Windham and Mansfield 
except that It occupied the attention of the assembly occasionally until 
May, 1828, when certain alterations in the road were allowed. 
[356] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 



THE CHESHIRE TURNPIKE 

On this roadi we have more definite information, for it is mentioned 
in Timlow's " History of Southington," Beach's " History of Cheshire," 
Blake's " History of Hampden," and by Watrous in his New Haven 
contribution. The Cheshire Turnpike Company was also formed in 
May, 1800, its franchise reading " through Hampden near the meeting- 
house as reported by the committee." The committee's report is ac- 
cessible in the office of the secretary of state and shows the route beyond 
any question. It commenced In the center of Temple Street in New 
Haven and followed the Hartford and New Haven Turnpike for 178.71 
chains, or to the Gun Factory Dam, and it extended northerly for a 
total distance of twenty-four miles, one quarter, sixty-two rods, and 
eleven links to the south line of Farmington. Two gates were allowed, 
— one between New Haven and Hampden and the other between 
Cheshire and Southington. A bond for fifteen thousand dollars was 
required to secure payment of the damages and assure the proper main- 
tenance of the road. 

The joint use with the Hartford and New Haven seems to have been 
a matter of controversy for several years until 18 15, when it was en- 
acted that the expenses of the Hartford and New Haven in keeping 
up that section since the Cheshire commenced using it should be one 
half repaid by the Cheshire Company, and afterwards equally divided. 

It was only a few years prior to the opening of this turnpike that 
Eli Whitney, tiring of the vexatious lawsuits In which his invention of 
the cotton gin had involved him and despairing of obtaining justice, 
had turned his attention to the manufacture of muskets. At this time 
he was engaged in filling his first contract for ten thousand stand for 
the United States government for the purpose of which he had erected 
his factory at the foot of East Rock, now the village of Whitneyville. 
" Whitney's Gun Factory " is mentioned often in the acts concerning 
the two turnpikes. 

In Hampden the Cheshire had the familiar trouble over a gate 
barring travel over an old highway. Passing Mount Carmel an old 
road had been appropriated which did not seem to worry anyone until 
the corporation erected its gate on that portion. A town meeting in 
August, 1803, instructed the selectmen to request the removal of the 
gate and, in case of refusal, to retaliate by taking away a fence be- 
longing to the town. Request and threat alike failed to move the cor- 
poration, so in September the town voted to petition the assembly 
to order the gate taken off the town's old road. What the result was 
has not been learned, but it can be safely surmised that the corporation 
had its own way. 

Cheshire's history contains an old map on which the turnpike is 
shown, so we are left in no doubt as to its location in that town. Here 

[357] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

the turnpike project was hotly opposed, but corporate influence pre- 
vailed and certain citizens of the town had the grace, in submitting, to 
become stockholders. In Southington the road was cut through a ridge 
of ground which extended across the Common from the northeast 
corner to the south end. 

That the road was In operation as late as 1856 Is shown by an act 
passed In that year allowing the substitution of two half-gates for one 
whole one. The road became, free within the next twenty years. 

When the New Haven and Northampton Railroad was laid out In 
1875 the engineers made the location along the old turnpike from 
" The Steps " in Mount Carmel to Centervllle, and proceeded with the 
construction. Before the rails were laid the assembly intervened and 
decreed that the town should buy and grade a new right of way in 
another place, for which the railroad company should pay thirteen 
thousand dollars and give up Its location on the turnpike. 

THE GRANBY TURNPIKE 

The Granby Turnpike Company was Incorporated In October, 1 800, 
for the purpose of opening a turnpike " from the Massachusetts line 
in the county of Hartford to the Talcott Mountain Turnpike near the 
city of Hartford." 

Within these limitations the road was built from a corner with the 
Talcott Mountain Turnpike near the boundary line between Hartford 
and West Hartford, northwesterly through Bloomfield Center, North 
Bloomfield, Tariffville, Granby, Pegville, and North Granby to the 
northwest corner of Granby town. The road was about twenty miles 
long and the company had the privilege of erecting two gates on it. 

In May, 1821, the location of the road was confirmed by the as- 
sembly, but this must not be taken to mean that the road had only then 
been completed. More likely some irregularity had occurred in the 
original layout which had been allowed to slumber until someone, brood- 
ing over the tolls he had been obliged to pay, sought to obtain revenge 
by a complaint. Several such cases have been observed. In all of which 
the_ assembly disposed of the case by legalizing the corporation's 
position. 

This turnpike was a part of a scheme for another through route 
from Hartford to Albany, but the Massachusetts section failed to mate- 
rialize. We have already seen how the Eleventh Massachusetts Turn- 
pike Corporation secured a franchise in 1801 and how, eight years later, 
the Granville Turnpike Corporation received a charter to build over 
Identically the same route. Their plan was to connect at the state line 
with the Granby Turnpike and to continue the route through the Massa- 
chusetts towns of Granville and Blandford to a junction with the Hamp- 
den and Berkshire Turnpike at Blandford Center. The Hampden and 
Berkshire, by Its connections with the Tenth Massachusetts and the 
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THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

Housatonic River turnpikes, led by at least two different improved 
routes to the Hudson River. But as we have said, the link from the 
Hampden and Berkshire to the Connecticut line was ever missing. 

The turnpike corporations were held strictly in hand even as late as 
1845, for we find an act by which the location of the Granby's gate in 
Bloomfield was legalized. Some detail in the formalities required in 
changing the location of a gate had not been observed and complaint 
had been made, but the assembly disposed of the matter by making the 
gate lawful and confirming all past doings thereat. 

The Granby Turnpike continued in business until 1854 when its 
charter was annulled. 



THE HARTFORD AND NEW LONDON TURNPIKE 

This road was built by the Hartford and New London Turnpike 
Company, which received the right to operate a turnpike from the as- 
sembly of October, 1800. As originally built the turnpike ran from 
East Hartford, five miles down the river along the road now followed 
by the South Glastonbury trolley cars, as far as Glastonbury; thence 
southeasterly through Marlboro Mills and Marlboro to Colchester. 
From there it turned more to the south and passed through Salem and 
Chesterfield Village, across the town of Waterford, and entered New 
London over what is now Broad Street. Miss Caulkins, in her " His- 
tory of New London," says that the corporation improved an old high- 
way from State to Hempstead streets and then built a new road to 
Colchester, passing more to the north than by the old route. 

All of the road northerly of the " two mile stone " in East Hartford 
was made public in May, 1807, and in May, 1829, all east of Hunting- 
ton Street in New London was discontinued as a turnpike and made a 
part of the city's streets. In 1839 the company represented to the as- 
sembly that for five miles, at the northerly end, its road was the main 
street of East Hartford and of Glastonbury, and that over it was 
hauled " large quantities of coal, wood, and other hea\7 articles," 
which wore out the road. Inasmuch as the corporation was not allowed 
to maintain a gate on that section and therefore collected no tolls from 
such traffic, its petition to be relieved of that portion of its road was 
granted. Authority to transfer to New London all of the road be- 
tween Pound and Huntington streets was given in 1845. The balance 
of the turnpike was collecting tolls in 1852 and probably for many 
years longer. 

From " Famous Old Taverns of New London" ^ we learn that the 
stage for Hartford left New London on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 
eight In the morning in the year 18 18, returning Wednesdays and 
Fridays. The New London terminus was at the Button House, a 
tavern so old that it had been built by John Richards, who died in 

* By James L. Chew, in Papers of the New London County Historical Society. 

[359] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

1720. H. G. Broome, a veteran stage driver, was the proprietor and 
rein manipulator of this line, and his business must have seemed pre- 
carious for he appears to have been easily discouraged. In the fall of 
1823 a biweekly steamship line was started from New London along 
the Sound and up the Connecticut River to Hartford, and Broome 
issued an announcement under date of October 5, 1823, that he feared 
that the competition of this steamer, which was named The Experiment, 
would prove disastrous to his business and therefore he withdrew his 
stages. But Broome continued driving for many years longer on the 
shorter runs to Norwich, Colchester, and Lyme. 

THE FARMINGTON AND BRISTOL TURNPIKE 

In the published acts of Connecticut we read only that the Farming- 
ton and Bristol Turnpike Company was incorporated in May, 1801, 
and that its charter was revoked in May, 18 19; but the reader inter- 
ested in turnpike history is entitled to know more. 

This company received in its act of incorporation the right to build 
a road from the end of the Litchfield and Harwinton Turnpike in 
Bristol, now Burlington, to Thompson's Corner at the north end of 
the town street in Farmlngton and thence to Hartford. The committee 
appointed to make the layout of the road commenced its labors at the 
west door of the courthouse in Hartford and laid out the present Asy- 
lum Street, Farmington Avenue, and Main Street in Farmington. 
Thence It continued to the east end of the Litchfield and Harwinton 
Turnpike in the northwest part of Burlington, which was then a part 
of Bristol. 

The Hartford courthouse stood on Main Street at the corner of 
State and nearly opposite the end of Asylum Street. The first building 
was erected In 17 19 but the present building, which for many years 
served as Hartford's city hall, was built in 1796. During the life of 
the turnpike the old courthouse sheltered the delegates to the Hartford 
Convention in 18 14, that famous gathering of pacifists who sought to 
end the War of 1812. Recently the city has erected a much more pre- 
tentious ofSce building two blocks farther south on Main Street and 
has vacated the old brick house. 

Construction of the turnpike was evidently slow, for the company 
was back in May, 1802, asking' for a revision of the layout. In yield- 
ing to the direct-line obsession a saving of eight rods had been made 
by cutting across some valuable land, and permission was given to make 
a desired detour. That the road was finished in 1805 is seen from an 
act by which alterations were allowed in the location of certain gates 
which were being avoided by the familiar device of a shunplke. 

In May, 18 19, the company petitioned the assembly to be released 
from its obligations. The road had never paid and the investment of 
$15,232.10 was a total loss. In compliance the corporation was re- 
[360] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

leased from its burden of maintaining the road and its charter was 
" disannulled." 

The portion between Hartford and Farmington formed a part of 
the so-called Hartford and Danbury Turnpike, the Middle Road Turn- 
pike Company, incorporated in October, 1803, maintaining a road from 
Farmington to Danbury. 

The layout committee reported the entire length of the Farmington 
and Bristol Turnpike as nineteen miles, fifty-six rods, and twenty-one 
links, which we have seen was later increased by eight rods. Thus we 
are enabled to compute that the road cost at the rate of $793.23 a 
mile. 

At the time this charter was granted, Hartford was a small city 
mostly along the river front, but to-day Asylum Street is a crowded 
city thoroughfare with the up-to-date rule of one-way traffic in force. 
On Farmington Avenue, over a mile out, the author had difficulty in 
exposing for photographs on account of the constant passing of auto- 
mobiles, trolley cars, and other vehicles. If the old corporation could 
collect its tolls to-day it would be but a few days before it had recouped 
its $15,232.10. 

THE DANBURY AND RIDGEFIELD TURNPIKE 

This was a short road connecting the two adjoining towns named. 
It was built by the Danbury and Ridgefield Turnpike Company which 
was chartered in May, 1801. The route proposed Is so indefinitely 
described that one cannot pick out the road followed, but apparently It 
was the Sugar Hollow Road of southwest Danbury. An alteration was 
made In 1832, and the turnpike continued to be operated until June 23, 
i860, when Its charter was repealed. 

In 1829 another corporation, the Sugar Hollow Turnpike Company, 
was formed, which continued the Danbury and Ridgefield on each end. 
On the south it made connection with the Norwalk and Danbury and 
over that to the sea at Norwalk, while on the north an extension to the 
New York line was provided. 



THE TORRINGTON TURNPIKE 

The Torrington Turnpike Company, chartered In May, 1801, had a 
right to build from West SImsbury to Litchfield courthouse, and the 
road built in accordance passed through the Intervening towns of Tor- 
rington, New Hartford, and Canton, crossing both the Waterbury and 
Farmington rivers. This was the company which found itself in ill 
favor v/ith the assembly on account of an early anticipation of " excess 
land condemnation." The locating committee, finding that the inter- 
section which they had made withi the Talcott Mountain Turnpike was 

[361] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

at so slight an angle as to make the land between of little value, had 
made a taking of the entire triangle from Samuel Humphrey, Jr., of 
Canton. This was subsequently represented as illegal, inasmuch as by 
that action a layout in excess of four rods in width had been made at 
that point. The assembly of 1805 was convinced of the Illegality and 
ordered the land to be restored to the former owner. 

The town of Torrington did not welcome the turnpike with cordiality 
according to Orcutt's history, as it was obliged to buy the necessary land 
and build a bridge over the Waterbury River for the use of the com- 
pany. A tax of five cents per thousand dollars was voted to pay for the 
land in 1801 but the building of the bridge was flatly refused until twice 
ordered by the courts. In the end the town was more benefited by the 
turnpike than the stockholders. 

Of the bridge over the Farmington River In Canton we hear nothing 
until 1857, when it met a common fate of bridges in being swept down- 
stream. The town did not see fit to replace it but did erect another 
bridge about one hundred rods farther up-stream which left certain stub 
ends of useless turnpike. Consequently the company secured the pas- 
sage of an act in 1859 by which it was allowed to build connecting sec- 
tions of road, giving access to the new bridge, and abandon the parts 
of no further use to it. 

In 1838 all of the turnpike east of Luther Higley's In Canton was 
given over to the public, and in 1861, Orcutt says, the company sur- 
rendered Its charter. 



THE NORWICH AND WOODSTOCK TURNPIKE 

The story of this road is all In legislative acts. The act of Incorpora- 
tion was passed In May, 1801, forming the Norwich and Woodstock 
Turnpike Company for the purpose of building from Norwich Landing 
through Lisbon, Canterbury, Brooklyn, Pomfret, Woodstock, and 
Thompson. The route was described and the layout declared a public 
highway and immediately given to the newly formed corporation on its 
agreement to make and maintain the same. Three gates were to be 
allowed, — one near the Norwich-Lisbon line, one In the south part of 
Brooklyn, and one in Woodstock. 

By the inclusion of Thompson among the towns to be crossed, it 
seems that the intention was to make a connection with the Ninth Massa- 
chusetts Turnpike and to open a route from Norwich to Boston, but, 
If so, that idea did not hold long, for an amendment was enacted In 
1803 by which the road could be built from Woodstock to the Massa- 
chusetts line in the direction of Sturbridge. By building on this line no 
connection was made at the state line with any Massachusetts turnpike 
but the journey to Sturbridge was continued over public highways. The 
decision to bear northwesterly Instead of heading for a direct connection 
with the Ninth Massachusetts was a wise one and avoided an error too 
[362] 






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THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

often made by early turnpike promoters, who were far too apt to dupli- 
cate facilities. We have seen in Rhode Island how certain parties sought 
to build a road between two turnpikes already in operation and but a 
few miles apart, and in Massachusetts the multiplicity of propositions 
for reaching Boston from southern New Hampshire. In this case the 
Norwich traveler wishing to reach Boston was fully as well served by 
going on to the Boston Turnpike at Pomfret Center as if the road had 
gone directly to the northeast corner of the state, while the great tend- 
ency of travel, which then existed In a northwesterly direction, was also 
accommodated. 

An additional gate was allowed In 1827 which calls for comment, 
on account of so many years elapsing before this sign of distress ap- 
peared. Generally the extra gate was found necessary within a very 
short time. In 1829 it was provided that no carriage should be entitled 
to reductions In toll because it carried the mail. The question of ex- 
emption for mail carriers was one which cropped out frequently and in 
many places, being finally settled, as we have seen, In connection with the 
Maysville Turnpike in Kentucky. 

The Woodstock portion of the road was made free In 1836, but the 
rest of the turnpike continued as such for another ten years. 

In 1846 the corporation represented to the assembly that the cost 
of the road had been over fourteen thousand dollars and that no " con- 
siderable profit" had ever been realized; that since the operation of 
the Norwich and Worcester Railroad the income had not been sufficient 
to provide for the necessary repairs arid that no dividends had been 
paid for six years. Consequently the corporation was relieved of the 
balance of its road which thereafter wasi free. 

The Norwich and Worcester Railroad was authorized by legislative 
acts in Massachusetts in April, and in Connecticut in May, 1836, al- 
though earlier charters had been granted in 1832 and 1833. I* is to 
be noted in connection with the northerly and southerly trend of com- 
merce at that time, that this railroad was projected while the first rail- 
roads in New England were yet under construction. 

From the above figures we see that the turnpike, being about thirty- 
eight miles in length, cost at the rate of about three hundred and seventy 
dollars per mile, the lowest figure we have yet noted. Connecticut roads 
naturally cost much less than those in other states, where a more equit- 
able method of providing for land and bridges prevailed, but even 
allowing for that the cost is very low. 

THE SALISBURY AND CANAAN TURNPIKE 

This was a turnpike away up in the northwest corner of the state and 
apparently it did quite an amount of business during its twenty-eight 
years of existence. The published acts deal more harshly with this 
road than with the others, for, besides merely noting Its discontinuance, 

[363] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

they give Its name wrongly. In them you will find a reference to the 
Salisbury Turnpike Company but only the date of the revoking of the 
charter. 

The Salisbury and Canaan Turnpike Company was created by act 
of the October session of 1801, when It was authorized to open a road 
from the Canaan and Litchfield Turnpike near Simeon Higley's 
dwelling-house, by way of Burrall's Bridge and the furnace In Salisbury, 
to the New York line. 

Burrall's Bridge was the first bridge built over the Housatonic River 
and was erected about the year 1744. It was later called the Falls 
Bridge and occupied the site of the present bridge at Falls Village. 
Although later there were several furnaces In Salisbury, at the date 
of this charter there was but one and It stood In what Is now the village 
of Lakevllle. A grade of ore somewhat better than the average found 
In New England gave encouragement for the establishment of an Iron 
Industry, and a forge was built there about 1748. This was supplanted 
in 1762 by a blast furnace, said to have been the first In Connecticut, 
which was sold In 1768 to Richard Smith of Boston. On account of his 
loyalty to his sovereign In England Smith found It advisable to leave 
the country with the British troops when Boston was evacuated, and his 
ironworks were confiscated by the state. With the royalist's plant many 
cannon were cast for the Continental army, and it is said that the guns 
which belched defeat for the opponents of the Constellation and the 
Constitution were also products of this same Furnaces Village.^ 

The road was completed promptly, for In one year from the date of 
incorporation, trouble had been found on account of an omission in the 
rates of toll. Sleds and single horse carts had not been considered, and 
an act passed In October, 1802, provided what tolls such should pay. 

An Instance of the ample protection given to the public interests Is 
found In the proceedings for the changing of the position of a tollgate. 
In May, 1806, upon petition of the company, a committee was ap- 
pointed to consider a change and report to the next session. In October 
the committee asked for more time and was continued, and in May, 
1807, one year from the first action, the western gate was allowed to 
be moved. 

In May, 1829, the assembly accepted the surrender of the charter, 
dissolved the corporation, and Imposed the maintenance of the turnpike 
upon the towns of Salisbury and Canaan. 



THE BRIDGEPORT AND NEWTOWN TURNPIKE 

The Bridgeport and Newtown Turnpike Company was incorporated 
in October, 1801. Its franchise read from the north line of Bridgeport 
to the south line of New Milford, but the road was built and operated 

' " Memorial History of Litchfield County," published by J. W. Lewis and Company. 

[364] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

farther south and within the town of Bridgeport without any other 
authority as far as we have learned. 

The turnpike extended from Bridgeport northerly, prac±ically along 
the route later occupied by the Housatonic Railroad, and passed through 
the towns of Trumbull, Monroe, Newtown, and Brookfield to the line 
of New Milford. 

An interesting feature connected with land ownership where the 
towns had paid for the same is to be noted here, as in the twenties the 
corporation was allowed to sell what land it wished as long as the width 
of the road was not reduced below three rods. 

In May, 1835, alterations were permitted by which the road could 
be located so as to " avoid two considerable hills," one of which was 
known as " Pine Swamp Hill." 

In 1848 all of the road in Bridgeport and all north of the crossing 
of the Housatonic Railroad, including about two miles in Newtown and 
all in Brookfield, was declared free, the corporation being directed to 
pay Brookfield two hundred and fifty dollars, to compensate that town 
for the burden imposed upon it. A toll house and gate with a quarter 
of an acre of land were situated upon the Newtown portion thus dis- 
continued and this the corporation was allowed to sell for its own 
benefit. 

March 24, 1886, marks the end of the Bridgeport and Newtown 
Turnpike, as on that day the assembly made provision for the discon- 
tinuance of the balance of the road. 



THE WATERBURY RIVER TURNPIKE 

This road was originally projected " from Woodbrldge through 
Plymouth . . ." to the Massachusetts line and was so specified In the 
charter, which also designated the crossing of the Waterbury River as 
in Plymouth, but in May, 1802, alterations in the route were allowed 
which placed the turnpike in a far different and more logical place. 

The Waterbury River Turnpike Company was chartered in October, 
1 801, and built Its road from a point near Naugatuck Center up the 
east bank of the Naugatuck River through Waterbury and Thomaston 
as far as Thomaston Center, where it crossed the Naugatuck and con- 
tinued up the west bank through Litchfield to Torrlngton. Thence It 
bore northerly across Torrlngton and Winchester to Colebrook Center, 
from which place it ran northwesterly to the Massachusetts line at the 
corner of Colebrook and Norfolk, where it joined the road of the 
Fifteenth Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation and opened another 
route to Albany. Orcutt's " History of Wolcott " speaks of a turnpike 
project to connect Torrlngton with New Haven, which was much 
favored by the town but did not succeed. Probably that refers to the 
Waterbury River proposition which was diverted from Wolcott to the 
more favorable location in the valley of the Naugatuck. 

[365] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Anderson tells, in the " History of Waterbury," that the turnpike 
was built through the cemetery above Salem (Naugatuck) Bridge and 
that graves were ruthlessly opened and the bones scattered about. 
Tradition has it that all of the stock at one time was owned by Victory 
Tomlinson, a man so rich that he could be careless In his dress. Seated 
one day by the side of his turnpike he was arrested for vagrancy and 
haled before a justice who acquitted him upon his plea that he was 
occupying his own land. 

Boyd's " Annals of Winchester " describes this turnpike and says 
that it was given up In 1850. That Is true regarding most of the road, 
but about eight miles in Naugatuck and Waterbury remained subject 
to toll collections until July, 1862, when, upon representations that even 
that small section was out of repair and unsafe, the assembly repealed 
the charter of the corporation. 

An ancient highway between Plymouth and the Naugatuck Bridge 
was deprived of Its public character and given to the corporation, and 
of It Bronson has this to say in his " History of Waterbury " : 

The present turnpike from Plymouth to Salem [Naugatuck] bridge, there to unite 
with the Straits turnpike connecting New Haven with Litchfield by Watertown, 
was finished in 1702. It was an open highway and a great undertaking. 



THE HARTFORD AND TOLLAND TURNPIKE 

From the courthouse in Tolland to the state house in Hartford 
seemed sufficiently promising for a turnpike to justify the Incorporation 
of the Hartford and Tolland Turnpike Company In October, 1801. 
At that time the only means of crossing the Connecticut River at Hart- 
ford was the ferry of which we have already read. So at that ferry the 
turnpike was made to terminate. Goodwin, in " East Hartford History 
and Traditions," wrote that the turnpike followed the " road coming 
from the ferry landing to Bigelow Hall Building and thence over Main 
Street to Bumside Avenue," whence It ran straight to Bucklands Cor- 
ner. In the eastern part of East Hartford It followed the old road 
called " the road east near Gilman's Brook," which was laid out in 

^734- 

On account of an error in the original survey a corrected description 
by metes and bounds was confirmed by an act of May, 1804, and further 
acts authorizing the moving of gates are found in 1836 and 1852. 

For the first seven years of turnpike operation Its travelers were 
wafted across the Connecticut River by the ferry until, In 1808, the 
Hartford Bridge Company was incorporated for the purpose of provid- 
ing a toll bridge a short distance above the ferry. 

The first bridge built by this company was a low uncovered structure 
which, while it lasted, was obliged to compete with the ferry for the 
scanty pickings offered by travelers. But the bridge was soon washed 
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THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

away, and to encourage its rebuilding the assembly suppressed the ferry 
on condition that the bridge should be replaced by a more substantial 
construction. The subsequent bridge or bridges continued to serve the 
public on consideration of tolls until 1879, when it was thrown open to 
the public. 

East Hartford persistently appealed to the assembly for the restora- 
tion of the ferry until 1836, when success met its efforts, but the privilege 
was finally taken away, never to be restored, in 1841. 

A monumental masonry structure now occupies the site of the old 
toll bridge. 

The Hartford and Tolland Turnpike became later, when the Staf- 
ford Pool Turnpike and the Worcester and Stafford Turnpike were 
opened, a part of a through route to Boston by way of Worcester, and 
the indications are that a heavy travel passed over the road for many 
years. 

The old road to the ferry is now known as Governor Street, but the 
portion south of the bridge has disappeared from the sight of man. 
The traffic requirements of late years demanded the construction of the 
present straight boulevard from the bridge to Church Corner, and 
Governor Street ends at the intersection. The site of the eastern ferry 
landing is now occupied by the shipyard of the Hartford and New York 
Transportation Company. 

Turning sharply to the left where the BIgelow Hall Building now 
stands the turnpike followed the lines of Main Street to Burnslde 
Avenue, over which it continued to the present corner with Tolland. 
Street. Over Tolland Street it went and crossed the northerly part of 
Manchester, through Vernon Center, to Tolland courthouse. 

THE POMFRET AND KILLINGLY TURNPIKE 

In Larned's history we read that the citizens of KlUingly gave much 
consideration in the early years of the century to the matter of trans- 
portation, finally deciding, in 1801, to support a turnpike proposition 
to connect the Norwich Turnpike In Pomfret with the Glocester Turn- 
pike in Rhode Island. It seems that such a vote must have been secured 
by some old-time parliamentary trick, for the town was In no position 
to aid in construction and later showed a decided disinclination to do so. 

The Pomfret and Killlngly Turnpike Company was created In May, 
1802, but, since the charter was revoked In 18 19, the compiler of the 
special laws gave no details of the act of Incorporation and access must 
be had to the spacious vault in the basement of the Hartford capltol, 
where the manuscript records of the assembly are kept. There we find 
the route described, — from the Boston Turnpike In Pomfret through 
Killlngly eastward to the Glocester Turnpike at the Rhode Island line. 
Eight and one quarter miles was the length and, following the precedent 
set In the formation of many Rhode Island companies, the corporation 

[367] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 

was allowed to hold land not in excess of thirty acres. The petitioners 
had estimated that their road would cost at the rate of five hundred 
dollars a mile, but their ultimate opinions are not available. 

Miss Earned says that the road was completed in 1803 and that 
it passed over Killingly Hill by the meeting-house. Killingly, exhausted 
by previous heavy expenses, refused to build any part of the new bridge 
demanded by the corporation until cited to court for its neglect. Then 
the town grudgingly gave in and appointed a committee which per- 
formed the work in the same grudging spirit, doing the construction so 
poorly that the structure was soon washed away. Then Killingly had 
to do it over again. A bridge over the Quinebaug in Pomfret was built 
at divided cost by the corporation and town after a controversy. 

In 1809 the Glocester Turnpike Company of Rhode Island joined 
with various Connecticut citizens In protesting the location of a gate on 
the Pomfret and Killingly, which had been erected within one hundred 
and sixty rods of the Rhode Island line and in such a place that It in- 
tercepted such travelers as journeyed easterly over an old road which 
entered the turnpike forty rods west of the offending gate. Thus, it is 
seen, the Pomfret and Killingly was collecting full tolls from people 
who were using Its road for a distance of only two hundred rods. The 
protest being laid before the assembly resulted in the appointment of 
a committee charged to change the gate to another location. 

The road was abandoned by its proprietors about 18 17, and the 
bridge in Killingly was taken down. In May, 18 19, the charter was 
revoked. 



THE HEBRON AND MIDDLE HADDAM TURNPIKE 

The Hebron and Middle Haddam Turnpike Company was chartered 
in May, 1802, and built its road from the meeting-house in Hebron 
through Hebron, Colchester, and Chatham to Middle Haddam Land- 
ing on the Connecticut River. A portion of this old road appears on 
the road maps to-day with the label of " Turnpike " against It, but very 
little has been found regarding the operations of the company. 

Much trouble seems to have been met In collecting tolls, for the mov- 
ing of a gate was allowed in 1830, 1844, and 1846. From this we see 
that the turnpike enjoyed a life of at least forty-four years. 



THE MIDDLESEX TURNPIKE 

The Middlesex Turnpike Company, which was Incorporated In May, 
1802, built a road from the sixth milestone from Hartford, at Goff's 
Brook, in the town of Wethersfield, to the stage road in Saybrook, 
passing through MIddletown and over Walkley Hill in Haddam. The 

[368] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 



corporation was required to file a bond for thirty thousand dollars, 
guaranteeing to complete its road before the first of November, 1804. 

In May, 1804, the company was allowed to make an alteration in its 
layout, taking for that purpose a section of old public highway. Follow- 
ing the custom the assembly proceeded to take from this piece of road 
its public dedication, which it did by resolving that it " be and the same 
hereby is not a highway." 

The ride along this turnpike must have been one of the most inspiring 
in Connecticut, for it followed closely along the bank of the Connecti- 
cut River from a point six miles below Hartford, nearly to the mouth. 
Until 1 87 1, when the Connecticut Valley Railroad's first trains disturbed 
the valley, the traveler was free to contemplate Nature's undisturbed 
beauty, and it must have been with a jar that he was brought back to 
earth by the demand for toll. 

The turnpike did not give up business with the advent of the railroad 
but struggled along for several years, although doubtless under dis- 
couraging conditions. When its Saybrook tollhouse was burned in 
April, 1874, circumstances did not warrant its being rebuilt. Tolls were 
finally discontinued on the whole road on March 29, 1876. 

For sixteen years the Saybrook gate was tended by Robert Rankin 
and later by Henry Safferry. Tolls collected after nine at night were 
allowed to the gatherer for his own, a clever device of the company to 
prevent the tollman from going to sleep and making it an object for the 
public to postpone its traveling until after his bedtime. 



THE NEW PRESTON TURNPIKE 

J This road was built to accommodate the emigrant travel which was 
then beginning to " the western settlements," and connected the New 
Milford and Litchfield Turnpike with the New York boundary on the 
way to Fishkill and Poughkeepsie. The New Preston Turnpike Com- 
pany was chartered in May, 1802, and evidently built its road soon 
after. 

Leaving the New Milford and Litchfield at the village of New Pres- 
ton the new turnpike ran westerly into and about halfway across the 
town of New Milford, thence northerly into the town of Kent, and then 
westerly again through the village of South Kent to the Housatonic 
River at Bulls Bridge in the southwest corner of Kent. Thence a short 
run brought it to the New York line. 

The turnpike enjoyed nearly a half-century of existence, the charter 
being repealed in 1851. For over a year previously the corporation 
had neglected and refused to repair its road and had taken down its 
gate. The necessary repairs had therefore been made by the towns 
traversed, and their reasonable request to own the road which they had 
to maintain was granted. 

[369] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



THE NEW HAVEN AND MILFORD TURNPIKE 

Another product of the May session in 1802 was the New Haven 
and Milford Turnpike Company, which was allowed to build a road 
from the courthouse in New Haven to the meeting-house in Milford. 
By its charter the company might take the old road or make such altera- 
tions as would meet the approval of the county court. The road as it 
stretches from one city to the other to-day shows plainly that the corpo- 
ration availed itself fully of the privilege of making changes in the 
crooked sections. Lambert's " History of the Colony of New Haven " 
testifies to that, for it records that the town of Milford clashed with 
the new enterprise and sought to make it keep in the bounds of the old 
road, objecting to the company's " running the turnpike-road through 
peoples' land." 

August 26, 1802, the New Haven county court approved the location 
desired by the corporation, each variation from the old road being 
described by metes and bounds, and referred to various trees and houses 
designated by their occupants' names. For good measure the court 
allowed a few more than were asked, and appointed a committee to 
make the formal layout and appraise the damages.^ 

In October, 1804, the assembly designated the portion of the turn- 
pike which was to be in New Haven as being the old road from West 
River Bridge to the southerly end of Church Street where the market 
then stood. This had previously been thrashed out In the county court 
and a decision rendered there to the same effect. 

A friendly arrangement between New Haven and the turnpike was 
made in 1836 by which the turnpike west of the hospital was exchanged 
for a city street on the east side of that institution. 

About a quarter of a mile near the hospital was given up in 1847, 
as the city improvements were advancing so fast as to require refine- 
ments not in a turnpike corporation's line of business. 

The " Milford Pike " is easily detected by the tourist to-day, as It 
forms a most direct route between its original terminal cities and, more- 
over, is locally known by that name. 



THE RIMMON FALLS TURNPIKE 

With the opening of the Oxford, Straits, and Derby turnpikes Inter- 
course between New Haven and the country northwest of it would seem 
to have been amply provided with facilities. But the route over the 
Oxford and the Straits was roundabout and repugnant to turnpike con- 
ceptions, while there was quite a space of undeveloped country to be 
passed over between the Oxford and the Derby. Efforts by certain 

' "New Haven County Records," Volume 13, page 118. 
[370] 



THE TURNPIKES OF CONNECTICUT 

Derby citizens to bridge the latter difficulty, by forming a turnpike 
company to build across the intervening space, were defeated by some 
of their neighbors, who insisted that any company should pay for its 
own land and bridges. Hence a deadlock ensued. 

The Rimmon Falls Turnpike Company, chartered In May, 1802, 
was first projected in 1798, apparently, to connect with the Derby at 
Derby Landing, but after years of strife finally located Its road straight 
across country from Chusetown, now Seymour, to New Haven, leaving 
Derby off on one side. 

In Sharpe's "History of Seymour" we read that the limits of the 
road were Thompson's Bridge In New Haven and the Falls Bridge In 
Chusetown. Pearl and Main streets in Chusetown were straightened 
In turnpike development so as to lead straight to the bridge. A large cut 
on Hill Street below Washington Avenue was taken out by diverting 
a near-by brook and sluicing the gravel into the river. 

The Falls Bridge was found to be insufficient for the increased travel 
which would follow the turnpike, so it was rebuilt by the turnpike 
corporation. Although a short section of public road was between the 
corner of the Oxford Turnpike, where it turned away from Little River 
to go to Pines Bridge, and the Falls Bridge, the proprietors of the 
Oxford seem to have realized the value of a connection with the new 
Rimmon Falls road enough to cause them to share in the expense of 
rebuilding the Falls Bridge. 

The Rimmon Falls Turnpike, as finally located, went directly south- 
west from Chusetown across the town of Woodbrldge to Westville, then 
called Hotchklsstown, where it entered the Straits Turnpike over which 
its travelers continued to New Haven. 

The last reference to this road which has been found is an act passed 
in 1838 by which the management was allowed to move a gate. 



THE GOSHEN AND SHARON TURNPIKE 

This road was built by the Goshen and Sharon Turnpike Company 
under authority of a franchise granted them In May, 1803, to build 
from Goshen meeting-house, through Sharon, to " York State line." 
Although the charter plainly specifies Goshen meeting-house as the east- 
erly limit there seems little doubt but what the road was actually built 
and maintained as a turnpike farther east to Torrington, where it united 
with the Waterbury River Turnpike. Orcutt speaks of It in his " His- 
tory of Torrington," saying that it was "made mostly" in 1805 and 
that the town, seeing no other way, voted at once that it would build 
and maintain four bridges If the corporation would release it from 
further bridge obligation. 

Gold's " History of Cornwall " has permanently recorded the loca- 
tion of the road in that town. It says that it crossed the river at West 

[371] 



THE TURNPIKES OF NEW ENGLAND 



Cornwall, led through Cornwall Center, and with true spirit of liberty, 
" climbed Bunker Hill." One tollgate was at the bridge in West Corn- 
wall and another stood near Tyler Pond in Goshen. 

In May, 1825, the portion from the foot of Riley Hill in Sharon 
to the New York line was made free, and the same procedure was had 
upon all west of Pine Swamp Road in Sharon, while whatever was left 
in that town followed suit in 1846. Ten years later the charter was 
repealed and the entire Goshen and Sharon Turnpike passed into 
history. 



THE STAFFORD MINERAL SPRING TURNPIKE 

The Stafford Pool Turnpike was chartered in October, 1803, to 
build from Tolland courthouse to the Massachusetts line through Staf- 
ford, passing by the mineral spring in that town. In 18 14 its name was 
changed to Stafford Mineral Spring Turnpike. 

By the construction which this corporation carried out, with that 
later done in Massachusetts by the Worcester and Stafford Turnpike 
Corporation, a through route from Worcester to Hartford was opened, 
using the already built Hartford and Tolland Turnpike for the westerly 
section. Reference to the map will show at once the idea back of these 
combined roads. The " northern route " from Boston to New York 
passed through Worcester, Springfield, and Hartford, and by the cut- 
ting of a route through Stafford the distance was much reduced, for 
almost a direct line from Worcester to Hartford was thus developed, 
although leaving away off on one side the growing town of Springfield. 
That long-extended through-routes traversing unproductive districts 
were not remunerative was well demonstrated by the experience of these 
roads which " gave up the ghost " at the time when other turnpikes were 
at the height of their prosperity. The Massachusetts road ceased Its 
efforts In 1835 and the Stafford Mineral Spring Turnpike was aban- 
doned about that time by Its owners. 

In 1839, upon information that the corporation had abandoned its 
road through Tolland, Ellington, and Stafford as far as the Massachu- 
setts line, and that the corporate organization itself had not been kept 
up, the assembly annulle