Connecticut Paths, Roads, Turnpikes, and Travelers

Centuries before Europeans made their way inland in New England, Native Americans traversed the woodlands, shores, and rivers, hunting, fishing, and trading. Early colonists adapted these paths to their needs. You'll recognize the familiar course of modern travelways from these ancient routes -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uconnlibrariesmagic/3332840235/ 

Benjamin Franklin's post roads ran initially near Long Island, en route between Boston and New York. A spur from New Haven to Hartford and another from Hartford to Litchfield came next. While I have found no direct evidence of Franklin traveling through Woodbury, other notables (John Adams, the Comte de Rochambeau and his army) did. The Curtis House Inn ("Connecticut's Oldest Inn - 1754") likely saw some of these travelers - http://www.curtishouseinn.com/

In keeping with Franklin's request for milestones, the colonial legislature directed towns to  erect milestones (1767).

 During Connecticut's second century, the legislature met the need for improved roads by authorizing private  turnpike companies to build roads and collect tolls. Dozens of roads were planned for nearly every town, some built -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_turnpikes_in_Connecticut The "Benjamin Franklin Milestone" route to Litchfield includes a portion of "Middle Road Turnpike", authorized in 1803 to operate from Danbury to Farmington (along the route of modern-day Route 6).   Later, the turnpike was split in Woodbury to form "East Middle Road Turnpike" and "West Middle Road Turnpike". In those days the Woodbury Town Clerk's vault for land deeds and maps was located just south of Milestone XIV, at the map point linked to this blog entry.

The roads shown on an 1853 map of Woodbury include the major roads in use today and the famous "Benjamin Franklin Milestones" route along Main Street and Flanders Road -
http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/cho/id/15105/rec/1  

The arrival of the steam railroad and trolley lines made these ventures uneconomic and drew traffic in new directions. Modern day statutes continue to direct the maintenance and protection of milestones, more than a century after the last private turnpike company folded.

Deeds and surveys since the founding of Woodbury can be viewed at the current Town Clerk's office. See also, additional references below.

Woodbury Milestones

Sources and Further Research

Connecticut Paths, Roads, Turnpikes, and Travelers

An Act to Oblige the Several Towns on the Post Roads in this Colony to Erect Monuments Shewing the Distances from the Several County Towns on Said Roads. (October 1767). In The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut from May 1762 to October 1767, Inclusive, edited by Charles J. Hoadley. Hartford: Case Lockwood & Brainard, 1881.

Knight, Sarah Kemble. The Journal of Madam Knight. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1971

List of Turnpikes in Connecticut. Wikipedia. Last modified 27 October 2013. Accessed 27 November 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_turnpikes_in_Connecticut  

Map of the state of Connecticut showing Indian trails, villages and sachemdoms. Made for the Connecticut Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Information compiled by Matthias Spiess. Drawn by Hayden Griswold. (1930). Shows location of Connecticut Indian tribes circa 1625. Accessed 27 November 2013. http://www.flickr.com/photos/uconnlibrariesmagic/3332840235/

Map of the Town of Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, from actual surveys by L. Fagan. Philadelphia: Richard Clark, 1853. Connecticut Historical Society Digital Exhibits. http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/cho/id/15105/rec/1

Milestones to be Reset. Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 13a-36 (West 2013).

Moll, H[erman]. New England, New York, New Jersey and Pensilvania [sic], 1729? Accessed 27 November 2013. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1729_Moll_Map_of_New_York,_New_England,_and_Pennsylvania_%28First_Postal_Map_of_New_England%29_-_Geographicus_-_NewEnglandNewYork-moll-1729.jpg

Resolves and Private Laws of the State of Connecticut, Vols. I-II, from the Year 1759 to the Year 1838. Hartford: John B. Eldridge, 1837.

Sullivan, Raymond E. Breakneck: The Early Settlement of Middlebury, Connecticut, from 1657 to its Incorporation as a Town. New York: IUniverse Inc, 2010.

Treble Damages for Injury to Milestone, Guidepost or Railing. Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. §52-567 (West 2013).

Wood, Frederic J. The Turnpikes of New England and Evolution of the Same through England, Virginia, and Maryland. Boston: Marshall Jones Co., 1919.

Wood, Frederic J. “Turnpikes of Connecticut [map].” In Wood, The Turnpikes of New England and the Evolution of the Same through England, Virginia, and Maryland, 1919.