Documenting & Preserving Colonial Milestones

As the twentieth century dawned, the subtle clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages was replaced with the rumble and roar of motor vehicles; the disappointment of failed turnpike companies was replaced with pride in one of the first limited-access roads in the country, the Merritt Parkway. And thus began an era of nostalgia for the old roadways, including the hand-chiseled milestones. Historians, hobbyists, and hometown boosters touted these monuments to our colonial heritage. (See news clippings and articles in bibliography, below.)

Many have been forgotten, damaged, or lost to development. Still, remnants of the complex milestone systems of old exist not only in Connecticut, but also Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Long Island, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and elsewhere. However, milestone aficionados seem to have been operating in isolation, missing opportunities to collaborate and build a system to document and preserve these pieces of history. The Woodbury milestones were marked with plaques identifying them as “Benjamin Franklin Milestones.” Unfortunately, most of the plaques have been damaged or lost. Happily, local historians Hope Huntington Wilson and Charlotte H. Isham prepared a written report on the history and status of the milestones, including a number of newspaper clippings from decades past. Although Dr. Isham passed away in 2003, many local residents still recall her enthusiasm for local history, including the milestones, which she shared with them during her tenure as principal of Mitchell School in Woodbury.
Deeds, maps, and town records are recorded and maintained by the Town Clerk. The current office and vault where these records can be viewed is at 275 Main Street South Woodbury CT USA. From 1888 to 1952, the Town Clerk's office and vault were located in a sturdy-looking brick building at 6 Main Street South, Woodbury, CT, only a few hundred feet from Milestone XIV. It is now under the control of the Old Woobury Historical Society.

Former Woodbury Town Clerk's Office

Two vital records were created by others who traced this series of milestones and photographed them. Henry P. Sage photographed these milestones and many others throughout Connecticut in 1922.  He recorded his own observations and interviewed locals who recalled the milestones. The inscriptions were apparently enhanced on his photographic negatives for the convenience of the reader. The Old Woodbury Historical Society’s 1976 photographs have been incorporated in a poster with a protective plastic overlay. Unfortunately, the overlay has caused some distortions in the photographs.   

 

My project was greatly enhanced when two local individuals heard of my research through a column in the Waterbury Republican-American (November 2013). They generously shared their own knowledge of the Woodbury milestones. One man, who preferred to remain anonymous, pointed me to Milestone XII, now obscured by a bush. Former Woodbury Selectman Charles Bartlett shared his research of museum examples of the waywiser tool at the Franklin Institute (Philadelphia) and in Germany, and of colonial carriage design from a manufacturer in Maine. He constructed a model of the waywiser mechanism (see photo below). Mr. Bartlett is the author of a forthcoming book concerning the milestones.

Charles Bartlett with recontructed model of waywiser.

With modern mapping technology (GPS, digitized historical maps, geocoding), as well as internet archives and social media, it is now feasible for preservationists to identify, locate, and protect historical milestones. Local land use agencies, historic districts, and history organizations can collaborate to keep us from losing what remains. Mr. Bartlett enlisted the assistance of a Yale University geology professor to identify the possible source of the stones used for Woodbury milestones. The location of area mines and quarries and geological formations is now available as geocoded data in files (KML and KMZ files) that can be matched to locations on digital maps. 

Further, multi-faceted mapping technology makes connections between time, place, people, and culture. Consider the pieces of history linked together via the “Benjamin Franklin Milestones” project:

• Native American pathways;
• Early colonial settlements;
•  Sarah Kemble Knight, an uncommon independent businesswoman of 17^th and 18^th century New England, perhaps a teacher of Benjamin Franklin, an early American writer, and resident of New London, Connecticut;
•  Early postal system, newspapers, and colonial travelways;
• Travel and communication by founding fathers and revolutionaries  John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and the Comte de Rochambeau;
• Evolution of land surveying equipment; 
•  Intellectual property protection & historical records of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office;
•  National, state, and local museums, libraries, and historical societies as curators;
• Newspapers as history in the making and cultural repository;
• Connecticut’s role in early technology, manufacturing, and mapping;
•  Intersection of politics, lawmaking, private enterprise, and public undertakings in the laying out and maintenance of roads;
• Twenty-first century information technology and the re-discovery and preservation of history;







•  GIS (Geographical Information Systems) as a teaching resource to help students appreciate the interconnectedness of persons, places, events, governance, and environment in history.

I invite my readers to add to and amplify these ideas, particularly as they relate to education of gifted and talented students, many of whom enjoy the serendipity and complexity that GIS technology offers. Historians and preservationists may also find this blog a useful stepping-off point from which to devise legal and practical methods to protect these links to early Connecticut history from needless accident, damage, or loss.

Woodbury Milestones

Sources and Further Research

Documentation & Preservation

 “Ben Franklin’s Footsteps Offer Perfect Track to Jog.” Waterbury Republican, March 8, 1999. (Archives of the Republican-American).

Bruno, Anthony. “The Last Milestones: Nature and Man Take Unhealthy Toll of Connecticut’s 250 Remaining Stones.” The Hartford Courant, September 11, 1960, p. 9G.

Conway, John P. “Postscript to the Post Roads: Monuments That Marked the Miles.”  Republican Magazine [Waterbury, Conn.], Februrary 2, 1969. (Archives of the Republican-American).

Drake, Mary Maynard. “Stones That Marked the Miles.” Republican [Waterbury, Conn.], May 4, 1986. (Archives of the Republican-American).

“From Indian Trail to Toll Gate Road: Lewis Stanton Tells of Connecticut Highways.” The Hartford Courant, October 8, 1913, p. 7.

Fielding, Howard. "Living Here." Waterbury Republican-American, November 17, 2013. http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/765522.txt

Hampton, Barbara J. Photographs of Woodbury Milestones VIII – XVII. November 2013.

Harrison, Rick. “Mile Markers Inspire Historical Quest.” Republican-American [Waterbury, Conn.], June 22, 2013, p. B4. (Archives of the Republican-American).

Hill, Lyall.H. “Franklin Milestones Intact After 180 Years.” Waterbury Sunday Republican [Waterbury, Conn.], April 12, 1953, p. 7. (Archives of the Republican-American).

 “Man, 80, Goes the Distance for His Mile Marker Hobby.” The Hartford Courant, January 6, 1985, p. 8B.

 “Milestones and Turnpikes,” “Our Historical Heritage,” “Another Milestone for Woodbury,” and “Benjamin Franklin Milestones (photo collage)” (Miscellaneous clippings and photographs from the Milestones vertical file, sources unknown, Woodbury Public Library, Woodbury, CT).

Peterson, J.E. “Missing Milestones.” Sunday, the Courant Magazine, April 20, 1969.

[Peterson, J.E.] Mylestoning in Connecticut, 1757-1971.

Sage, Henry P. Ye Myle Stones of Connecticut, 2 vols. 1932 (from the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT).

Stephens, Joseph B. “Franklin’s Milestones.” The Sunday Republican Weekly [Waterbury, Conn.], April 14, 1963, pp 16-17? (Archives of the Republican-American).

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

Tynan, Trudy. “The Road to Boston.” Republican-American [Waterbury, Conn.], September 12, 2004. (Archives of the Republican-American).

Wilson, Hope Huntington, and Charlotte H. Isham. Status of Benjamin Franklin Milestones in Woodbury, Conn., 1976. [“Paper prepared for presentation to the Old Woodbury Historical Society, September 14, 1976.”] (Vertical file, Woodbury Public Library, Woodbury, CT).