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The Boston Post Road was a system of roads from New York, New York to Boston, Massachusetts, containing some of the first major highways in the United States. It began as a path in 1673 to deliver the post, and developed into a wagon, or stage road in later colonial times. During the 19th century, pieces of the road were taken over and improved by turnpike companies. In the 1910s and 1920s, the Lower Post Road alignment (and realignments made to the route) was a National Auto Trail known as the Boston Post Road. Large sections of the various routes are still given the name Boston Post Road.
Mileposts were measured from the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street in New York (one block west of Federal Hall) and from the old Boston border on Washington Street near the Masspike.
The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now US 1 along the shore and through Providence, Rhode Island), the Upper Post Road (now US 5 and US 20 from New Haven, Connecticut via Springfield, Massachusetts), and the Middle Post Road (which split from the Upper Road in Hartford, Connecticut and ran diagonally to Boston).
In some towns, the area near the Boston Post Road has been placed on the National Register of Historic Districts, since it was often the first road in the area, and buildings sprung up along it.
The Post Road is also famous for its milestones from the 18th century, many of which remain to this day.
New York
The Post Road in New York Manhattan
Much of the route in Manhattan was abandoned between 1839 and 1844, when the current street grid was laid out.[1] (http://www.forgotten-ny.com/streetnecrology/AveA/declassified.html) The following sections of the road still exist:
- Broadway-The Bowery-Fourth Avenue-Broadway from Wall Street (the southern end of the Post Road) to Madison Square Park
- large gap through Midtown Manhattan
- St. Nicholas Avenue-Broadway from 110th Street to 228th Street (with a realignment near 145th Street)
- 228th Street-Kingsbridge Avenue from Broadway to the old Kings Bridge over the Harlem River
These milestones were once present in Manhattan:
The Bronx
In The Bronx, the Boston Post Road came off the Kings Bridge and quickly turned east, with the Albany Post Road continuing north to Albany, New York. It passed over the Bronx River on the Williams Bridge, and left The Bronx on Bussing Avenue, becoming Kingsbridge Road in Westchester County. In more detail, it used the following roads:
- Kingsbridge Avenue-230th Street-Broadway-231st Street
- Albany Post Road continued north on Albany Crescent
- Albany Crescent-Kingsbridge Terrace-Heath Avenue
- gap across Jerome Park Reservoir
- Van Cortlandt Avenue
- gap at Williamsbridge Reservoir
- Reservoir Place-Gun Hill Road-White Plains Road (southbound lanes)
- gap from near 217th Street to near 231st Street
- Bussing Avenue
- gap from Grace Avenue to De Reimer Avenue
- Bussing Place-Bussing Avenue
Westchester County
The Boston Post Road entered Westchester County on Kingsbridge Road, and turned north on Third Avenue-Columbus Avenue (Route 22), forking off onto Colonial Place. It continued across Sandford Boulevard where there is no longer a road, and curved east and southeast around the hill, hitting Sandford Boulevard-Colonial Avenue at the Hutchinson River Parkway interchange. It then continued east on Colonial Avenue-Kings Highway, merging with US 1. From there to the Connecticut border, the Post Road used US 1, except for several places, where Post Road used the following roads:
- The southbound side of US 1 through New Rochelle
- Old Boston Post Road north of downtown New Rochelle
- Old Post Road-Orienta Avenue south of downtown Mamaroneck
- Mamaroneck Avenue-Prospect Avenue-Tompkins Avenue north of downtown Mamaroneck
- Old Post Road at Playland Parkway
Upper Post Road
The Upper Post Road was the most traveled of the three routes, being the furthest from the shore and thus having the fewest and shortest river crossings. It was also considered to have the best taverns, which helped it remain the most popular.
See also
External links
References
- From Path to Highway: The Story of the Boston Post Road by Gail Gibbons, ISBN 069004514X, HarperCollins 1986
- Horseback on the Boston Post Road, by Laurie Lawlor, ISBN 0743436261, Aladdin, 2002
- 1789 strip map from New York to Stratford (0-73)
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