1767 Milestones
The "Parting Ways" stone in Roxbury
1767 Milestones is located in Boston
1767 Milestones
1767 Milestones is located in Massachusetts
1767 Milestones
1767 Milestones is located in the United States
1767 Milestones
LocationMassachusetts between Springfield and Boston
Arealess than one acre
Builtvarious dates; many pursuant to a policy dating to 1767
NRHP reference No.71000084, 85003300[1][2]
Added to NRHPApril 7, 1971

The 1767 Milestones are historic milestones located along the route of the Upper Boston Post Road between the cities of Boston and Springfield in Massachusetts. The 40 surviving milestones were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[1] Massachusetts has a total of 129 surviving milestones including those along the upper Post Road.[3] The stones are so named, despite having been placed in many different years, because of a 1767 directive of the Province of Massachusetts Bay that such stones be placed along major roadways. The state highway department was directed in 1960 to undertake their preservation.[4] Many of them underwent a major restoration in 2018.[5]

The first stone was erected by Paul Dudley, one of the prominent citizens of early 18th century Massachusetts, in Roxbury, which was at the time a separate community. Roxbury was located at the end of the Boston Neck, a narrow isthmus separating the mainland from the Shawmut Peninsula, where Boston was located. Travelers going by land from Boston to other areas had to travel over the neck and through Roxbury to reach their destinations. The Roxbury junction where Dudley placed the first stone was where several routes branched, heading south and west across New England.

Dudley erected several stones along the road from Boston to Cambridge which wound its way from Beacon Hill along what is now Washington Street through the Dudley Square area to what is now Huntington Avenue, then along Harvard Street through Brookline Village, Coolidge Corner, and Allston crossing into Cambridge at the Great Bridge, where modern JFK Street in Cambridge becomes North Harvard Street in Allston. The stones that Dudley erected have the initials PD on them, usually at the bottom of the stone.[6] The most chatty of these milestones (not part of this collection), is inscribed P Dudley rather than PD, and is located on the corner of Centre and South Streets in Jamaica Plain.

The stones listed for miles 23 through 29 in Wayland and Sudbury are actually guideposts rather than milestones, and do not list any mileage. They were erected at road intersections rather than at the mile marks. The stones are quarried granite posts with plug & feather tool marks and post-date 1800.

Miles
to Boston		 Year
Placed		 Image Location Town Notes
01 1741 Centre and Roxbury Streets
42°19′48″N 71°5′29″W / 42.33000°N 71.09139°W / 42.33000; -71.09139 (Parting Ways Milestone)		 Boston, Roxbury This stone is called the "Parting Ways Stone".
04 1729 841 Huntington Avenue
42°19′57″N 71°6′42″W / 42.33250°N 71.11167°W / 42.33250; -71.11167 (Milestone 4)		 Boston, Mission Hill Engraved "Boston 4 Miles 1729 PD".
05 1729 210 Harvard St.
42°20′24″N 71°7′17″W / 42.34000°N 71.12139°W / 42.34000; -71.12139 (Milestone 5)		 Brookline Engraved "Boston 5 Miles 1729 PD".
06 1729 142 Harvard Ave.
42°21′07″N 71°07′54″W / 42.351947°N 71.131586°W / 42.351947; -71.131586 (Milestone 6)		 Boston, Brighton Engraved "Boston 6 Miles 1729 PD".
07 1729 240 N. Harvard St.
42°21′42″N 71°07′48″W / 42.361556°N 71.129998°W / 42.361556; -71.129998 (Milestone 7)		 Boston, Brighton Engraved "Boston 7 Miles 1729 PD".
08 1734 Old Burial Ground
(Mass. Ave. and Garden St.)
42°22′29″N 71°7′10″W / 42.37472°N 71.11944°W / 42.37472; -71.11944 (Milestone 8)		 Cambridge Engraved "Boston 8 Miles 1734 AI" on the front, and "Cambridge New Bridge +2⁄1 Miles 1794" on the back.
23 River Road and Water Row
42°22′14″N 71°23′12″W / 42.37056°N 71.38667°W / 42.37056; -71.38667 (Milestone 23)		 Wayland
24 Route 20 and Landham Road
42°21′39″N 71°24′8″W / 42.36083°N 71.40222°W / 42.36083; -71.40222 (Milestone 24)		 Sudbury
25 Route 20 and Concord Road
42°21′44″N 71°24′59″W / 42.36222°N 71.41639°W / 42.36222; -71.41639 (Milestone 25)		 Sudbury
26 Route 20 and Nobscot Road
42°21′36″N 71°25′30″W / 42.36000°N 71.42500°W / 42.36000; -71.42500 (Milestone 26)		 Sudbury
27 listed at Boston Post Road and Dudley Road
42°21′36″N 71°26′13″W / 42.360003°N 71.436821°W / 42.360003; -71.436821 (Milestone 27)		 Sudbury Listed as missing in 2009 state survey.
28 Route 20 and Peakham Road
42°21′35″N 71°27′32″W / 42.35972°N 71.45889°W / 42.35972; -71.45889 (Milestone 28)		 Sudbury
29 Wayside Inn Road and Dutton Road
42°21′28″N 71°28′19″W / 42.35778°N 71.47194°W / 42.35778; -71.47194 (Milestone 29)		 Sudbury
33 143 E. Main St.
42°19′44″N 71°37′25″W / 42.32889°N 71.62361°W / 42.32889; -71.62361 (Milestone 33)		 Northborough Engraved "33 Miles to Boston".
35 Boston Post Road and Dean Park
42°17′45″N 71°41′43″W / 42.29583°N 71.69528°W / 42.29583; -71.69528 (Milestone 35)		 Shrewsbury Engraved "Boston 35 Springfield 65 Albany 165".
43 c.1760 West Main St. Near town common
42°17′35″N 71°44′58″W / 42.29306°N 71.74944°W / 42.29306; -71.74944 (Milestone 43)		 Shrewsbury Engraved "43 Mile to Boston".
47 Lincoln St.
42°16′41″N 71°47′40″W / 42.278071°N 71.794392°W / 42.278071; -71.794392 (Milestone 47)		 Worcester
48 Originally at 139 Salisbury St.
42°15′54″N 71°48′16″W / 42.265051°N 71.804379°W / 42.265051; -71.804379 (Milestone 48)		 Worcester Moved to 30 Elm Street (Worcester Historical Museum) c. 2007
It was reported to be in storage there in January 2014.
53 Route 9 at Collier's Corner
42°14′24″N 71°53′10″W / 42.24000°N 71.88611°W / 42.24000; -71.88611 (Milestone 53)		 Leicester
54 Originally at Main St. east of Paxton St.
42°14′43″N 71°54′30″W / 42.24528°N 71.90833°W / 42.24528; -71.90833 (Milestone 54)		 Leicester Stolen and recovered in the 1990s; relocated to museum space in local library in 1996. Now on the Leicester town common. An unmarked replica is embedded in a stone wall just west of Paxton on the south side of Main Street.
56 Between 1676 and 1710 Main St. (Route 9)
42°15′2″N 71°56′40″W / 42.25056°N 71.94444°W / 42.25056; -71.94444 (Milestone 56)		 Leicester Opposite Leicester Drive-In.
57 500 Main St. (Route 9)
42°15′21″N 71°57′21″W / 42.25583°N 71.95583°W / 42.25583; -71.95583 (Milestone 57)		 Leicester In front of the Spencer Country Inn.
58 325 Main St. (Route 9)
42°15′6″N 71°58′34″W / 42.25167°N 71.97611°W / 42.25167; -71.97611 (Milestone 58)		 Spencer
59 Route 9, Spencer Shopper's Village
42°14′46″N 71°59′20″W / 42.24611°N 71.98889°W / 42.24611; -71.98889 (Milestone 59)		 Spencer
60 Route 9 at Dewey St.
42°14′12″N 72°0′28″W / 42.23667°N 72.00778°W / 42.23667; -72.00778 (Milestone 60)		 Spencer
61 133 West Main St. (Route 9)
42°13′52″N 72°1′40″W / 42.23111°N 72.02778°W / 42.23111; -72.02778 (Milestone 61)		 Spencer
62 west of 324 East Main St. (Route 9)
42°13′38″N 72°2′40″W / 42.22722°N 72.04444°W / 42.22722; -72.04444 (Milestone 62)		 East Brookfield Stone has been reengraved with loss of integrity.
63 184 North Brookfield Rd.
42°13′42″N 72°4′1″W / 42.22833°N 72.06694°W / 42.22833; -72.06694 (Milestone 63)		 East Brookfield
64 Elm Hill Rd., near North Brookfield line
42°13′49″N 72°4′45″W / 42.23028°N 72.07917°W / 42.23028; -72.07917 (Milestone 64)		 Brookfield
65 Elm Hill Rd., east of North Brookfield Rd.
42°13′18″N 72°5′40″W / 42.22167°N 72.09444°W / 42.22167; -72.09444 (Milestone 65)		 Brookfield
66 East of 31 West Main St. (Route 9)
42°12′57″N 72°6′29″W / 42.21583°N 72.10806°W / 42.21583; -72.10806 (Milestone 66)		 Brookfield
67 102 Foster Hill Rd.
42°13′33″N 72°7′14″W / 42.22583°N 72.12056°W / 42.22583; -72.12056 (Milestone 67)		 West Brookfield
68 East end of town common
42°14′10″N 72°8′15″W / 42.23611°N 72.13750°W / 42.23611; -72.13750 (Milestone 68)		 West Brookfield
69 147 West Main St. (Route 9)
42°14′1″N 72°9′22″W / 42.23361°N 72.15611°W / 42.23361; -72.15611 (Milestone 69)		 West Brookfield
70 Route 67 near Old Patrick Rd.
42°13′19″N 72°10′22″W / 42.22194°N 72.17278°W / 42.22194; -72.17278 (Milestone 70)		 Warren
71 Burbank and Washington Sts.
(behind/north side of 129 Washington St.)
42°12′46″N 72°10′59″W / 42.21278°N 72.18306°W / 42.21278; -72.18306 (Milestone 71)		 Warren
72 Bemis and Washington Rds.
42°12′7″N 72°11′22″W / 42.20194°N 72.18944°W / 42.20194; -72.18944 (Milestone 72)		 Warren Now in front of Warren Congregational Church; relocated after 1970.
73 North side of Baypath Rd.
42°11′53″N 72°12′20″W / 42.19806°N 72.20556°W / 42.19806; -72.20556 (Milestone 73)		 Warren
74 970 Read St., east of West Warren Rd.
42°11′9″N 72°13′18″W / 42.18583°N 72.22167°W / 42.18583; -72.22167 (Milestone 74)		 Warren
99 1763 State St. at Federal St. (Springfield Armory)
42°6′25″N 72°34′46″W / 42.10694°N 72.57944°W / 42.10694; -72.57944 (Wait Guide Milestone)		 Springfield Known as the "Wait Guide Stone". Inscribed-
Pulsantis Perietum
Virtus est sua Merces

This Stone is Erected
by Joseph Wait, Esq.
of Brookfield
For the Benefit
of Trav[el] Here.
AD 1763

Replica placed in 2010.[7] Original in storage at the Armory Museum.
Source unless otherwise cited: NRHP nomination papers[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ first refnum is for all milestones; second is for Brookline, Harvard Avenue stone
  3. ↑ Gage, Mary E.; Gage, James E. (2014). Milestones & Guideposts of Massachusetts and Southeastern New Hampshire. Amesbury, MA: Powwow River Books. pp. 155–160. ISBN 978-0-9816141-7-5.
  4. 1 2 "NRHP Nomination for 1767 Milestones". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  5. ↑ "MassDOT Completes Milestone Marker Preservation Project". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. June 5, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Jamaica Plain Historical Society - 'Colonial Era' Editor - - Colonial Stones Mark Miles from Old Roxbury to Old State House". Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  7. ↑ Rivais, Larry (13 April 2010). "Springfield honors its past with replica of historic Wait Boston Road Marker". The Republican. Springfield, MA. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
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