MILESTONES

Milestones date back to the roads built by the Romans to access the lands of their empire.

Many of the milestones placed by the Romans survive in England.

In America, milestones were used on most  turnpikes and post roads.

Except for some well-intended meddling and some obvious replacements, milestones present today in America are survivors of 200 odd years of exposure to the ravages of time.
 
Milestones were usually placed on the North side of the road facing the sun.

Softer stone was often used for milestones as it was easier to engrave (but also more quickly to erode). 

Milestones were also made of concrete, cast iron and wood. Those on the Eastern end of the National Road were made of cast iron slid over a wooden post.

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Messages chiseled into the milestones were cryptic, usually using a single letter to abbreviate a town and the letter “M” to abbreviate miles.
 
In 1774, the Colonial Legislature imposed a fine of three pounds, or imprisonment in the common jail, for defacing or marking milestones.  If a slave is found guilty of the offense he was to receive 39 lashes.
 
In the mid-1700s, Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin arranged for milestones to be placed at one mile intervals on Post Roads.  They were used to determine postage amounts.
 
Most milestones use abbreviations which require the reader to have some knowledge of the geography of the area.   The BB on Oley Turnpike markers refers to Black Bear, not Birdsboro and the BB on the New Holland Pike refers to ­­­­­­­Blue Ball.   P is used to designate Philadelphia, but also Pittsburgh.  Where both are mentioned, Ph is used for Philadelphia.

It is not unusual to see a hole bores into the upper portion of a milestone permitting it to be used as a hitching post.

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At a number of locations, milestones were built into stone walls.  Presumably when the wall was built the milestone, which was in the way, was incorporated into the wall masonry.
 
One of the milestones on the Lancaster Pike has been preserved by moving it into the Ship Tavern near its original location.  It rests inside an old fireplace.
 
Milestones are used extensively by railroads.  Typically they display a number that indicates the mileage along the railroad to the headquarters of the railroad by the shortest route at the time the milestone was installed.
 
A similar system was planned for highways in the US as evidenced by the “Zero Milestone” near the White House in Washington.  The plan was only implemented in the District of Columbia.
 
Milestones were placed along the towpath of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

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TURNPIKES

Tolls were collected at toll houses located at 10 mile intervals along the turnpikes. Half toll houses were occasionally added halfway in between.

At each toll-house, a horizontal pole or “pike” blocked the way until a toll was paid.  Today, gates still monitor entry to our turnpikes.

The historic turnpikes were the forerunners of today’s turnpikes – toll roads created to facilitate long distance travel.

The first historic turnpike ran between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania and opened in 1794.  246 years later, in 1940, the first modern turnpike was opened between two other Pennsylvania cities - Irwin and Lancaster.

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