The Boston Turpike aka Middle Turnpike

Revised - because I am not afraid to admit my mistakes.

My latest exploration took me to the Natchaug Trail in Eastford, CT. I like this area because there is so much hidden history there. Today, I came across a small piece of local transportation history: the Old Boston Turnpike on the map, which was initially named the Center Turnpike. 

View of Turnpike looking west

Building commenced around 1830  1797 and the tolls were discontinued in 1856  1879. The plan was to add yet another  a toll road from Boston to Hartford. The Connecticut section began in Douglas MA going through Thompson,  Pomfort, Eastford, Ashford, Westford, Tolland, Bolton Notch, Manchester, and into Hartford. There really wasn’t much need for another route but it was built anyway. This was the original route into Hartford.

View of Turnpike looking east

Many of these old turnpikes are still in use, but not many are in their original shape. Most have been reconstructed to handle modern traffic. The Boston Turnpike still has a lot of original construction. Even the sections that have been rebuilt are still easily found, and you can see the “Turnpike” in them. 

North side wall

Construction of the turnpikes followed a similar pattern, except in Massachusetts where the law was they needed to be in as straight a line as possible no matter what was in the way. This would cause problems when a section was to go up a steep hill. If you are familiar with Stafford Street in Worcester, it is called “Deadhorse Hill” because the hill was so steep that many horses died on the way up. The roads were lined with stone walls which had two purposes. They would keep livestock from leaving the road and entering people's yards. The other purpose was to prevent people from using the road without paying the tolls. Whenever I see a break in the wall I wonder if this was one of the spots. The roads were also consistent in their widths. 

A view to the east side bridge abutment

This section of the Boston Turnpike has parallel walls and remnants of drainage ditches used to carry water from the road. You can also see the convex shape of the road, the middle being higher than the sides. This was also for drainage. 

The west side bridge abutment

This section crossed Bigelow Brook on a wooden bridge. There are still remains of the abutments here. I was unable to cross the stream but it appears the road is passable on the other side. I will return to this area and approach it differently.

Close-up of the east abutment

If you would like to see this old road it is off Route 44 in Eastford CT. A small blue sign that reads “Natchaug Trail” is on the north side of the road. Follow this trail about a half mile and you will come to the old turnpike. You can’t miss it as it is very obvious. 

The roadbed leading to the bridge

As a note of explanation regarding the mistake, I have a bad habit of not always researching as well as I should before writing. Next, I will write about the section on the other side of Bigelow Brook.

Visiting an Old Friend

 Last week I took a ride to visit an old friend. I went to a conservation area that was one of the first I ever visited. This was one of the two that sparked my interest in Native American stone structures. There are many interesting structures here and I wanted to plot them on a map, take some measurements, and take some pictures. 

It's funny how when you haven't been someplace in a while some of it remains the same, other parts seem different. I was unable to locate some of the structures I saw on my first few visits but I also found some new ones, or some I don't remember seeing. Let me share some of the pictures I took. 

This niche is in a stone row that runs in a north/south direction. It is 200 feet long, varies in height, and has no connecting walls. Both ends are rather plain with nothing resembling an effigy. This niche is open all the way through the wall. There are several niches along the row. There are no connecting walls or rows to this one. 

This is a picture of the stone row from the north end looking south. As you can see this area is extremely rocky and does not appear to have ever been improved. The wall is not high enough to impede livestock from stepping over it. 

This picture is at the north end of the wall. Just about the halfway mark of the wall, there is an interesting, well I don't know what to call it. 

This picture was taken on my first visit several years ago. It has changed since then. Some of the items are no longer there (the pink flamingo and the small houses)  although they could be under the leaves.

I don't know what the purpose of this is. Some of the items appear to be newer and some seem as if they have been there for some time. There is a house about 100 yards to the east of this but it doesn't seem people have come from there to this spot. Is this some kind of Native American offering? I believe there are still sites still being used by Native Americans today, could this be one?

This picture shows what the area to the west of this stone row looks like. I will be heading back there soon to document the possible structures I have found there. There are split stones with small rocks placed in the splits. There were several triangular standing stones (one pictured above). There is a stone "C" shaped circle and niches. The first few times I came to this area, this section was very wet with a small stream (probably from the spring snowmelt) going through it.

Along the west side of this boulder field is another stone row that I will write more about in a future post. There are some interesting things in that stone row as well, including a piece of quartz placed in an open break in the wall.

I need to go back and do some more exploring. While this is the best time to find things in the woods, it is also the coldest. My plan is to map the area and then see if I can get some of my fellow NEARA members to come take a look and give me their take. 

Who knows, maybe I have found a not-so-ancient Native American Stone Landscape?