Boston Post Road
The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into the first major highways in the United States. The Upper Post Road was originally called the Pequot Path and had been in use by native Americans long before Europeans arrived. Some of these important native trails had been pounded by moccasin-shod feet for so many years that they were two feet below the surrounding woodland.
The colonists first used this trail to deliver the mail using post riders. The first ride to lay-out the Upper Post Road started on January 1, 1673. Later, the newly-blazed trail was widened and smoothed to the point where horse-drawn wagons or stagecoaches could use the road. During the 19th century, turnpike companies took over and improved pieces of the road. Large sections of the various routes are still called the King's Highway and Boston Post Road. Much of the Post Road is now U.S. Route 1, and U.S. Route 20.
Read more about this topic: King's Highway (Charleston To Boston)
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—Ruth Davidson Bell. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)
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—Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)