Danvers-Newburyport railroad, B23N17
Posted by: 
bctrail
N 42° 37.524 W 070° 56.152
19T E 341252 N 4721033
A concrete post indicating 23 miles to Boston and 17 miles to Newburyport on the abandon RR route. The rails and most of the sleepers have been removed, and an electric power line now uses the right-of-way.
Waymark Code: WMBT9D
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 06/19/2011
Views: 3
This is a three sided concrete post about four feet high. It is located about five feet from a large yellow gate . It is on the south bound side of the High Street (Route 97) crossing in the Town of Topsfield, Essex County,
This rail line, opened in 1854, connected Danvers to Newburyport. It remained in operation until 1941. However, the south bound distances on the mileposts reflect the distance to Boston, rather than to Danvers.
This old RR from the Danvers-Peabody line to Newburyport and extended to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire state line is being converted into a rail-trail, called "
the Border to Boston" trail. In spite of the name, there are no plans to extend the trail further toward Boston than the current end at the Peabody town line. The section from this marker south for approximately one mile to the Wenham town line is currently being worked to remove the sleepers and smooth the trail bed. More details on the Topsfield portion can be learned from the
Topsfield Rail Trail Committee (their "links" page is particularly useful).