Milestone ~ '48 ML to Boston 1771 B.W.' - Sutton MA
Posted by: nomadwillie
N 42° 08.309 W 071° 46.998
19T E 269984 N 4668901
I drove passed this site 3 times before I found it, refusing to give up on it. Sits under a tree, so it is in the shade, which acts as a camouflage of sorts. Considering its age, it is in great condition.
Waymark Code: WM1412H
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 03/26/2021
Views: 1
At 1.3 m. on the Oxford Rd. is a granite Milestone, five feet high and eight inches thick, marked '48 ML to Boston 1771 B.W.' In 1771 the county commissioners undertook to place milestones along what was then called the Connecticut Rd.
Colonel Bartholomew Woodbury, a local innkeeper, was quick to sense the advertising advantage of a milestone at the front door of his tavern. Unfortunately, the proper location of the milestone was several hundred feet south of the tavern. The colonel overcame this obstacle by persuading the commissioners to waive the mere matter of accuracy and to authorize the setting of the stone where he desired. He promised that if they would do so, he would erect at his own expense a mile- stone that would be 'the queen of all milestones.' It is interesting to speculate whether the traveling public ever discovered the discrepancy in the local mileage.
American-Guide-Series - Massachusetts: a Guide to its Places and People, p.604
I drove passed this site 3 times before I found it, refusing to give up on it. Sits under a tree, so it is in the shade, which acts as a camouflage of sorts. Considering its age, it is in great condition.
Book: Massachusetts
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 604
Year Originally Published: 1937
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