Editing King's Highway (Charleston to Boston)

{{short description|Road in Colonial America}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{infobox road
| country = USA
| type = Post
| route = King's Highway
| map = 
| established = Late 1600s
| decommissioned = 1800s
| length_mi = 1300
| length_round = -2
| terminus_a = [[Charleston, South Carolina]]
| terminus_b = [[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]]
}}
The '''King's Highway''' was a roughly {{convert|1300|mi|km|adj=on}} road laid out from 1650 to 1735 in the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]]. It was built on the order of [[Charles II of England]], who directed his colonial governors to link [[Charleston, South Carolina]], and [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]. The section north of [[New York City]], laid out on January 22, 1673, became the [[Boston Post Road#Upper Post Road|Upper Boston Post Road]].<ref>''Map Guide to American Migration Routes, 1735–1815'' by William Dollarhide, Heritage Quest, 1997, {{ISBN|1-877677-74-4}}</ref> The road was finally completed in 1735. Much of the Post Road is now [[U.S. Route 1]] and [[U.S. Route 20]].

The [[King's Highway Historic District (New Jersey)|King's Highway Historic District]] in [[New Jersey]] covers [[U.S. Route 206]] and [[New Jersey Route 27]], connecting [[Lawrenceville, New Jersey|Lawrenceville]] with [[Kingston, New Jersey|Kingston]] through [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-jersey/kings-highway-nj/ |title=The Oldest Road in America, the King's Highway, Passes Right Through New Jersey |date=24 March 2020}}</ref> In [[Pennsylvania]], much of the route is now [[U.S. Route 13]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/article/20160411/lifestyle/304119866|title = LaVO: Bucks County's first 'interstate' highway — 366 years in the making}}</ref> (In [[Philadelphia]], Route 13 becomes Frankford Avenue.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hiddencityphila.org/2016/12/americas-oldest-road-takes-center-stage-in-new-documentary/|title = America's Oldest Road Takes Center Stage in New Documentary}}</ref> Through [[Maryland]], the King's Highway largely follows U.S. Route 1.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hyattsvillewire.com/2017/05/04/route-1-hyattsville-kings-highway-history/|title = Route 1's Roots Run Deep|date = 4 May 2017}}</ref> From [[Virginia]] southward, the modern [[U.S. Route 17]] has many segments that follow the old King's Highway.

==History==
[[File:1729 Moll Map of New York, New England, and Pennsylvania (First Postal Map of New England) - Geographicus - NewEnglandNewYork-moll-1729.jpg|thumb|1729 map of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania by C. Moll with inset describing the postal system]]

The [[Boston Post Road]] was a system of [[Post road|mail-delivery routes]] between New York City and Boston that evolved into the first major highways in the United States. Some routes followed trails in use by Native Americans long before Europeans arrived. Some of these important native trails had been used long enough that [[Sunken lane|they were two feet below]] the surrounding woodland.<ref>Bourne, p.13</ref>

Following a trail known as the [[Pequots|Pequot]] Path, the Upper Post Road was first laid out in 1673.<ref>Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, January 1917, Vol. 50, page 386, [https://books.google.com/books?id=swILAAAAIAAJ&dq=first+ride+king%27s+highway+post+road+connecticut&pg=PA386]</ref> Used by [[post riders]] to deliver the mail, it was later widened and smoothed so that horse-drawn wagons or [[stagecoach]]es could use it. During the 19th century, [[Toll road|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''.

In 1761, Postmaster General [[Benjamin Franklin]] ordered milestones placed along the route from Boston to [[Saco, Maine]], then to [[Machias, Maine|Machias]], as a northern extension of King's Highway,<ref>[http://newenglandhistorywalks.blogspot.com/2013/05/mile-markers-along-old-kings-highway.html "Mile Markers Along the Old King's Highway"] - New England History Walks, May 29, 2013</ref><ref>[http://digitalmaine.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=mdot_docs ''A History of Maine Roads: 1600-1970''], [[Maine Department of Transportation]], [[State Highway Commission]] (1970), p. 4</ref> a route which is now marked by the [[Presumpscot Falls Bridge]] in [[Falmouth, Maine]], among other landmarks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-17 |title=Presumpscot Bridge repairs head towards finish |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2020/09/17/presumpscot-bridge-repairs-head-towards-finish/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Press Herald}}</ref> As part of his duties, Franklin conducted inspections of the roads that were used for delivering mail as settlements along the coast increased.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Maine, a Guide "down East" |publisher=Courier-Gazette |year=1970 |pages=79}}</ref> One method of charging for mail service was by mileage, so Franklin invented an [[odometer]] to measure mileage more accurately. The King's Highway, as a result, morphed into the Post Road.<ref>''Nearaway Places: Driving to a Meal in Maine'', Lois Stailing (2018), p. 22 {{isbn|1633811298}}</ref>

==Route==
[[File:King's Highway.svg|thumb|A map of the King's Highway showing modern state borders.]]Herman Moll's 1729 "Post Map" describes the route:
{{blockquote|An Account of ye Post of ye Continent of Nth. America as they were Regulated by ye Postmasters Genl. of ye Post House.

The Western Post setts out from Philadelphia every Fryday leaving Letters at Burlington and Pert Amboy and arrives at New York on Sunday night; the distance between Philadelphia & New York being 106 Miles. The Post goes out Eastward every Monday morning from New York, and arrives at Seabrook Thursday noon; being 150 Miles, where the Post from Boston setts out at the same time: the New York Post returning with the Eastern Letters, and [[the Boston Post]] with the Western, Bags are dropt at New London, Stommington, Rhode Island, and Bristol. The Post from Boston to Pisacataway being 70 Miles leaves Letters at Ipswich, Salem, Marblehead and Newberry. There are offices kept at Burlington, Perth Amboy in New Jersey, New London and Stommington in Connecticott, at Rhode Island, Bristol, Ipswich, Salem, Marblehead and Newberry. and the 3 Great Offices are at Boston, New York, & Philadelphia.<ref>{{PD-notice}}</ref> }}{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]]
*[[New Haven, Connecticut]]
*[[Fairfield, Connecticut]]
*[[Greenwich, Connecticut]]
*[[Rye, New York]]
*[[Kingsbridge, New York]]
*[[New York City, New York]]
*[[Newark, New Jersey]]
*[[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
*[[Rahway, New Jersey]]
*[[Perth Amboy, New Jersey]]
*[[New Brunswick, New Jersey]]
*[[Princeton, New Jersey]]
*[[Lawrenceville, New Jersey]]
*[[Trenton, New Jersey]]
*[[Bordentown, New Jersey]]
*[[Burlington, New Jersey]]
*[[Philadelphia|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
*[[Chester, Pennsylvania]]
*[[Wilmington, Delaware]]
*[[New Castle, Delaware]]
*[[Baltimore, Maryland]]
*[[Annapolis, Maryland]]
*[[Alexandria, Virginia]]
*[[Fredericksburg, Virginia]]
*[[Bowling Green, Virginia]]
*[[King William, Virginia]]
*[[Williamsburg, Virginia]]
*[[Yorktown, Virginia]]
*[[Hampton, Virginia]]
*[[Norfolk, Virginia]]
*[[Suffolk, Virginia]]
*[[Edenton, North Carolina]]
*[[New Bern, North Carolina]]
*[[Wilmington, North Carolina]]
*[[Georgetown, South Carolina]]
*[[Charleston, South Carolina]]
{{div col end}}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Image:BPR NY map.png|The Post Road in New York
Image:Upper Post Road MP 8.jpg|Milestone 8 on the Upper Post Road in [[Harvard Square]]
File:Mile_marker_Yarmouth.jpg|A milestone in [[Yarmouth, Maine]], on the Boston-to-Machias "King's Highway" route. The milestone, now incorporated into a wall, is engraved with "B 138," to denote its distance of 138 miles from Boston
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of roads and highways]]
*[[Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route]]
*[[Assunpink Trail]]
*[[King's Highway Historic District (New Jersey)|King's Highway Historic District]]
*[[Frankford Avenue Bridge]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://explore.globalcreations.com/theblog/featured/exploring-the-kings-highway/ King’s Road]
*[http://www.genealogybulletin.com/archives/HTML/current26.html Locating the Old Wagon Roads]
*[http://www.w3r-us.org Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route]
*{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/16/nyregion/jersey-in-praise-of-new-jersey-s-highways-honest.html|title=JERSEY; In Praise of New Jersey's Highways. Honest. - New York Times|newspaper=nytimes.com|access-date=19 January 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:King's Highway (Charleston To Boston)}}
[[Category:Highways in the United States]]
[[Category:Historic trails and roads in the United States]]
[[Category:U.S. Route 17]]