Bay Road: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:26, 15 October 2014

United States Migration Trails and Roads Massachusetts Bay Road

Did an ancestor travel the Bay Road of Massachusetts? Learn about this settler migration route, its transportation history, and find related genealogy sources.

Background History[edit | edit source]

The Bay Road stretched about 62 miles (99 kilometers) from Massachusetts Bay to Buzzard's Bay. It went from the city of Boston in Suffolk County through Norfolk County into Bristol County to the city of Taunton, and thence to the city of New Bedford in Massachusetts.^[1]

Part of the Bay Road followed the exact same route as a part of the Old Roebuck Road at least as far as Norwood. Moreover, this section of the Bay Road was also used as one of several main routes of the King's Highway or Boston Post Road from Boston to New York City and from there on to Charleston.

Route[edit | edit source]

A partial description of the Bay Road (the northern portion) is found in Wikipedia as follows.^[2] Bay Road is a 17+ mile north-south road in southeastern Massachusetts. The road is in parts a very old road, dating to colonial times, when it was known as the King's Highway. Bay Road begins at the town line of Canton and Sharon, Norfolk County just north of an intersection with Route 27 at Cobb Corner and ends in Taunton as Bay Street. The road heads south along the Sharon side of the Sharon/Stoughton town line in Norfolk County. The road enters Bristol County in the town of Easton. Bay Road runs along the east side of Borderland State Park and passes through the intersection of Routes 106 and 123 in the neighborhood of Five Corners. The road then enters into the town of Norton. There, Bay Road runs along the eastern shore of Winnecunnet Pond just before entering the Taunton neighborhood of North Taunton, where Bay Road becomes Bay Street, and intersects Interstate 495. The street runs alongside Lake Sabbatia and Watson Pond State Park. It then enters the Whittenton section and terminates at Broadway (Route 138).

Two sections of the road, a portion in Easton (Foundry Street to the Norton town line) and the entire segment in Norton, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Norton section is listed as "Old Bay Road", while that in Easton is listed as "Bay Road".

Connecting Routes Over time the Bay Road connected with half a dozen new migration routes out its Boston end:

Coast Path follows an ancient Indian path near the shoreline from Boston to Plymouth.
Kennebunk Road links Boston along the New England coast to Augusta, Maine.
King's Highway also known as the Boston Post Road goes from Boston, Massachusetts to New York City, and south to Charleston, South Carolina with extensions on each end. In Massachusetts and Connecticut there were at least three competing routes for the Boston Post Road. Parts were laid out 1650 to 1735; its length remained in heavy use through 1783, and some parts are used to this day.
Mohawk or Iroquois Trail This trail was established in 1722 from Albany to Utica to Rome to Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario. The Boston to Albany side of that route probably preceded the Albany to Oswego route by many years.
Old Connecticut Path a pre-historic Indian path from Boston, Massachusetts to the Connecticut River Valley at Springfield, Massachusetts and south to Hartford, Connecticut .
Old Roebuck Road goes from Boston to Providence, Rhode Island (Narragansett Bay).

Modern parallels. The modern roads that roughly match the old Bay Road from Boston to New Bedford are:

From Boston head southwest on Washington Street bound for Dedham.
From Dedham go south on the Providence Highway to Norwood.
At Norwood transfer onto Neponsit Street bound southeast to Canton.
At Canton turn south onto Washington Street which shortly becomes the Bay Road or Bay Street on its way to Taunton.
From Taunton take Summer Street/MA-140 to the southeast. This becomes County Street or County Road bound for Clifford.
Near Clifford the County Road merges going south with MA-18/Acushnet Avenue/Ashley Blvd into New Bedford.

Settlers and Records[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

Bay Road (Bristol County, Massachusetts) in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 15 October 2014).

References[edit | edit source]

↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 9th ed. (Logan, Utah: Everton Pub., 1999), pages 531 and M-48. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 1999.
↑ Bay Road (Bristol County, Massachusetts) in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 3 October 2014).

[HBG-1] Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 9th ed. (Logan, Utah: Everton Pub., 1999), pages 531 and M-48. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 1999.

[2] Bay Road (Bristol County, Massachusetts) in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 3 October 2014).

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+''[[United States|United States]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png|go to]] [[United States Migration Internal|Migration]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png|go to]] [[US Migration Trails and Roads|Trails and Roads]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]'' [[{{PAGENAME}}]]
-| link1=[[United States Genealogy|United States]]
-| link2=[[United States Migration Internal|Migration]]
-| link3=[[US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads|U.S. Migration Trails and Roads]]
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-| link5=[[{{PAGENAME}}]]
-}}
-Did an ancestor travel the '''Bay Road''' of Massachusetts? Learn about this settler migration route, its transportation history, and find related genealogy sources.<br><br>[[Image:{{BayRdmap}}]]__TOC__
+Did an ancestor travel the '''Bay Road''' of Massachusetts? Learn about this settler migration route, its transportation history, and find related genealogy sources.
-=== History  ===
-At least three routes in [[Massachusetts Genealogy Guide|Massachusetts]] have been labelled the '''Bay Road''': (A) the [[Old Connecticut Path]] from Boston to Hartford,<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Post_Road Boston Post Road] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 16 October 2014).</ref> (B) the [[Old Roebuck Road]] from Boston to Providence, and (C) the route from Boston to New Bedford.<ref>Frederic J. Wood, ''The Turnpikes of New England and the Evolution of the Same Through England, Virginia, and Maryland'' (Boston: Marshall Jones, 1919), 25. [https://archive.org/details/turnpikesofnewen00woodrich Internet Archive version online].</ref> But this article is only about the later pathway from Boston to New Bedford.
+=== Background History  ===
-The '''Bay Road''' followed an old Indian trail about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Bay Massachusetts Bay] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzards_Bay Buzzard's Bay]. It went from [[Boston, Massachusetts|'''Boston''']] to [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|'''New Bedford''']] in [[Massachusetts Genealogy Guide|Massachusetts]].<ref name="HBG">''Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America'', 9th ed. (Logan, Utah: Everton Pub., 1999), pages 531 and M-48. {{WorldCat|48077118|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; {{FSC|740321|item|disp=FS Library Book 973 D27e 1999}}.</ref> Boston was founded in 1630; New Bedford was established in 1652.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Bedford,_Massachusetts New Bedford, Massachusetts] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 30 October 2014).</ref> The Bay Road attracted European settlers along its route because it provided access to markets for settler goods and services.
+[[Image:New England Migration Routes.png|right|400px|New England Migration Routes.png]]The '''Bay Road''' stretched about 62 miles (99 kilometers) from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Bay Massachusetts Bay] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzards_Bay Buzzard's Bay]. It went from the city of [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] in [[Suffolk County, Massachusetts|Suffolk County]] through [[Norfolk County, Massachusetts|Norfolk County]] into [[Bristol County, Massachusetts|Bristol County]] to the city of [[Taunton, Massachusetts|Taunton]], and thence to the city of [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]] in [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="HBG">''Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America'', 9th ed. (Logan, Utah: Everton Pub., 1999), pages 531 and M-48. {{WorldCat|48077118|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; {{FHL|740321|item|disp=FHL Book 973 D27e 1999}}.</ref><br><br>
-'''Overlapping routes'''. Part of the '''Bay Road''' followed the exact same route as a part of the '''''[[Old Roebuck Road]] ''''' at least as far as Norwood. Moreover, that small portion of the Bay Road was also used as part of one of several main routes of the '''''lower [[Boston Post Road]] ''''' from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] to [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]] to [[New York City New York genealogy|New York City]]. In the 1760s and 1770s that same small part of the '''Bay Road''' was also part of the '''''[[King's Highway]] ''''' from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] to [[New York City New York genealogy|New York City]] and all the way south to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], South Carolina.
+Part of the '''Bay Road''' followed the exact same route as a part of the '''[[Old Roebuck Road]]''' at least as far as Norwood. Moreover, this section of the Bay Road was also used as one of several main routes of the '''[[King's Highway]]''' or '''[[Boston Post Road]]''' from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] to [[New York City New York genealogy|New York City]] and from there on to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]].
-'''Stagecoach service'''. In the 1760s stagecoaches began to traverse these roads carrying regular mail and passengers. Inns for stagecoach passengers and other travelers often were established about the time of American Revolution. By 1800 an advertisement suggested stage service from Boston to Providence took only ten hours.<ref>Frederic J. Wood, ''The Turnpikes of New England and the Evolution of the Same Through England, Virginia, and Maryland'' (Boston: Marshall Jones, 1919), 86-87. [https://archive.org/details/turnpikesofnewen00woodrich Internet Archive version online].</ref> Nevertheless, travel between colonial towns was more often by sea than it was over land until just before the American Revolution.<ref>Wood, 25.</ref>
-'''Toll roads'''. Massachusetts developed a turnpike (toll) system for wagon roads in the early 1800s including most of the route from Boston to New Bedford. For example, the New Bedford and Bridgewater Turnpike charged tolls from 1807 to 1847.<ref>Wood, map between 56 and 57, and 131-32.</ref> Most of these early pathways continue as roads today. Modern freeways usually parallel the older road systems.
-'''Decline'''. However, the use of early roads and turnpikes for moving settlers decreased with the introduction of railroads. Settlers could travel faster, less expensively, and safer on railroads than on wagon roads. So, as railroads entered an area, the wagon-road traffic in that area declined. Railroad service from Boston to Taunton opened in 1835.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunton_Branch_Railroad Taunton Branch Railroad] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 30 October 2014).</ref> The first railroad from New Bedford to Taunton was opened in 1840.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Bedford_and_Taunton_Railroad New Bedford and Taunton Railroad] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 30 October 2014).</ref>
 === Route  ===
-Settlers who traveled the '''Bay Road''' from '''[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]''' to '''[[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]]''' passed through these places:
+A partial description of the Bay Road (the northern portion) is found in Wikipedia as follows.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Road_(Bristol_County,_Massachusetts) Bay Road (Bristol County, Massachusetts)] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 3 October 2014).</ref> Bay Road is a 17+ mile north-south road in southeastern Massachusetts. The road is in parts a very old road, dating to colonial times, when it was known as the [[King's Highway]]. Bay Road begins at the town line of Canton and Sharon, Norfolk County just north of an intersection with Route 27 at Cobb Corner and ends in Taunton as Bay Street. The road heads south along the Sharon side of the Sharon/Stoughton town line in Norfolk County. The road enters Bristol County in the town of Easton. Bay Road runs along the east side of Borderland State Park and passes through the intersection of Routes 106 and 123 in the neighborhood of Five Corners. The road then enters into the town of Norton. There, Bay Road runs along the eastern shore of Winnecunnet Pond just before entering the Taunton neighborhood of North Taunton, where Bay Road becomes Bay Street, and intersects Interstate 495. The street runs alongside Lake Sabbatia and Watson Pond State Park. It then enters the Whittenton section and terminates at Broadway (Route 138).
-[[Suffolk County, Massachusetts]]
+Two sections of the road, a portion in Easton (Foundry Street to the Norton town line) and the entire segment in Norton, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Norton section is listed as "Old Bay Road", while that in Easton is listed as "Bay Road".
-:*[[Boston, Massachusetts|'''Boston''']]
+'''Connecting Routes''' Over time the Bay Road connected with half a dozen new migration routes out its Boston end:
-:*[[Dorchester, Massachusetts|Dorchester]]
-[[Norfolk County, Massachusetts]]
-:*[[Dedham, Massachusetts|Dedham]]
-:*[[Westwood, Massachusetts|Westwood]]
-:*[[Norwood, Massachusetts|Norwood]]
-:*[[Canton, Massachusetts|Canton]]
-:*[[Sharon, Massachusetts|Sharon]]
-[[Bristol County, Massachusetts]]
-:*[[Easton, Massachusetts|Easton]]
-:*[[Taunton, Massachusetts|Taunton]]
-[[Plymouth County, Massachusetts]]
-:*[[Lakeville, Massachusetts|Lakeville]]
-back into [[Bristol County, Massachusetts]]
-:*[[Freetown, Massachusetts|Freetown]]
-:*[[Acushnet, Massachusetts|Acushnet]]
-:*[[New Bedford, Massachusetts|'''New Bedford''']]
-'''Connecting Routes'''. The '''''Bay Road ''''' connected with half a dozen new migration routes out of Boston:
 :*[[Coast Path]] follows an ancient Indian path near the shoreline from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] to [[Plymouth, Massachusetts|Plymouth]].
@@ Line 63: / Line 24: @@
 :*[[Old Roebuck Road]] goes from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] to [[Providence, Rhode Island]] (Narragansett Bay).
-'''Modern parallels.''' The modern roads that roughly match the '''''Bay Road ''''' from Boston to New Bedford are:
+'''Modern parallels.''' The modern roads that roughly match the old Bay Road from Boston to New Bedford are:
-:*From Boston head southwest on'''Washington Street''' bound for Dedham.
-:*From Dedham go south on the '''Providence Highway''' to Norwood.
-:*At Norwood transfer onto '''Neponsit Street''' bound southeast to Canton.
-:*At Canton turn south onto '''Washington Street''' which shortly becomes the '''Bay Road''' or '''Bay Street '''on its way to Taunton.
-:*From Taunton take '''Summer Street/MA-140''' to the southeast. This becomes '''County Street''' or '''County Road''' bound for Clifford.
-:*Near Clifford the '''County Road''' merges going south with '''MA-18/Acushnet Avenue/Ashley Blvd''' on the way into New Bedford.
-=== Settler Records  ===
+:*From Boston head southwest on Washington Street bound for Dedham.
+:*From Dedham go south on the Providence Highway to Norwood.
+:*At Norwood transfer onto Neponsit Street bound southeast to Canton.
+:*At Canton turn south onto Washington Street which shortly becomes the Bay Road or Bay Street on its way to Taunton.
+:*From Taunton take Summer Street/MA-140 to the southeast. This becomes County Street or County Road bound for Clifford.
+:*Near Clifford the County Road merges going south with MA-18/Acushnet Avenue/Ashley Blvd into New Bedford.
-Boston was founded in 1630 by Puritan immigrants from England. New Bedford was settled in 1652 by some Pilgrim families of Plymouth, Massachusetts, who had purchased their new homeland from the Indians.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Bedford,_Massachusetts#Immigration_to_New_Bedford New Bedford, Massachusetts] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 16 October 2014).</ref> The road between these two important ports attracted settlers who would be able to more easily get access to the markets which those ports provided. Many of the earliest settlers along the Bay Road would have been from Boston or New Bedford. Look at the earliest deeds along the Bay Road to learn the names of the first settlers. If you already know the name of a settler near the Bay Road, you have a good chance of finding his or her genealogy in sources like:
+=== Settlers and Records  ===
-*Lucy Mary Kellogg, et. al., ''Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620'', 23+ vols. (Plymouth, Massachusetts: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1975- ). {{WorldCat|2168141|item|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; {{FSC|86888|item|disp=FS Library Book 974.4 D2mf}}.
-*Robert Charles Anderson, ''The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633'', 3 vols. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, c1995). {{WorldCat|33083117|item|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; {{FSC|22717|item|disp=FS Library Book 974 W2a}}.
-*[https://www.themayflowersociety.org/ General Society of Mayflower Descendants]
-*[http://www.americanancestors.org/about/ New England Historic Genealogical Society]
 === External links  ===
-*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Road_%28Bristol_County,_Massachusetts%29 Bay Road (Bristol County, Massachusetts)] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia '' (accessed 15 October 2014).
+*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Road_%28Bristol_County,_Massachusetts%29 Bay Road (Bristol County, Massachusetts)] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia&nbsp;'' (accessed 15 October 2014).
-*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Post_Road Boston Post Road] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 17 October 2014).
 === References  ===
@@ Line 93: / Line 47: @@
 {{Massachusetts|Massachusetts}}
-[[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:Migration_Routes]] [[Category:Massachusetts Migration Routes]] [[Category:Suffolk_County,_Massachusetts]] [[Category:Norfolk_County,_Massachusetts]] [[Category:Bristol_County,_Massachusetts]]
+[[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:Migration_Routes]] [[Category:Massachusetts]]