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Did an ancestor travel the '''Old Connecticut Path''' of Massachusetts and Connecticut? Learn about this settler migration route, its transportation history, and find related genealogy sources.<br><br>[[Image:{{OConnPathmap}}]]__TOC__ | Did an ancestor travel the '''Old Connecticut Path''' of Massachusetts and Connecticut? Learn about this settler migration route, its transportation history, and find related genealogy sources.<br><br>[[Image:{{OConnPathmap}}]]__TOC__ | ||
=== History === | === History === | ||
The '''Old Connecticut Path''' was created by Native Americans in antiquity.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Connecticut_Path Old Connecticut Path] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 28 October 2014).</ref> It originally went about 94 miles (151 kilometers) from '''[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]''' to '''[[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]]''' in [[Massachusetts]]<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>, and then another 26 miles (42 kilometers) south to '''[[Hartford, Connecticut]]'''. It was the first eastern North American trail that led west from settlements on the Atlantic seacoast into the interior of America (Connecticut River Valley).<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Connecticut_Path Old Connecticut Path].</ref> The [[Connecticut River]] itself was also an important transportation route which attracted early settlers. Starting in the 1650s the Old Connecticut Path route was used as the '''''upper fork of the [[Boston Post Road]]''''' to New York City<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Post_Road Boston Post Road] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 28 October 2014).</ref>, also known as the '''''[[King's Highway]]''''' which eventually extended as far south as Charleston, South Carolina. In the 1760s stagecoaches began to traverse these roads carrying regular mail and passengers. Inns for stagecoach passengers usually were established near the time of American Revolution. 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> | The '''Old Connecticut Path''' was created by Native Americans in antiquity.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Connecticut_Path Old Connecticut Path] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 28 October 2014).</ref> It originally went about 94 miles (151 kilometers) from '''[[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]''' to '''[[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]]''' in [[Massachusetts]]<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>, and then another 26 miles (42 kilometers) south to '''[[Hartford, Connecticut]]'''. It was the first eastern North American trail that led west from settlements on the Atlantic seacoast into the interior of America (Connecticut River Valley).<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Connecticut_Path Old Connecticut Path].</ref> The [[Connecticut River]] itself was also an important transportation route which attracted early settlers. Starting in the 1650s the Old Connecticut Path route was used as the '''''upper fork of the [[Boston Post Road]]''''' to New York City<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Post_Road Boston Post Road] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia (accessed 28 October 2014).</ref>, also known as the '''''[[King's Highway]]''''' which eventually extended as far south as Charleston, South Carolina. In the 1760s stagecoaches began to traverse these roads carrying regular mail and passengers. Inns for stagecoach passengers usually were established near the time of American Revolution. 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> | ||
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'''Variations'''. Over time the route was shortened and straightened. A more direct road from Boston to Hartford (which skipped Springfield) also came to be called the '''Old Connecticut Path''', and also become the middle fork of the [[Boston Post Road]].<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Connecticut_Path Old Connecticut Path].</ref> <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Post_Road Boston Post Road].</ref> | '''Variations'''. Over time the route was shortened and straightened. A more direct road from Boston to Hartford (which skipped Springfield) also came to be called the '''Old Connecticut Path''', and also become the middle fork of the [[Boston Post Road]].<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Connecticut_Path Old Connecticut Path].</ref> <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Post_Road Boston Post Road].</ref> | ||
'''Toll roads'''. Massachusetts and Connecticut developed turnpike (toll) systems for wagon roads in the early 1800s including part of the route from Boston to Springfield (Palmer to Warren "Massachusetts 1st Turnpike").<ref>Wood, map between 56 and 57, and 63-64.</ref> Likewise, most of the more direct Boston to Hartford route became a turnpike (Hartford and Dedham,<ref>Wood, map between 56 and 57, and 138-40.</ref> | '''Toll roads'''. Massachusetts and Connecticut developed turnpike (toll) systems for wagon roads in the early 1800s including part of the route from Boston to Springfield (Palmer to Warren "Massachusetts 1st Turnpike").<ref>Wood, map between 56 and 57, and 63-64.</ref> Likewise, most of the more direct Boston to Hartford route became a turnpike (Hartford and Dedham,<ref>Wood, map between 56 and 57, and 138-40.</ref> Center,<ref>Wood, map between 330 and 331, and 396.</ref> and Hartford Tolland,<ref>Wood, map between 330 and 331, and 366-67.</ref> turnpikes). 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 waned 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. The first railroads in Massachusetts and Connecticut were built in the late 1830s. A rail line from Providence, Rhode Island reached Hartford, Connecticut and New York City about 1847.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_and_New_England_Railroad#West_from_Providence:_1846-1863 New York and New England Railroad] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 28 October 2014).</ref> | '''Decline'''. However, the use of early roads and turnpikes for moving settlers waned 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. The first railroads in Massachusetts and Connecticut were built in the late 1830s. A rail line from Providence, Rhode Island reached Hartford, Connecticut and New York City about 1847.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_and_New_England_Railroad#West_from_Providence:_1846-1863 New York and New England Railroad] in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' (accessed 28 October 2014).</ref> | ||
=== Route === | === Route === | ||
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:*[[Connecticut River]] attracted settlers by way of the Atlantic Ocean. | :*[[Connecticut River]] attracted settlers by way of the Atlantic Ocean. | ||
'''Modern parallels'''. The modern roads that roughly match the '''''Old Connecticut Path ''''' from Boston to Springfield to Hartford are: | '''Modern parallels'''. The modern roads that roughly match the '''''Old Connecticut Path ''''' from Boston to Springfield to Hartford are: | ||
:*Broadway in Cambridge | :*Broadway in Cambridge | ||
:*US-20 W from Watertown to Northborough | :*US-20 W from Watertown to Northborough | ||