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FORMER PLANK ROAD

Program
NYS Historic
Subject
Industry & Commerce, Transportation
Location
CJRG+XV Richville, NY, USA
Lat/Long
44.442395, -75.372858
Grant Recipient
Town of De Kalb
Historic Marker

FORMER PLANK ROAD

Inscription

FORMER PLANK ROAD
SOUTHERN TERMINUS OF
HEUVELTON AND DE KALB
PLANK ROAD AT THIS POINT.
THIRTEEN MILE TOLL ROAD
COMPLETED DECEMBER 6, 1852.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2025

The first plank road in the United States was the Salina and Central Square Plank Road, completed in 1846, on what is today Route 11 near Syracuse. The newly introduced plank roads gave local citizens a chance to take transportation improvement into their own hands. Heuvelton and De Kalb Plank Road Company was organized February 6, 1849. The toll road began at the southern end of the bridge in Heuvelton and then along the course of the Old Northerner Road to the intersection with Route 11. Here, the final tollgate of the highway was located. The Heuvelton and De Kalb Plank Road was an 8’ wide plank road with similar width turnouts at regular intervals. The Heuvelton and De Kalb Plank Road had an economic advantage over many other routes in that it was the official mail route for the Ogdensburg mail from Utica. This brought an increase in stage and other traffic.

From Plank Roads and Roadhouses in De Kalb by Bryan Thompson, Town of De Kalb Historian. For the full text, please visit:


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