The Old Milestones about Philadelphia.

46BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY. THE OLD MILESTONES ABOUT PHILADELPHIA.1 Many of the old roads radiating from the city of Philadelphia are guarded by milestones of upwards of a century and a half of service. These silent sentinels have seen the conestoga wagons of the pioneers migrating toward the sunset; the pillion saddles and sedan chairs of the revolutionary period ; the intercity stagecoaches that preceded the railroads ; the trolley cars, bicycles, and automobiles of the present day; and one of them, perhaps the oldest of all, daily sees the mail-carrying aeroplane break its journey between the metropolis and the capital. The critical date in milestone history is 1796, when the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, the first in America, was opened for traffic. In accordance with the stipulations of its charter, this company placed milestones for use in computing toll along its course. This provision was made in the charters of nearly all subsequent turnpike companies until 1859. These stones indicated the distance from the city limits, that being where the turnpike began, and so they can be distinguished from all earlier stones which measured from the old courthouse on Market Street between Front and Second Streets. Another point of difference is that the earlier stones were taken from local quarries, and in some instances were placed by private enterprise, so that they differ among themselves in size, shape, lettering, and material, while the turnpike stones are almost entirely of marble, a substance which came into use for the purpose with the turnpikes. In this article the various roads will be considered in geographical order, taking up first those north of the city. The Point-No-Point Road. This is the old Shackamaxon road taken by William Penn and the Indians when they went out to the Elm tree to sign the treaty. It is now known as Richmond Avenue. There are two mile1 In the preparation of this article acknowledgment of assistance is due to F. H. Shelton, F. Perry Powers, Anthony M. Hance, Dr. Herman Bürgin, Chas. F. Jenkins, and John R. Davies. ?. William Penn stone on Haver-2. Thomas Nossiter's stone in ford Road near City Line.front of Providence Meeting. 3. Lawrence Growden's 13th stone4· J- stone on Bethlehem Road on Bensalem Road.near Ambler. THE OLD MILESTONES ABOUT PHILADELPHIA.47 stones on it, numbered 4 and 5. The first stands near the corner of Venango Street. During the revolution, two American officers, John Laurens and Charles Lee, fought a duel over language used by the latter in speaking of George Washington. Both parties expressed satisfaction with the result, but Alexander Hamilton, Laurens' second, felt called upon to explain how honor could be satisfied without any shedding of blood, and wrote a long account of the affair, in which he states that it took place in the woods near the fourth milestone on the Point-no-point road. It is gratifying to read that both parties behaved like gentlemen. The stone is very roughly hewn, and so covered with soot that it is difficult to identify its material. It bears no legend other than the numeral. The Bristol Road. The Philadelphia, Bristol, and Morrisville Turnpike was opened in 1804. It began at Front Street and Germantown Road, then the city limits. The milestones now on the road measure from this point, and are typical turnpike stones of Pennsylvania marble. They are marked with the numeral and the letters M T arranged vertically. The M stands for miles, but the meaning of the T is obscure. These are not the original stones on this road, however . As early as 1764 the Philadelphia Contributionship2 had erected a series of milestones on this same course, as described in the following minute of that organization : May 16th 1764: Peter Reeve, Joseph Saunders, and Thomas Wharton, who were requested by the Board of Directors to apply the fines arising from non-attendance of the directors since the year 1761 in purchasing milestones, made the following report, viz : " We the Subscribers beg leave to Report to the Directors of the Fire Insurance Office, that, agreeable to their Request ' that we would procure a sufficient Number of Milestones and...