{"nrhp_refnum":"71000084","name":"1767 Milestones","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Between Boston and Springfield along Old Post Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.33009746700003,"lon":-71.09089106199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-04-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A group of forty surviving 1767 milestones (including the Roxbury Parting Stone) that marked mile intervals along the Old Post Road from Boston to Springfield, Massachusetts, across Suffolk, Norfolk, Middlesex, Worcester and Hampden Counties.","why_significant":"The milestones mark an important step in the history of American transportation. They resulted from British executive and parliamentary direction that the colonies survey their post roads, which Massachusetts carried out in the 1760s. The stones were later documented in a 1941 publication and a 1960 state law directed their preservation.","narrative":"Forty milestones set in 1767 survive along the Old Post Road between Boston and Springfield, out of an original ninety-nine. They mark mile intervals and are round-headed or rectangular monoliths, granite in the east and gray or brown sandstone in Worcester and Hampden Counties. Most carry a short inscription giving the number of miles from Boston. The best known is the Roxbury Parting Stone, erected by Paul Dudley and dated 1744, which gives directions to Dedham, Rhode Island, Cambridge and Watertown. The stones came about after Britain directed its colonies to survey their post roads; in 1767 the Massachusetts Council advised that stones be fixed at the mile marks of Captain Miller's survey, sometimes reusing stones set earlier by Dudley. The Works Progress Administration described them in 1940, and an Act of 1960 directed the Department of Public Works to preserve them. Most stones are in good condition, though some have been moved, broken or worn.","period_of_significance":"1767","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is generally good; nearly all stones keep their original shapes, though some are fragments or broken, four are illegible, and many have been moved short distances from the road. The state Department of Public Works is directed to preserve them.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.980141-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/7953/63795359/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/71000084.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000084/2c6473f470-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000084/2c6473f470-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BostonMA_PartingWaysStone.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BostonMA_PartingWaysStone.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"89000147","name":"Roxbury Highlands Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/roxbury-highlands-historic-district-89000147/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795359","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1767_Milestones","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4553039"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/1767-milestones-71000084/"}