Contributed by Cumberland Historical Society
Description
This 2004 photograph shows the carved mile marker stone B 136 (with a plaque installed on a smaller stone alongside) located on today's Route 88 a little northeast of the short road to Cumberland Town Landing.
It marks the 136 mile point from Boston on the Boston to Machais "King's Highway." The plaque states that this mile marker was "set in 1781 by order of Benjamin Franklin, Postmaster General."
Franklin was postmaster general for the colonies from 1753 to 1774. Some accounts say that Benjamin Franklin drove along the King's Highway with his invention, the odometer, attached to a wheel of the wagon, and that Franklin placed a wooden marker every mile.
Other wagons were said to follow him replacing his wooden markers with the carved stone markers, some of which survive to today.
About This Item
- Title: King's Highway marker, Cumberland, 2004
- Creation Date: 2004
- Subject Date: 2004
- Location: Cumberland, Cumberland County, ME
- Media: Photographic print
- Dimensions: 8.8 cm x 12.1 cm
- Local Code: 2009.0134
- Object Type: Image
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
- Distances
- Franklin, Benjamin, 1796-1790
- Historic markers--Maine--Cumberland
- King's Highway (Me.)
- Physical measurements
- Signs (Notices)
People
Other Keywords
For more information about this item, contact:
Cumberland Historical SocietyPO Box 82; 266 Main St, Cumberland, ME 04021
207-415-4589
Website
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.
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