BPR Mile Marker 26 outside Christ's Church, Rye, NY - removed July 17, 2012

This 200+ year old marker had been in the wall outside Christ's Church on Boston Post Road since 1937:

"When Benjamin Franklin ordered milestones placed along the Post Road between Boston and New York, three
of them came within the boundaries of the Village of Rye. And they still exist to the pride of many residents
who hold Rye's early history in high esteem.

One of them is about to be moved. Village Trustee Archibald A. Forrest reported to the Village Board of Trustees, Wednesday night. It stood at the corner of Orchard Avenue and improvements make its removal necessary. The new location, Trustee Forrest said, will be in the stonewall of Christ's Church, which is nearer its original location. The other two stones in Rye Village are on the Post Road near the Edgar Palmer place and at Theall's Hill."

Rye Chronicle, January 22, 1937

The stone's number (26) had been eroded off by years of age yet it still stood witness to many stories in Rye's history. It was removed on July 17, 2012 and was broken in the process; it will now be examined by stone conservators and a plan to restore it will be drafted .

This is not the first time that this marker has been moved. The Rye Chronicle, May 5, 1928, shows a picture of the marker when it was located on the corner of Orchard Avenue and Boston Post Road.

It was apparently found by publisher GP Putnam in an abandoned lot he purchased in 1922 and he cemented it into the foundation of his country home in Rye on Locust Avenue (the same home he would occupy with his future, second wife and famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart years later.) Read the story from MyRye here:

www.myrye.com/my_weblog/2010/08/page/16/

In 1927, restoration of these mile markers to their place on Boston Post Road was spearheaded by the President of the Village of Rye, John Motley Morehead. Morehead reasoned "there are so few landmarks in America having an age that these landmarks possess." Not surprisingly, Morehead demanded that Putnam return the mile stone. Putnam was reluctant at first and initially offered a replica but when the Rye City Council threatened to sue, It appears Putnam complied!

Morehead's marker plaques all bear the same inscription:

"This is one of some 230 markers erected on the Boston Post Road in 1763.
Their locations were fixed by Benjamin Franklin the Deputy Postmaster General who for that purpose drove a chaise with a distance recorder over the route.
Restored to this its original position June 1st, 1927, by the village of Rye."

"Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set." (Proverbs XXII Verse 28.)

Rye's John Motley Morehead would go on to do many more things www.historync.org/laureate - Morehead.htm

Want to find other historical markers? Search the Historical Marker Database at: www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=34588

Jay Heritage Center
210 Boston Post Road
Rye, NY 10580
(914) 698-9275
Email: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com
www.jayheritagecenter.org

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Taken in: United States / New York / Rye / Downtown Rye (show map)

Taken on: July 25, 2010

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Sets appears in: • Mile Markers in Rye on the Boston Post Road • Boston Post Road Historic District (NR#82001275), Rye, NY

Groups appears in: • The Hudson Valley • History is All Around Us more » • Views: 2000 • Westchester County, NY • Historical Markers • Historical Buildings and Landmarks (No Limits) • **AMERICA, AMERICA! ~ Add 1 / Comment 1 • Colonial Times and Places « less

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