Post. The Old Post Road. Yes, you’re going to have another history lesson. If somebody doesn’t teach you about this Great Country’s History, then I’m stuck with the job!
Travel between Boston and New York was a priority in Colonial times, just as it is today, and it wasn’t long after the Quaboag Plantation was settled that viable routes were established to connect the area with the cities.
In 1672, King Charles II decreed a mail system to aid communication between the colonies. A rider on horseback, saddlebags marked for each town along the route, would deliver mail once a month from New York to Boston through the Quaboag Hills.
Fees for delivering mail were assessed according to the miles it traveled, the recipient paying the tariff. Benjamin Franklin, the country’s first postmaster in 1767, devised a precise method to levy postage fees. He ordered brownstone markers placed each mile along the route between Boston and New York City, so mail carriers could charge the correct postage. These mileposts gave birth to the historic “Boston Post Rad” now routes 9 and 67 in the Quaboag Hills.
Imagine that – the sender didn’t have to pay – the recipient had to pay. I’m sure glad the mail isn’t handled that way now – Hey, hang on, wait a second…Hmmmm…. If we had to pay for receiving mail, then, I’ve got it, we could choose which mailed items we’d like to have! Eureka!! No more junk mail, no more jury duty, no more bills! Holy Crap! I’ve just solved the debt problem for America. Anyone care to comment?
Okay, back to reality. We talked about posts which leads us to comments, which leads us to Commentful. What’s that?
Commentful is a service that tracks blog posts and more and notifies you whenever a new comment has been added. How does it work? You simply add any URL to your Watchlist, and they do the rest. Try Commentful now! It’s free!
MorganLighter
