MILESTONES

MILESTONES

You've heard of them.  You've reached them.   Have you ever seen one?

Civilizations have been building milestones for eons.  Mostly, they were stone markers to indicate distance from one place to another or how far along a road, path or trail you had come.  Today, we use mile markers on the freeways - same idea.

Well, you can find a few of them still standing all over the world and at least one right here in the Cincinnati area.  I'm told, that in the Village of Wyoming, a mile marker stands in a park along side route 4.  It is a stone marker on which has been place a metal sign inscribed with the following explanation about the local milestones.

HAMILTON, SPRINGFIELD AND CARTHAGE TURNPIKE ESTABLISHED IN 1834.  "SPRINGFIELD PIKE" WAS A TOLL ROAD THROUGH WYOMING FOR MANY YEARS.  FOR EACH TEN MILES ON THE ROAD, TRAVELERS PAID FROM 6-1/4 CENTS FOR A HORSE AND RIDER TO 75 CENTS FOR A FOUR-WHEELED CARRIAGE DRAWN BY FOUR HORSES.  PERSONS GOING TO OR FROM CHURCH, MILITARY MEN ON DUTY AND FUNERAL PROCESSIONS TRAVELED FREE.  A STONE SUCH AS THIS WAS REQUIRED TO MARK EACH MILE OF THE ROAD.

Here is one from England.


I've reached a lot of milestones but have never seen one.  I plan on finding the one in Wyoming.  There is one more milestone I expect to reach - alas, the stone will be placed atop me.