Ulster and Delaware Turnpike

United States Migration  Trails and Roads  New York  Ulster and Delaware Turnpike

Did an ancestor travel the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike of New York? Learn about this settler migration route, its transportation history, and find related genealogy sources.

History
Two branches join a trunk route. The Ulster and Delaware Turnpike opened in 1802, and was also known as the Jericho Turnpike  or the Esopus Turnpike. It was a south branch route that went west about 135 miles (217 kilometers) from Millerton, NY (Salisbury, CT) through Rhinebeck, NY, used a ferry to cross the Hudson River to Kingston, NY, and then continued on to connect at the east end of the important main trunk Catskill Turnpike at Bainbridge, NY.

An alternate north branch route which also connected to the east end of the Catskill Turnpike was known as the Ancram Turnpike  or the Catskill Road. From Millerton, NY (Salisbury, CT) it went northwest 30 miles (48 kilometers) to Catskill, NY. From Catskill this route was called the Susquehanna Turnpike (aka Catskill and Susquehanna Turnpike  or the Catskill Turnpike  ) which opened as a turnpike in 1800 and continued from Catskill, NY by traversing west about 94 miles (151 kilometers) to Unadilla, NY on the Susquehanna River.

Both branches joined with the main trunk Catskill Turnpike, also known as the Susquehanna and Bath Turnpike,  opened in 1804 on its way from Unadilla, NY (on the Susquehanna River) west about 10 miles (16 kilometers) to Bainbridge, NY (junction with the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike) and then west about 130 more miles (209 kilometers) to Bath, NY.

Both the north Susquehanna Turnpike, and south Ulster and Delaware Turnpike  were sometimes identified as a part of the Catskill Road or Catskill Turnpike. Sometimes, even feeder routes in Massachusetts and Connecticut were also identified as part of the Catskill Road.

Pre-turnpike era. New England residents gradually began moving into central New York on foot or horseback by 1753. In 1790 the opening of the Military Tract in modern Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, and Seneca counties began attracting Revolutionary War veterans, their families, and other New Englanders into central New York. In 1792 a mail route (and probably a stage line) was established just to the north on the Catskill Road. The Ulster and Delaware Turnpike route was already a pioneer pathway, and probably was a wagon road before that mail service was started just to the north.

Stages. Stagecoaches generally began regular transport of mail and passengers on long trips in the American colonies in the 1760s. They made regular trips between stages  or stations where travelers were provided food and rest. Where available, stagecoaches became a preferred way for settlers to travel to a new home.

Toll roads. As traffic increased along a roadway American political leaders turned to toll roads (turnpikes) to raise money to improve, clear, and repair their local highways. Toll revenue from stagecoaches, drovers, and other travelers was used to maintain the roadbeds and bridges, and, if there was enough left over (rarely happened), to pay a turnpike stockholder dividend. If turnpike revenue decreased too much, the roadway maintenance was typically turned over to the state, and the path was made a free public road.

The Ulster and Delaware Turnpike was a gateway route into central New York when it opened all the way from Kingston to Bainbridge in 1804. Moreover, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts all approved an important network of feeder  turnpike routes leading toward the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike and Catskill Turnpike combination—all of which eventually became associated with the Catskill name.

Railroad competition. The heyday of wagon roads into central New York was the early 1800s before the coming of the railroads in the 1830s and 1840s. Railroads were faster, less expensive, and safer to use than overland wagon roads. As railroads entered an area, the long distance overland wagon roads (especially the toll roads) normally became less used. Railroads like the following began moving settlers and replaced much of the wagon road traffic in the area:


 * 1831 Mohawk and Hudson Railroad (Albany, NY - Buffalo, NY)
 * 1833 Hartford and New Haven Railroad (Hartford, CT - New Haven, CT)
 * 1836 Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad (Albany, NY - West Stockbridge, MA)
 * 1836 Housatonic Railroad (Bridgeport, CT - Hudson and Berkshire Railroad)
 * 1838 Hudson and Berkshire Railroad (Hudson, NY - Housatonic Railroad)
 * 1841 Boston and Albany Railroad (Boston-Worcester-Sprinfield-Pittsfield-Albany)

Route
The Ulster and Delaware Turnpike connected the Salibury and Canaan Turnpike at Millerton to Kingston to the Catskill Turnpike at Bainbridge through the following places:


 * Dutchess County, New York
 * Ulster County, New York
 * Delaware County, New York
 * Chenango County, New York

Connecting Routes. The Ulster and Delaware Turnpike  connected with several other migration routes:

Millerton, New York connnections:


 * The Salisbury and Canaan Turnpike  from the Greenwood Road at Canaan, CT to Millerton, NY was the eastern feeder route out of Connecticut into the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike.
 * The Ancram Turnpike (aka Catskill Road) from the Salisbury and Canaan Turnpike  to Catskill, NY and the Catskill Turnpike was a rival more northerly route to central New York.

mid-route connections:


 * Albany Post Road from New York City to Albany, NY crosses the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike  in Rhinebeck, NY.
 * Hudson River from Albany, NY to New York City, NY crosses the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike  between Rhinebeck, NY and Kingston, NY.
 * Minsi Path from Kingston, NY to Port Jervis, NY and Philadelphia, PA connects to the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike  in Kingston, NY.

Bainbridge, New York connections:


 * Catskill Turnpike (aka Susquehanna and Bath Turnpike) from Unadilla, NY on the Susquehanna River to Bath, NY, was a westward extension of the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike.
 * Lehigh and Lackawanna Paths from Unadilla, NY through Scranton, PA to join the Minsi Path in Northampton County, PA on its way to Philadelphia. The Lehigh and Lackawanna Paths connected with the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike  near Unadilla, NY.

Modern parallels. The modern roads that roughly match the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike  from Millerton, NY to Bainbridge, NY are:


 * From the Salisbury and Canaan Turnpike  (US-44) at Millertown, New York  take Winchell Mountain Road / NY-199 / NY-308 west toward Rhinebeck.
 * Cross the Hudson River on NY-199 / Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge (a ferry in pioneer days).
 * From Kingston take NY-28 west to Delhi.
 * At Delhi turn southwest on NY-10 to Walton.
 * At Walton turn northwest on NY-206 which continues into Bainbridge, New York.

Settler Records
Early settlers in central New York most likely traveled there from Connecticut, and Massachusetts. But people from almost every part of the eastern seaboard and Europe also were common in the area.

No complete list of settlers in New York who used the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike is known to exist. Nevertheless, local and county histories along that trail may reveal pioneer settlers, and therefore who were the most likely candidates to have traveled the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike.

For partial lists of early settlers who may have used the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike, see local histories like:

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