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
The Ulster and Delaware Turnpike, also known as the Jericho Turnpike  or the Esopus Turnpike  ran about 135 miles (217 kilometers) from Millerton, NY (Salisbury, CT) through Kingston, NY to the Catskill Turnpike extension at Bainbridge, NY. This route was like a southern fork of the Catskill Road through the Catskill Mountains.

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 from Kingston to Bainbridge in 1804. Moreover, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts all approved an important network of feeder  turnpike routes leading toward the Catskill Turnpike—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 1840s and 1850s. 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)