The Hartland Turnpike: Suffield's Toll Road
Map of the Turnpikes of Connecticut: Credit Frederic J. Wood
I can’t believe the holidays are almost upon us! As I am sure is the case with many of you, I will be hitting the road for Thanksgiving. Thankfully, I don’t need to travel far, just over the river and through the woods to my brother-in-law’s in Somers. During that drive, I usually spend a few minutes reflecting on what I am thankful for so I know what I am going to say when it comes time at the dinner table. Aside from my wonderful family, beautiful home, and good health, this year I will be thankful for the road we are driving on.
Our roads are a vital means of connecting us and are a key part of making holiday memories with loved ones possible. You may take for granted that there is a road that can take you where you want to go for Thanksgiving dinner, but it wasn’t always this way. A key part of the growth in the road network in the early days of our country was the creation of turnpikes. In Suffield, the development of the Hartland Turnpike provides us with a glimpse of how these toll roads came to be and still impact us today.
So how did the concept of a turnpike come into being? The concept started in England and carried over to New England to solve the problem that increased trade and travel was having on the ability of local governments to maintain roads. The name comes from an anti-cavalry weapon of the same name which resembled the early toll gates.
A turnpike from the American Civil War Battle of Petersburg: Credit Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
While many local roads served their purpose well during colonial times, the movement westward of European settlers to the Ohio country in particular created a greater demand for roads that neither followed the coast nor a river. On top of the need for new roads, existing roads experienced increased wear and tear from both settlers and traders.
A Conestoga Wagon similar to one used by settlers heading to Ohio. Credit National Museum of American History
Individual towns were reluctant to create new roads or improve existing ones to meet the demands from increased traffic because they did not want to increase taxes to maintain roads that would mostly be used by nontaxpayers. For a typical resident of the era, the need for roads was limited to going to Sunday services and the occasional trip to the grist or saw mill. Subsistence farming meant that the need to travel and therefore, for good roads was very infrequent. Turnpikes presented a solution to the problem of upkeep by allowing private companies to own and charge tolls on the roads.
So how did the Hartland Turnpike Company get its start? In September of 1805, Elijah Rockwell, Cyrus Miller, Eber B. Clark, and Judah Phelps petitioned the General Assembly to form a committee to determine the feasibility of a turnpike that would begin in Norfolk, run through Colebrook, into Barkhamsted, through Hartland, into Granby and eventually into Suffield. The route would connect the Litchfield Hills to the Connecticut River which would allow the flow of farm goods and products of the Colebrook Ironworks to reach a much larger market. The committee of Elijah Chapman, Oliver King and Samuel Hart determined that for the most part, conditions were satisfactory for a turnpike. That being said, they did come up with some mandated upgrades before the company could start collecting tolls.
The most expensive of these upgrades directly affected Suffield. The existing road that was supposed to form the part of the turnpike through West Suffield was deemed insufficient for the purpose. A new section of road needed to be built on the lands of Theodore King and Issac Graham. To compensate the men for the loss of their land, the town of Suffield was required to pay them $61.75 and $52.50 respectively and on top of that the town needed to pay for the construction of the new road section. With the route set, the committee recommended to the General Assembly in May of 1806 that the turnpike company should be allowed to form.
The turnpike’s route through Suffield. Credit Google Maps
That same session, the General Assembly adopted legislation creating the Hartland Turnpike Company. In this legislation, it set a deadline of May 1st of 1809 for the completion of the new section of road in Suffield and a bridge over the Still River in Barkhamsted. After the completion of these two projects, the company could erect toll houses and gates in Colebrook, Hartland, and Suffield and charge the tolls pictured below.
Toll prices for the Hartland Turnpike: Credit Connecticut State Library
The General Assembly also specified where the toll gates were to be placed and dictated that one should be placed in Colebrook, one in Hartland, and one in Suffield. The gate in Suffield was to be placed “at the end of Manituck [Manitook] Mountain… on the Easterly side.” Today this would be approximately where Quarry Road and Phelps Road meet.
Turning the pike at a toll house. Image by Patrick M. Reynolds
Now this seems like a bad deal for the citizens of Suffield. First they had to compensate two of their fellow townsmen for the loss of their land to the tune of $114.25 which was a large sum of money during those days. Next they had to fund the construction of a new section of road. Finally, that road would be privatized and they would need to pay tolls to use it. So why did they agree to it? The answer lies in the exemptions granted by the legislature that basically made it so that very few Suffieldiens needed to pay the tolls.
To get citizens to agree to privatizing a public asset there were generally exemptions granted so that the majority of tolls were paid by those going long distances. In the case of the Hartland Turnpike, the legislature mandated that
“persons traveling on the Lord's day , and other days to attend public worship where they ordinarily attend , persons going to funerals , Freemans, Town, or Society Meetings and returning from the same, persons going to and returning from Grist Mills, Officers and Soldiers who are obliged to do Military Duty when going to, and returning from training, Farmers in the Neighbourhood of said Gate passing the same to attend their farming business, shall be excused paying Toll”
This meant that anyone living along the turnpike’s path now had access to a road that was mostly free to them and maintained by in large with the money of out of towners. Unfortunately, it seemed that the combination of unforeseen delays in construction, unexpectedly high maintenance costs, and less than expected traffic caused significant financial problems for the turnpike owners.
The first signs of trouble began in 1809 when the Hartland Turnpike Company missed its deadline to make the necessary road improvements to start collecting tolls. The General Assembly granted an extension to October 1st 1810. The road was finally completed in 1810 and started collecting tolls.
It seems though that the owners found that the road was not profitable as they had hoped and petitioned the General Assembly to move the gates only 2 years later with the gate in Suffield being required to be moved within one half mile of the house of Theodore King. Why move the gates? The petition does not give a reason, but it may have been to better prevent toll dodging or to try to catch more local traffic that was not exempt from paying the toll. Unfortunately for the Hartland Turnpike Company, the General Assembly continued their petition to their next session.
The intersection of Phelps Road and Quarry Road, the site of the Suffield Tollgate: Credit Google Earth
In May of 1813 the General Assembly decided to send out the commissioners responsible for monitoring turnpike conditions and advising the legislature on matters concerning the Hartland Turnpike to do a study of the proposed gate location change. These delays seem to have been the death knell of the turnpike company because its charter was revoked in 1814. While I was unable to find any record of why the charter was revoked, it likely suffered the fate of many other turnpikes of the era; either the turnpike company managing it became insolvent or the company neglected the roads to the point where the commissioners felt that the company had lost the public trust. At that point, the toll gates came down and the roads reverted to the control of their respective towns where they have remained ever since.
So when you are driving towards Granby from Mountain Road to Phelps Road to Quarry Road and vice versa heading towards the center of town, just know you are driving on a route that was part of an attempt to better connect us at the start of our nation.
Special Thanks to Susan Bigelow of the Connecticut State Library for her assistance researching this topic.
Bibliography
Arnold, Douglas M, 14 Public Records of the State of Connecticut From May Through October 1809 § (1990).
Arnold, Douglas M, 16 The Public Records of the State of Connecticut From May 1812 Through October 1813 § (1997).
Hinman, R R, Elisha Phelps, and Leman Church, 2 Resolves and Private Laws of the State of Connecticut From the Year 1789 to the Year 1836 § (1897).
What Remains of CT’s Earliest Turnpikes, interview with John Schwemmer and Mike Allen, Amazing Tales from off and on Connecticut’s Beaten Path, podcast audio, May 24, 2023 https://amazingtalesct.podbean.com/e/what-remains-of-ct-s-earliest-turnpikes/
Wood, Frederic J., and Ronald Dale Karr. The Turnpikes of New England: A New Edition of the 1919 Classic. Pepperell, MA: Branch Line Press, 1997.
