Group Works to Restore Benjamin Franklin Mile Markers

They've sat on Route 25 in Southold Town since they were placed in 1775, by none other than Benjamin Franklin himself.

James Grathwohl, of the Southold Historic Preservation Commission, came before the town board Tuesday and gave an update on various projects.

An effort is underway to restore the roadside Benjamin Franklin markers on Route 25, once called the King's Highway, he said.

"This is the only place in the state, if not in the nation," where they exist, Grathwohl said. 

All of the 30 original markers, save one — which the town still has in its possession — are still in place on the roadways, in spots including Mattituck, Laurel, Cutchogue, Peconic, Southold, Greenport, East Marion, and Orient.

"Some are in good condition, some not so much," Grathwohl said. 

Grathwohl said Doug Constant, an Orient member of the Commission, is chairing the restoration effort.

According to the Southold Historical Society's website, Franklin placed the mile markers to mark the Post Road to Boston.

The roads through Connecticut were too poor to be used, the site explains; the Post Road came out from New York City onto Long Island to the tip of Orient Point, where a ferry brought a postman to far eastern Connecticut and on to Boston.

There a small ferry could take a postman to far eastern Connecticut where he could travel on to Boston, Massachusetts.

Marker numbers one through six were located west of Laurel, and no longer exist; some think they were wooden and did not survive, the website states.