Dutchess Turnpike Milemarker 5

5 Miles from P.C. House

Location:

This milestone is located on the north/west side of U.S. Route 44 in the Town of Poughkeepsie just east of Hart Drive, in front of 1183 Dutchess Tpke. Coordinates are 41.721026°, -73.848304°. A search of the Dutchess County Records Room located a map showing that the stone is outside the property boundaries and therefore in the NYSDOT right-of-way [2], making NYSDOT the owner of the milestone.

History:

The stone appears to have been at least partially buried.

This stone was located by the NYSDOT ROW Mapping Group in November 1979 as on left side of the road, 2.8mi east of the Rt 44/Burnett Blvd intersection [3]. In 1983 and 1984 [2], Clifford Buck inventoried the remaining stones on the Dutchess Turnpike and identified stone #5 as on the north side of the road “by the sign of Hart’s Apples”; this is likely the current location since Hart Drive is likely named for Hart’s Apples.

Sources:

[1] Dutchess County Historical Society Year Book 1984, page 153-170, “Turnpikes of Pleasant Valley” by Alson D. Van Wagner

[2] Filed map #9361 for 1183 Dutchess Turnpike, 134689-6362-01-228744-0000. Photographed below. See marker at point labeled “mile post”.

[3] Undated (circa 1980) untitled writeup on history of Dutchess Turnpike compiled by K. Chapman of NYSDOT Region 8; document retained by NYSDOT Region 8 ROW Mapping