Introduction
For
more than 2,000 years, highway builders have erected
milestone to indicate the distance to and from key landmarks
such as cities, towns and geographic features. During
the past two millennia, roadside signage has undergone
an evolution. For most of this time, roads have been
delineated with stone markers. During the past 150-200
years, wooden fingerboards began replacing milestones
due their low cost and the ease with which they can
be constructed. The downside is that fingerboards last
about 5-10 years.
During the early automobile era, metal
signs emerged. Of these, the porcelain enamel signs
proved to be the most enduring of the modern signs.
In recent years, highway departments have used a variety
of media to mark highways, most of which have an expected
life span of about 2-5 years. Some jurisdictions are
even using overhead electronic signboards, but these
too have a very short shelf life. It is fascinating
to note that while modern signs are less of a roadside
hazard and certainly easier to read from vehicles whizzing
along at 70 MPH, they do not last very long. While new
technologies have a half life of about 18 months, the
old masonry technology has an estimated half life of
about 500 years.
From
time to time I ponder the future of highway signage.
No doubt some time in the future there will be no signs
- everything will be driven by GPS and computer navigation.
When that happens, milestones will become an even greater
anachronism.
My initial interest in milestones grew
out of my National
Road research. Early road builders erected milestones
(and non-stone mileposts) along the highway from Baltimore
to Indianapolis - a distance of about 600 miles. I'm
not 100% sure about this, but I think the National Road's
delineation of milestones and mileposts make it the
longest single road marked as such.
Over the years, I have documented all
of the milestones and mileposts of the old National
Road, recording their location in journals and on USGS
maps, as well as taking detailed photographs.
The Milestone Society
It
came as no surprise to discover that the British have
a much greater appreciation for milestones than us Americans.
That being the case, there is a Milestone Society based
in the United Kingdom. If you are interested in joining,
please send £10 (if you're in the U.S., use an
international money order - do not send U.S. funds)
to:
The Milestone Society
Tenbury Road
Clows Top, Kidderminster
DY14 9HE
U.K.
Tel: 01299 832358
Fax: 01299 832162
terry-keegan@supernet.com
www.milestone-society.co.uk
The Milestone Society publishes a newsletter
twice a year with the intention of also issuing a journal.
The group meets twice a year, in the spring and in the
autumn. The next meeting will be Saturday, October
12, 2022, in the Lecture Hall of the Wiltshire Heritage
Museum at 41 Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1NS.
See their web
site for more information.
More importantly, the group is building
a national database of milestones.
Milestone
Photographic Collection
Review a
listing of milestones from around the world.
What do you call the study of...
One last thing... I would like to propose
a more scientific name for the study of milestones.
Here are some names that I've come up with and the rationale
for each. I realize these are not perfect, but they
are the best I can do! If you have a better suggestion,
please send it to
me.
Miliariology
- Based on the Latin word miliaria which means
milestone. This is perhaps the best choice,
since the word means 'the study of mile markers.'
One of the problems with this term is that it excludes
the study of boundary stones. Miliariology is certainly
scholarly sounding, but the word doesn't really roll
of one's tongue very well.
Lithoscriptology
- Roughly, they study of writing on stones. The advantage
of this term is that it includes boundary stones but
not non-stone markers such as cast iron mileposts.
