STATEWIDE — According to a story in a daily newspaper today, a Sussex County resident enjoyed seeing an ancient stone mile marker on Route 23 every day.
The stone sign said, “48 miles to Hoboken or Jersey City.”
But auto repair shop owner Bill DeBoer said that he noticed it missing recently.
Perhaps someone swiped it, or maybe the explanation is more innocent.
The Star-Ledger quotes county historian Wayne McCabe as saying it may have dated back 200 years.
McCabe tells the paper: “Tollbooths were set up along the [privately owned] pikes to collect funds from horse-pulled vehicles that used the pikes. When people did not want to want the fare for the pikes, they would use nearby but rougher and far less-maintained roads.”
The paper notes: “While the markers were undoubtedly used by farmers bringing their products to market in Jersey City or Hoboken, McCabe said, they were also used by the drivers and passengers aboard stagecoaches to determine how much farther they had to travel to reach their destinations.”
The person to call if you have information about the marker is Jim Doherty, the Wantage administrator, at administrator@wantagetwp-nj.org or (973) 875-7192.