Franklin Mile Markers

I'm researching this stone, which stands on the tip of a traffic island on North Main Street, near the Pawtucket line. I think it may be one of the mile markers that were placed along the Boston Post Road in the mid-eighteenth century under the aegis of Ben Franklin, postmaster general. I'll be back with more pictures, but I'm told that there's another one about a half-mile west on North Main.


I understand that quite a few of these stones, sometimes called Franklin Mile Markers, still stand along the old routes of the upper and lower Post Roads in Massachusetts, RI, Connecticut and New York. They were notable landmarks in their day--any tavern near a "milestone" attracted more patrons. This one would have been on the outskirts of town, beyond the burial ground and the gaol. It's on a busy street, between a restaurant and an underground bowling alley (now that's another story)--I worry that an SUV driven by someone talking on a cell phone will knock it over. But I guess it's come THIS far...