In colonial America, civilization was confined for many decades to the coastal areas, or to the waterways that flowed into the Atlantic. Thus, civilization moved quickly enough up the Hudson, the Connecticut, the Delaware, the Potomac, and the James Rivers. The major towns developed where there were harbors. To go from one town to another was usually a trip by ship not by land. Even as late as 1722, when Lt. Gov. Spotswood in Virginia wanted to attend a conference with the Indians at Albany, New York, he went all the way by ship. Except for the penetration of the interior along the rivers, civilization was confined to the coast. There was no desire to migrate to the west where travel was difficult and where the Indians lived.
The first road system in America was a coastal route which generally followed the course of the ocean. It was not until Charles II decided in 1664 that there should be a road connecting New York and New England that any significant road was built. But the first route was hardly a road. It was more nearly a riding trail for a person on horseback. The general route of this first "road" was west from Boston to today's Springfield, thence down the Connecticut River Valley to the ocean and along the coast to New York. A route that followed the ocean more closely did not come until later because the ocean or its bays came inland so far in Rhode Island.
Though the name of Boston Post Road was applied early, the path was hardly a road. It was meant to carry the post or mail, not cargo. It would have been much cheaper to ship cargo by water. In 1704, a woman on horseback accompanied the postman along this route and her comment was, "Unless someone followed a mail carrier, a traveler would not be able to find the Boston Post Road." Ships remained the primary mode of travel. From the main cities, located at the harbors, short roads branched to the interior.
By 1750, a road existed (with ferries) from Boston to Charleston; however, one should plan one's trip carefully because the weather might destroy the road and make it impassable. In much earlier notes, we followed along with the Moravian Brothers, who were moving from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and we saw that in many places they had to make their own road as they went. By the time of the Revolution, the coastal route (known up to then as the King's Highway) had been extended from Maine to Georgia. The road was one link that helped to unite the colonies.
From New York City, the road went overland to Trenton (on the Delaware River), and hence to Philadelphia (also on the Delaware). From there it went to Baltimore, where it turned to Annapolis, and hence to Alexandria (on the Potomac River). The next city was Fredericksburg (at the head of navigation on the Rappahannock River), then back to the ocean at Williamsburg (between the James and the York Rivers). From Norfolk, it turned inland a bit to avoid the major bays of North Carolina. Then it went to New Bern, Wilmington, Georgetown and Charleston. At many points, ferries had to be used.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.