| Quantity: | 1 box (ca. 1.0 cubic ft.) |
|---|---|
| Access: | Open to research |
| Acquisition: | Gift, Noble E. Whitford, January 1953 |
| Processed By: | Vicki Weiss, Manuscripts & Special Collections, 2011 |
Noble E. Whitford was born in April of 1865 to David and Sarah Noble Whitford. The family lived in Schuyler County, New York, before moving to Syracuse, New York, before 1880. Whitford attended Syracuse University, where he studied civil engineering. He was a member of the Phi Gamma Chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and graduated in 1889. In 1891 he married Anna P. Terry. Anna graduated from Syracuse University in 1889. They had two children, Marian, born in July 1894, and Robert, born in April 1902.
Whitford was a civil engineer. In the early twentieth century, he was employed by the New York State Department of Public Works and moved to Albany, New York, with his family. As part of his position, he researched the history of New York State's roads and canals. He published two books, History of the Canal System of the State of New York Together with Brief Histories of the Canals of the United States and Canada ([Albany: Brandow Printing Company, 1906]) and History of the Barge Canal of New York State ([Albany: J.B. Lyon Co., 1922]). After retiring from state employment, the Whitford family returned to Syracuse. Anna died in 1929 and Noble Whitford died sometime during the 1950s.
The collection consists of handwritten notes on roads and turnpikes in New York State. The notes contain information on the history of each company, based principally upon the acts of incorporation and petitions to the legislature, beginning in the Federal period.
According to a note signed by Noble E. Whitford, the material was gathered under his supervision at the direction of State Engineer Henry A. Van Alstyne in 1905 and 1906. The material was gathered from records in the New York State Library.
The number in parentheses following the name of each company is the number assigned by Whitford to the notes on that particular company. The list of companies (Folder 2) has many more names of companies than are found in this collection. The list of roads (Folder 3) more closely matches what is in the collection.
| Box | Folder | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Preface and note signed by Noble E. Whitford as to why and how the collection was compiled |
| 1 | 2 | List of Companies (alphabetical) |
| 1 | 3 | List of roads for which material was gathered |
| 1 | 4 | Index |
| 1 | 5 | [History of New York State Roads], pages 1-25 |
| 1 | 6 | [History of New York State Roads], pages 26-50 |
| 1 | 7 | [History of New York State Roads], pages 51-75 |
| 1 | 8 | [History of New York State Roads], pages 76-100 |
| 1 | 9 | [History of New York State Roads], pages 101-125 |
| 1 | 10 | [History of New York State Roads], pages 126-150 |
| 1 | 11 | Albany and Delaware Turnpike (1) |
| 1 | 12 | Canaan and Union Village Turnpike (2) |
| 1 | 13 | Highlands Turnpike Company (2B) |
| 1 | 14 | Hillsdale and Chatham Turnpike (3) |
| 1 | 15 | Albany and Schenectady Turnpike Company (3B) |
| 1 | 16 | Charlotte Turnpike Road (4) |
| 1 | 17 | Union Turnpike Road (4B) |
| 1 | 18 | The Little Delaware Turnpike (5) |
| 1 | 19 | Delaware Turnpike Company (1845) (6) |
| 1 | 20 | Dover and Union Dale Turnpike Company (7) |
| 1 | 21 | Newburgh and Chenango Turnpike Road Company (7B) |
| 1 | 22 | Newburgh and Cohocton Turnpike Road (8) |
| 1 | 23 | Eastern Union Turnpike Company (8B) |
| 1 | 24 | Troy and Schenectady Turnpike (9) |
| 1 | 25 | Mohawk Turnpike and Bridge Company (10) |
| 1 | 26 | Troy and Sand Lake Turnpike (11) |
| 1 | 27 | Rensselaer and Columbia Turnpike Road (11B) |
| 1 | 28 | Stephentown Turnpike Road (12) |
| 1 | 29 | First Northern Turnpike (12B) |
| 1 | 30 | Stephentown and Nassau Turnpike (13) |
| 1 | 31 | Farmer's Turnpike (13B) |
| 1 | 32 | Utica Turnpike (14) |
| 1 | 33 | Whitehall and Granville Turnpike Company (15) |
| 1 | 34 | Hamilton and Skaneateles Turnpike Company (15B) |
| 1 | 35 | Philipstown Turnpike Company (16) |
| 1 | 36 | The Ogdensburg Turnpike (16B) |
| 1 | 37 | Dutchess Turnpike (17) |
| 1 | 38 | St. Lawrence Turnpike (17B) |
| 1 | 39 | Crobois Turnpike Company (18) |
| 1 | 40 | Lake Erie Turnpike Company (18B) |
| 1 | 41 | Crobois (Dutchess) Turnpike (19) |
| 1 | 42 | Albany and Bethlehem Turnpike (19B) |
| 1 | 43 | Cayuga Turnpike Road Company (20) |
| 1 | 44 | Susquehannah [sic] and Bath Turnpike Road Company (21) |
| 1 | 45 | Ulster and Delaware Turnpike (22) |
| 1 | 46 | Ulster and Delaware First Branch Road (23) |
| 1 | 47 | Ulster and Orange Branch Turnpike Road (24) |
| 1 | 48 | The Saugerties and Woodstock Turnpike (25) |
| 1 | 49 | Mount Hope and Lumberland Turnpike Company (26) |
| 1 | 50 | Neversink Turnpike Road Company (27) |
| 1 | 51 | Warwick and Minisink Turnpike Company (28) |
| 1 | 52 | Goshen and Minisink Turnpike Road (29) |
| 1 | 53 | Minisink and Montgomery Turnpike Road (30) |
| 1 | 54 | Goshen and Walkill Turnpike Company (31) |
| 1 | 55 | Bowman's Creek Turnpike (32) |
| 1 | 56 | Newtown Turnpike Road (33) |
| 1 | 57 | Orange Turnpike Road (34) |
| 1 | 58 | Ithaca and Geneva Turnpike Company (35) |
| 1 | 59 | Great Island Turnpike Company (36) |
| 1 | 60 | Jamaica and Rockaway Turnpike Company (37) |
| 1 | 61 | The Greenfield Turnpike Company (38) |
| 1 | 62 | Seneca (Genesee Road) (39) |
| 1 | 63 | Cape Vincent Turnpike Road (40) |
| 1 | 64 | Schoharie and Duanesburgh Turnpike Toad (41) |
| 1 | 65 | Utica and Minden Turnpike (42) |
| 1 | 66 | Bath and Sparta Turnpike Company (43) |
| 1 | 67 | Bellvale and Monroe Turnpike Company (44) |
| 1 | 68 | Berlin and Poestenkill Turnpike Road Company (45) |
| 1 | 69 | Blenheim, Jefferson and Harpersfield Turnpike Company (46) |
| 1 | 70 | The Malden Turnpike Company (47) |
| 1 | 71 | Bristol and Rensselaerville Turnpike Road (48) |
| 1 | 72 | Brooklyn, Jamaica and Flatbush Turnpike Company (49) |
| 1 | 73 | Plank Road from Buffalo to Batavia (50) |
| 1 | 74 | Buffalo and Williamsville McAdam Road Company (51) |
| 1 | 75 | Bushwick and Newton Bridge and Turnpike Road Company (52) |
| 1 | 76 | Butternut and Oxford Turnpike Company (53) |
| 1 | 77 | Butternut and Sherburne Turnpike (54) |
| 1 | 78 | Carterville Turnpike Company (55) |
| 1 | 79 | Cairo and Eastkill Turnpike Company (56) |
| 1 | 80 | Catskill and Mountain Turnpike Company (57) |
| 1 | 81 | Cayuga and Seneca Road and Bridge Company (58) |
| 1 | 82 | The Cayuga and Susquehannah [sic] Turnpike Company (59) |
| 1 | 83 | Chatham Turnpike Road (60) |
| 1 | 84 | Chenango Turnpike Company (61) |
| 1 | 85 | The Chenango Turnpike of 1812 (62) |
| 1 | 86 | Dunderburgh and Clove Turnpike Company (63) |
| 1 | 87 | The Fall-Kill Turnpike and Bridge Company (64) |
| 1 | 88 | Fallsburgh Turnpike Company (65) |
| 1 | 89 | The Flushing and Newtown Turnpike and Bridge Company (66) |
| 1 | 90 | Fallsburgh and Liberty Turnpike Road Company (67) |
| 1 | 91 | Gilboa and Jefferson Turnpike Road Company (68) |
| 1 | 92 | Gilboa and Potters Hollow Turnpike Company (69) |
| 1 | 93 | Gravesend and Coney Island Bridge and Road Company (70) |
| 1 | 94 | The Great Northern Turnpike (71) |
| 1 | 95 | Hamilton Turnpike (72) |
| 1 | 96 | Hector and Catherine Turnpike (73) |
| 1 | 97 | The Hempstead Turnpike (74) |
| 1 | 98 | The Hudson Branch Turnpike (75) |
| 1 | 99 | Hunter Turnpike (76) |
| 1 | 100 | The Huntington and Smithtown Turnpike Company (77) |
| 1 | 101 | The Jericho Turnpike Company (78) |
| 1 | 102 | Johnstown Turnpike (79) |
| 1 | 103 | Kingston and Middletown Turnpike Company (80) |
| 1 | 104 | Kingston Turnpike and Railroad Company (81) |
| 1 | 105 | Leroy and Brockport McAdam Road Company (82) |
| 1 | 106 | Monroe and Haverstraw Road Company (83) |
| 1 | 107 | Montezuma Turnpike and Bridge Company (84) |
| 1 | 108 | Nassau Turnpike Company (85) |
| 1 | 109 | New Baltimore and Rensselaerville Turnpike Road (86) |
| 1 | 110 | New Hamburgh Turnpike (87) |
| 1 | 111 | New Windsor and Cornwall Turnpike (88) |
| 1 | 112 | Newburgh and New Windsor Turnpike Company (89) |
| 1 | 113 | Newburgh and Plattenkill Turnpike (90) |
| 1 | 114 | Newburgh and Sullivan (91) |
| 1 | 115 | Newton and Bushwick Turnpike (92) |
| 1 | 116 | Oneida Turnpike (93) |
| 1 | 117 | Oswego Turnpike (94) |
| 1 | 118 | Oswego and Ithaca Turnpike (95) |
| 1 | 119 | Oneonta and Franklin Turnpike Company (96) |
| 1 | 120 | The Parishville Turnpike (97) |
| 1 | 121 | Peekskill Turnpike Company (98) |
| 1 | 122 | Rensselaerville and Durham Turnpike (99) |
| 1 | 123 | Richmond Turnpike Company (100) |
| 1 | 124 | Snake Hill Turnpike (101) |
| 1 | 125 | South Oyster Bay Turnpike (102) |
| 1 | 126 | Watervliet Turnpike Company (103) |
| 1 | 127 | Westchester Turnpike Road (104) |
| 1 | 128 | Westchester and Dutchess Turnpike Company (105) |
| 1 | 129 | Williamsburgh Turnpike Road and Bridge Company (106) |
| 1 | 130 | The First Great Western Turnpike (107) |
| 1 | 131 | The Second Great Western Turnpike (108) |
| 1 | 132 | The Third Great Western Turnpike (109) |
| 1 | 133 | The Fourth Great Western Turnpike (110) |
| 1 | 134 | The Fifth Great Western Turnpike (111) |
| 1 | 135 | Schoharie Turnpike Corporation (112) |
| 1 | 136 | The Susquehannah Turnpike Road Company (113) |
| 1 | 137 | Coxsackie Turnpike Road (114) |
| 1 | 138 | Columbia Turnpike Road (115) |
| 1 | 139 | The Dutchess Turnpike Company (116) |
| 1 | 140 | The Philipstown Turnpike (116B) |
| 1 | 141 | The Whitehall and Granville Turnpike Company (117) |
| 1 | 142 | The Buffalo and Hamburgh Turnpike Company (118) |
| 1 | 143 | Waterford and Whitehall Turnpike Company (119) |
| 1 | 144 | Croton Turnpike Company (120) |
| 1 | 145 | Union Turnpike Company of Columbia County (121) |
| 1 | 146 | Troy and Sand Lake Turnpike Company (122) |
| 1 | 147 | Eastern Union Turnpike Company (123) |
| 1 | 148 | Stephentown and Nassau Turnpike Company (124) |
| 1 | 149 | Brunswick and Pittstown Turnpike Company (125) |
| 1 | 150 | Canaan and Union Village Turnpike (126) |
| 1 | 151 | Eastern Turnpike Road Company (127) |
| 1 | 152 | Notes and Scraps of Paper |