Alan Crawford

On July 4th weekend I entertained a gentleman who is a long-haul trucker and has genealogical ties to our area. I picked him up at a truck stop and provided a tour of the improvements made to the Rossville Church and Cemetery before heading over to the Crawford House so he could become acquainted with what they have to offer.

After spending a couple of hours there, we headed back to where his rig was parked. I chose to travel up Broadway to State Route 17K and show him the historical Cochecton Turnpike mile markers.

When I approached the location of the 1 Mile Marker, it was obvious its location was obscured behind a construction lane closure, so we continued on to the 2 Mile Marker. Arriving at its location, I was shocked to see the masonry enclosure had been destroyed and the marker dragged about 40 feet beyond the base it set upon!

Being a holiday weekend, I decided not to try and park and walk the entire area with the traffic. I sent out an email Sunday evening to appropriate individuals stating what I had discovered to alert them if they didn’t know and hoped if someone had, they would communicate so. Regardless, I stated I would head back at daybreak Monday morning when there was no traffic and do a more thorough survey.

Monday morning the traffic was sparse and I was able to safely park and inspect the 1 Mile Marker. The contractor had done a great job protecting this centuries old marker and deserves kudos for his efforts.

At the 2-mile marker it was easily seen that not only was the marker and its enclosure damaged, but also what looked like a gas pipe was bent over. Rolling the marker over, it was obvious the incident was not fresh and not from the current contractor.

Rather than leave the marker where it might be lost, with the help of our Town Police, we loaded it into my vehicle. We are presently looking for bids to have it restored to its position with the proper protection.

What is ironic is, if you remember, I had written last fall about another marker I was given to research and we were trying to determine where it should be placed. I had just reached out to Ray Kelly the previous week and we’re putting together a road trip to document each marker and its location in the very near future. Once we have our survey in place, we’ll get the two markers properly placed and protected.