Conestoga Road | |
---|---|
Route information | |
Existed | 1684–present |
Major junctions | |
West end | Allegheny Valley |
East end | Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
Highway system | |
Conestoga Road, also called "Conestoga Pike" or "Allegheny Path", is a historic road dating from at least 1684 in what is now the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It starts as Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia to the west through Morgantown, Harrisburg and west towards the Allegheny Valley. Originally the road was a walking path that was 12-18 inches in width. During the era of horse drawn Conestoga wagons, the road was widened. During most of its existence as a turnpike, it served as the alternate route to the Lancaster Pike and Ridge Road (present day Pennsylvania Route 23). The route gained notoriety as the shortest route from Philadelphia to Harrisburg.
From Philadelphia, the road follows modern-day Montgomery Avenue through Wynnewood, Ardmore, and Haverford. In Haverford, Conestoga Road then follows Old Lancaster Road in Bryn Mawr where it is briefly concurrent with Lancaster Avenue (then called “the turnpike”) and follows Old Lancaster Road again past the Bryn Mawr Hospital to County Line Road, where it becomes Conestoga Road. In modern day Wayne, the road merges again with Lancaster Avenue before splitting back off as East and West Conestoga Road in Devon. The road merges back onto Old Lancaster Road and eventually back to Lancaster Avenue (Lancaster Pike) near the Daylesford train station. The road today is discontinuous at this point due to the road being useless between Berwyn and East Whiteland Township where today it traverses many local roads. Conestoga Road continues as Pennsylvania Route 401 until Elverson.
From Elverson, the road continues to Harrisburg and the Allegheny Valley according to sources. [1] As a turnpike, the road was the fourth in Pennsylvania. Routing-wise, the road bypassed the town of Lancaster. [2] [3]
The Conestoga Road dates back to 1684, when the Allegheny Path ran from Philadelphia west to the Allegheny Valley; this path became known as the Conestoga Pike or Old Conestoga Road. The path was used by the Susquehannock and other Native American tribes to trade with people in Philadelphia in the 1700s. The eastern section of the road closer to Philadelphia was improved by settlers of the Welsh Tract. A road petition was granted in 1718 to improve a portion of the road in present-day Chester County. The Conestoga Pike was incorporated in 1811 as a turnpike. The turnpike was 20 feet (6.1 m) wide to carry wagon traffic. The Little Conestoga Turnpike Company was formed in 1809 to construct a turnpike from the Lancaster Pike west to the base of the Welsh Mountains near Morgantown, where connecting turnpikes would continue west to Lancaster. The turnpike, which was built to be 60 feet (18 m) wide, was completed in 1819. The turnpike was not profitable and after 30 years the Little Conestoga Turnpike Company was disbanded and the toll gates were removed. [1]
The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road that is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States. It runs for 360 miles (580 km) across the state, connecting Pittsburgh in Western Pennsylvania with Philadelphia in eastern Pennsylvania, and passes through four tunnels as it crosses the Appalachian Mountains in central Pennsylvania.
Caernarvon Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,252 at the 2020 census. It is often referred to as Morgantown, the township's largest village.
New Morgan is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 54 at the 2020 census.
Narberth is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is one of many neighborhoods on the historic Philadelphia Main Line. The population was 4,282 at the 2010 census.
The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's once prestigious Main Line, it runs northwest from Center City Philadelphia parallel to Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, also known as U.S. Route 30.
Wynnewood is a suburban unincorporated community, located west of Philadelphia, straddling Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States.
Villanova is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It straddles Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County and Radnor Township in Delaware County. It is located at the center of the Philadelphia Main Line, a series of Philadelphia suburbs located along the original east–west railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is served by the SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line regional rail train and the Norristown High Speed Line.
Morgantown is a census-designated place in Caernarvon Township, located in southern Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located partially in Caernarvon Township in Lancaster County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 826 residents.
Penn Valley is an unincorporated community located within Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn Valley residents share a zip code with Merion, Narberth, or Wynnewood because the community does not have its own post office. However, Penn Valley is a distinct community whose civic association demarcates its boundaries with iconic signs featuring William Penn and a farmhouse in blue or red on white, dating from 1930.
U.S. Route 30 (US 30) is a U.S. Highway that runs east–west across the southern part of Pennsylvania, passing through Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on its way from the West Virginia state line east to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River into New Jersey.
Pennsylvania Route 232 (PA 232) is a 25.2-mile-long (40.6 km) state highway located in southeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 1 (US 1)/US 13 at the Oxford Circle in Philadelphia. The northern terminus is at PA 32 in the borough of New Hope, Bucks County, on the banks of the Delaware River. The route passes through the urban areas of Northeast Philadelphia as Oxford Avenue, serving the Lawncrest, Burholme, and Fox Chase neighborhoods. Upon entering Montgomery County, PA 232 becomes Huntingdon Pike and through suburban areas, serving the communities of Rockledge, Huntingdon Valley, and Bryn Athyn. The route passes through more suburban development in Bucks County as Second Street Pike, running through Southampton and Richboro. In Wrightstown Township, PA 232 enters rural areas and becomes Windy Bush Road as it heads north to New Hope.
Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a long and variegated history. An early-settled part of the United States, and lying on the route between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, it has been the site of early experiments in canals, railroads, and highways. Before all these, at least ten Native American paths crossed parts of the county, many connecting with the Susquehannock village of Conestoga.
Pennsylvania Route 23 is an 81.14-mile-long (130.58 km) state highway in southeastern Pennsylvania. The route begins at PA 441 in Marietta and heads east to U.S. Route 1 at City Avenue on the border of Lower Merion Township and Philadelphia. PA 23 begins at Marietta in Lancaster County and continues east to Lancaster, where it passes through the city on a one-way pair of streets and intersects US 222 and US 30.
Pennsylvania Route 401 is a 20.2-mile-long (32.5 km) east–west state route in Berks and Chester counties, located in southeast Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at PA 23 in Caernarvon Township, across the county line from Elverson. The eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 30 in East Whiteland Township, a short distance west of Malvern. PA 401 is called Conestoga Road its entire length and runs through rural areas with suburban development toward the eastern part of the route. PA 401 follows a former turnpike chartered in 1809 known as the Little Conestoga Turnpike. PA 401 was designated along Conestoga Road between PA 29 and US 30/PA 1 in 1928. The route was extended west to PA 23 in the 1930s, at which time the entire length was paved.
Brownsville Road is a road between Pittsburgh, at Eighteenth Street and South Avenue in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania eastwards through Mount Oliver and generally highlands situated along or near the hilltops often overlooking the Monongahela River. It has had several names over its history, and was also known at the Red Stone Road and the period it was a Plank Road managed as a toll road, the Brownsville Plank Road, or the Brownsville Turnpike, or locally, as the area grew into a city, Southern Avenue.
Ludwigs Corner is an unincorporated village located in West Vincent Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It is four miles north of Eagle.
State Route 2005 is a major 9.3 mile (15 km) long road, running in a southeast–northwest direction in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at Pennsylvania Route 320 in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania. Its eastern terminus is at a Cobbs Creek bridge in Darby, Pennsylvania. Past this bridge is State Route 3023, which continues into Philadelphia. SR 2005 is known as Darby Road in Haverford Township, Lansdowne Avenue from U.S. Route 1 to Darby, and Main Street in Darby.
Strasburg Road was an early road in Pennsylvania connecting Philadelphia to Strasburg in Lancaster County. The route was surveyed by John Sellers and others in 1772-3 under the colonial administration of Governor Richard Penn and completed under the new administration of the independent state of Pennsylvania. The route started at the "second ferry" on the Schuylkill River, today's Market Street in Philadelphia, and went through West Chester, East Fallowfield Township, and Gap, before ending in Strasburg. Earlier roads travelled much the same route, including a Native American path in use as early as 1620.
Several special routes of U.S. Route 30 exist. In order from west to east they are as follows.
U.S. Route 122 was a United States Numbered Highway that was a spur of US 22. Located in the state of Pennsylvania, it existed from 1935 to 1963. At its greatest extent, the route ran from US 1 and Pennsylvania Route 472 in Oxford north to US 11 and PA 14 in Northumberland. Along the way, US 122 passed through Parkesburg, Honey Brook, Morgantown, Reading, Hamburg, Schuylkill Haven, Pottsville, Frackville, Ashland, Centralia, Mount Carmel, Shamokin, and Sunbury.