What a Pain in the Ash….Traveling that Bumpy Road

Summary

How did man, horse and wagon traverse the muck and marshes that so often surrounded America’s earliest coastal towns? Without the benefit of iron, steel, and concrete, the 18th century road builder could span muddy stretches with a corduroy road. This road type was made by placing whole, sand-covered logs perpendicular to the direction of the road in low or swampy areas. The corduroy road was an essential technique for establishing networks between communities and critical resources. The Ash Creek Corduroy Road is a preserved archaeological site directly associated with the colonial history of Fairfield, CT. A tidal grist mill and a dam were established ca. 1750 at the mouth of Ash Creek. A corduroy road was constructed along the Creek’s salt marsh to link an early town road, the mill, and the Black Rock residents. Today, an intact 53-foot section of this road is visible at low tide, resting 36" below a mat of cord grass. It survives as an evocative remnant of a colonial road system. It appears to be the oldest remaining example of a preserved wooden road in the state and is a protected Archaeological Preserve.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20048