Cumberland Historical Society

Description

The carved mile marker stone B 135, located at 100 Middle Road, Cumberland (old Top Knot Farm). It marks the 135 mile point from Boston on the Boston to Machais "King's Highway." The stone mile markers were set by order of Benjamin Franklin, Postmaster General. Franklin was Postmaster General for the colonies from 1753 to 1774. Some accounts say that Benjamin Franklin drove along the King's Highway with his invention, the odometer, attached to a wheel of the wagon, and that Franklin placed a wooden marker every mile. Other wagons were said to follow him replacing his wooden markers with the carved stone markers, some of which survive to today.

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