Massachusetts Route 146A

Infobox MA Route
type=
route=146A
length_mi=3
length_km=
formed= 1984)
dir1=South
dir2=North
from=
to= in Uxbridge
previous_type=
previous_route=146
next_type=
next_route=147|

Route 146A in Massachusetts, United States, is a north to south route which connects Route 122 in Uxbridge, and Rhode Island Route 146A in North Smithfield.Executive Office of Transportation, [http://www.eot.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=content/plan02&sid=about Office of Transportation Planning - 2005 Road Inventory] ] There are two connector entrances to Route 146, along Route 146A. These are Exit 1, which connects Route 146 directly to Route 146A, and Exit 2, the Chockalog Road exit in Uxbridge. This highway was renamed by the General Court of Massachusetts in 2004 as the Lydia Taft Highway, after America's first woman voter, Lydia Chapin Taft, a colonial woman from Uxbridge. Lydia Chapin Taft's historic vote and her role in the history of Women's suffrage is recognized by the Massachusetts legislature since 2004, which named Route 146A from Uxbridge to the Rhode Island border in her honor.cite web |title= "AN ACT DESIGNATING STATE HIGHWAY ROUTE 146A IN THE TOWN OF UXBRIDGE AS THE LYDIA TAFT HIGHWAY"; "Chapter 56 of the Acts of 2004"| url= http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/seslaw04/sl040056.htm |publisher= Massachusetts State Government; the state legislature; |accessdate=2007-09-29] Route 146A is completely within the town limits of Uxbridge.

History

In colonial times, this route had the name of "the Great Road", and later "the Quaker Highway", after Quakers from Smithfield, Rhode Island settled here. There are a number of historic sites along this road including the Friends Meetinghouse, which is on the National Historic Register. The "Moses Farnum House, and the Ironstone Mill Housing and Cellar Hole are two other sites along this road. Route 98 also connects with Route 146A, near its midpoint, and has significant historic sites of the original Quaker village known as Quaker City, and Aldrich Village, which are also on the National Historic Register. Just beyond the northern terminus of Route 146A and continuing north on Route 122 is a famous historical house known as Elmshade, a home and gathering place of the influential Taft family in America. Part of what is now Route 146A was the original Route 146 before a new limited access highway was constructed from the Rhode Island line to Worcester, between 1981 and 1984. This project involved moving a former almshouse cemetery and led to archeological findings on mortuary practices following that excavation.cite web|title="Boston Roads MA-146"|publisher=bostonroads.com|url=http://www.bostonroads.com/roads/MA-146/|accessdate2007-12-16] The Second Great Awakening changed local mortuary practices for the poor{cite web| |publisher=University of Florida|date=1992|title ="The Historical Archeology of Mortuary Behavior: Coffin Hardware from Uxbridge, Massachusetts; Abstract: Edward Bell"|url=http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/davidson/Arch%20of%20Death/Week%2013/Bell%201990.pdf|accessdate=2007-11-01]

ee also

*List of Registered Historic Places in Uxbridge, Massachusetts
*Lydia Taft
*Friends Meetinghouse (Uxbridge, Massachusetts)

References

External links

* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MA/Worcester/state.html National Register listings for Worcester County - primary source]
* [http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/massachusetts/uxbridge/travel City Town Info on Uxbridge - secondary source]
*cite web|title="sierraclubsprawl/nepa/massachusetts"|publisher=sierraclub.org|url=http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/nepa/massachusetts.asp|accessdate2007-12-16