The Toll Gates and the Shunpike Road

The Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road had four toll gates, described in this article from the Albany Evening Journal, May 25, 1901:

The committee on toll gates from the Rensselaer Board of Supervisors has begun its inquiry into the proceedings to abolish the toll roads.... Arthur Peck, director and secretary, said there were four toll gates, one at Bath, a second three miles out, a third at Sand Lake and a fourth at Crooked Lake. He said that the road had not paid a dividend in the last 11 years, though the net receipts for the last 11 years were $2,262.39....

The first toll gate was just beyond Ninth St. at the Bath village limits, near today's I-90 ramp. (See the entire map here: F.W. Beers & Co., Bath, 1876.)


The second toll gate was opposite Robert C. Parker school. Folks who wanted to avoid that toll took the "Shunpike road" instead (now Mammoth Springs Road, Morner Road and Best Road), rejoining the Plank road at Defreestville. (See F.W. Beers & Co., North Greenbush, 1876)

The third toll gate was at the intersection of Tollgate Rd and Rt. 43 beyond West Sand Lake. The last tollgate was just north of the Crooked Lake House. (See F.W. Beers & Co., Sand Lake 002, 1876)

Previously: The Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road; Anatomy of a Plank Road
Next: Plank Road Directors

Historical newspaper pages found at FultonHistory.com.