Roads & Routes

200 images from the archives of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the National Park Service that tell the history of the Appalachian Trail in NY, NJ and CT.

Crossing through 14 states from Maine to Georgia, the Appalachian Trail enters New Jersey through the Delaware Water Gap, crosses New York's Hudson River, and rises over Connecticut's Lion's Head. The area is considered by some to be the pathways birthplace, for in 1923, just two years after Benton MacKaye originally proposed the trail, the first few miles specifically constructed for the Appalachian Trail were built by volunteers in New York's Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks. These photographs and the corresponding narrative present a historical perspective on what it took to create the trail, including the thousands of volunteers and the arduous tasks they performed, those who lived along the trail before and during its creation, the many people who have enjoyed the trail through the years, and the original routes that are no longer part of the present-day Appalachian Trail.

The US Lighthouse Board established Point No Point Light Station in 1879 to aid ships navigating to and from Puget Sound and the emerging port cities of Seattle and Tacoma. But the point was long an important place: a landmark for Coast Salish peoples traveling by water to fishing sites and for trade; a thriving community led by Suquamish leader ?al?q?m (pronounced "Challacum"); the site of the 1855 treaty signing that made a large swath of western Washington available for nonnative settlement; and an important foraging ground for fish, migratory birds, and sea mammals. Today, Point No Point is part of the larger community of Hansville on Washington's Kitsap Peninsula. Coast Salish peoples still fish here, and Point No Point Lighthouse remains an important aid to navigation. Fish, migratory birds, and sea mammals still regularly feed here on nutrients brought in from the ocean by powerful tidal currents. And residents and visitors alike are drawn to the point's beaches and breathtaking views.

Over more than two centuries, Cincinnati evolved from a riverside settlement in the wilderness to a major center of business, commerce, and manufacturing. Boasting titles such as "Queen City of the West" and "Porkopolis" (for its many pork-packing plants), Cincinnati never suffered from a lack of self-esteem. Indeed, the city earned its place in the honor roll of American cities as it spread outward from the Ohio River into the surrounding hills. Blessed with good transportation by river, canal, and railroad, Cincinnati grew rapidly, attracting great numbers of native-born Americans and foreign immigrants alike. Drawn by abundant jobs and economic opportunity, Cincinnati's citizens lived in densely developed neighborhoods, walked crowded streets, and worked hard in mills and factories. Early in the city's history, farseeing individuals saw the benefit of creating public parks where the population could enjoy a few hours of recreation among trees, green grass, and gorgeous vistas of the Ohio River Valley. Starting from modest beginnings, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Cincinnati developed a system of more than 5,000 acres of parks and connecting parkways that would be the envy of cities many times its size.