New York State Route 273 (NY 273) was a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in northern

Washington County, New York Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,302. The county seat is Fort Edward. The county was named for U.S. President George Washington. Washington County is part of the Glen ...

, in the United States. It began at an intersection with U.S. Route 4 (US 4) east of the village of Whitehall and ended at the

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

state line in the town of

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

, just east of a junction with NY 22A. The route passed through largely rural areas and entered only one community, the small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of East Whitehall. NY 273 followed part of the former routing of the Hampton and Whitehall Turnpike, a privately maintained highway that linked the village of Whitehall to a bridge over the

Poultney River The Poultney River is a river in southwestern Vermont and eastern New York. In its 40-mile long course, the river drains approximately 263 square miles as it flows northwards into the southern end of Lake Champlain. Course The Poultney River's ...

near the hamlet of Hampton, where it continued to

Poultney, Vermont Poultney is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York (state), New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney was home to Gr ...

, in the 19th century. The portion of the turnpike west of East Whitehall became part of US 4 in 1927; however, US 4 was realigned in the mid-1940s to follow a new, more direct highway between Whitehall and the Vermont state line at

Fair Haven, Vermont Fair Haven is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,736 at the 2020 census. Within the town is located the census-designated place of Fair Haven. The town is noted for its late 19th century residential and com ...

. NY 273 was assigned in 1949 to the path of old turnpike; however, the NY 273 designation was eliminated in 1980 as part of a highway maintenance swap between the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and Washington County. The former routing of NY 273 west of NY 22A became County Route 18 (CR 18).

Route description

Campbell Hotel - CR 18A - Washington County NY

NY 273 began at an intersection with US 4 east of the village of Whitehall in the town of Whitehall. After the intersection, the route passed the Our Lady of Angels Cemetery, where it turned to the southeast. NY 273 ran along the base of Ore Red Hill, outside of Whitehall. Near Ore Red Hill, the highway intersected with a local road, which connected to US 4. The route progressed to the southeast, entering the

of East Whitehall, where it intersected with another local road. NY 273 passed Bartholomew Hill and entered the town of

, where it passed two mountains, Morris Hill, and the larger Thorn Hill. The highway then passed north of Crystal Lake, and entered the hamlet of Hampton. NY 273 intersected NY 22A in the small community before ending at the

state line on a bridge over the

History

Origins

On April 11, 1820, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

created the Hampton and Whitehall Turnpike Road Company, a privately owned tasked with building the Hampton and Whitehall Turnpike. According to the act incorporating the company, the highway would begin at a bridge in the town of

(at the

) and follow "the most convenient route" to the community of Whitehall Landing on Wood Creek (the modern village of Whitehall) in the town of Whitehall. The Hampton and Whitehall Turnpike Road Company was initially financed through 800 shares of stock valued at $20 each. Under the text of the act establishing the entity, only one

toll gate Toll Gate or Tollgate may refer to: * Toll gate, a barrier across a toll road or toll bridge that is lifted when the toll is paid Entertainment * "Tollgate" (Hale single) * ''The Toll-Gate'', a 1954 novel by Georgette Heyer * ''The Toll Gate'', ...

was permitted on the turnpike. The toll charged at the gate varied by person; the exact amount was based on the vehicle used and the number of livestock and horses that were brought onto the roadway. By 1920, the turnpike company ceased to exist and the state of New York had plans in place to improve the portion of the turnpike west of the

of East Whitehall. The improved road would be part of a

extending from the village of Whitehall to the

state line at

. The contract for the project was awarded on April 5, 1921, and the highway was completed by 1926. Washington 18 in Whitehall

Designations

When the Whitehall–Fair Haven highway first opened, it did not have a designation. However, the road was part of the proposed routing of US 4, a route in the new

U.S. Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

. It officially became part of US 4 when the system was officially approved in November of that year. In the early 1940s, construction began on a new highway between Whitehall and Fair Haven that bypassed East Whitehall to the northwest. It was completed by 1946, at which time it became a realignment of US 4. On January 1, 1949, the old Hampton and Whitehall Turnpike was designated as NY 273, a new route connecting US 4 east of Whitehall to the

state line in Hampton. In 1980, NY 273 was removed from the state highway system as part of a highway maintenance swap between the state of

and Washington County. On April 1, 1980, ownership and maintenance of NY 273 was transferred from the state of New York to Washington County; however, the NY 273 designation had officially ceased to exist one week earlier on March 24, 1980. Following the swap, the former routing of NY 273 was redesignated as CR 18 while the short connector to Vermont became part of CR 18A, then a loop route off NY 22A. CR 18A has since been reconfigured to follow a new highway leading directly from NY 22A to the Poultney River bridge.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Good article 273 Transportation in Washington County, New York