The southern 54 miles (87 km), running from Newbury to Hazen's Notch near the Canada–United States border, were constructed between 1776 and 1779 during the American Revolutionary War.
Moses Hazen, then colonel in the Continental Army, was directed by Washington in the spring of 1779 to renew construction of the road.
His regiment and that of Colonel Timothy Bedel worked on the road throughout the summer of 1779, extending it through the present-day communities of Cabot, Walden, Hardwick, Greensboro, Craftsbury, Albany, and Lowell.
Blockhouses were also constructed along the route, at Peacham, Cabot, Walden, and Greensboro (on a site still called Block House Hill[2]).
Even after construction was abandoned on the road, the blockhouses on the route were manned, and occasionally subjected to minor skirmishes and scouting actions.