In 1802, Fisher Ames and a group of others requested that the Great and General Court lay out a new turnpike between the Norfolk County Courthouse and Pawtucket.
[1] They agreed (over the no vote of Dedham's representative, Ebenezer Fisher) and the road was charted on March 8, 1802.
[2] It was the best and fastest highway in America at the time, allowing for mail to be delivered between Boston and Providence in under three hours.
The turnpike ran from Dudley Square to the border of Rhode Island and beyond to downtown Pawtucket.
The southern half of the turnpike, which had some steep grades and bypassed towns where travelers wanted to stop, saw little use and remained a dirt road until the construction of US 1.