[p. 52] the Smith ‘milkcart.’ The ‘milkcarts’ of 1829, were later known as milkwagons, and those built at the upper end of the turnpike had an enviable reputation for durability. Their makers have kept abreast of the times, and their products, both horse drawn and motor driven, are in marked contrast to those that passed the old toll gate in 1829.
By this scrap of paper it appears that the toll levied for the daily passage of such vehicles was ten dollars per year, and that the rule of ‘cash before carting’ or payment in advance, had not then been fully established. Whoever rides over the Mystic avenue of today, finds far better conditions, though there is still room for improvement. Several railroad schemes, upon and beside it, have been broached, but none have materialized. Meanwhile Medford is slowly expanding, and some day will see, instead of the tide-mill and pond and the later racetrack, buildings devoted to business use along both sides of the old Medford turnpike. When that shall be, those who use the old pike will miss the bleak prospect we had there in 1860. In company with some forty schoolmates from another town, returning from a sleigh ride to the Navy Yard and State Prison, the ride was along this road. The wind was bitterly cold, and the tumbled — up ice on the salt marsh a novelty to many of the company. The memory of that dreary portion of the excursion still lingers. The driver paid the toll. But five years earlier the same boy, returning from Boston by wagon, asked why a second toll?
