Community

A 23-mile journey to celebrate Southold Town’s mile markers

Mr. Stadler photographs a mile marker in Peconic.
Mr. Stadler photographs a mile marker in Peconic.

At the latter marker, the Stadlers were quizzed about how many picnic tables they saw at Triangle Park, located across the street.

“Six,” Mr. Stadler said as his mother used a pencil to jot down the answer. “I count six.”

A few minutes later, when the pair reached marker 17, bells from the nearby Southold Presbyterian Church began ringing — a sort of purely coincidental greeting.

The quiz’s question about marker 18, located next to a private farm on Boisseau Avenue in Southold, puzzled the Stadlers. “Look for something tall to the right of the marker,” it said. “Hint: Don Quixote was always chasing these.”

Well, there was a very tall tree to the right of the marker, but that couldn’t have been the answer, they reasoned. Could it have been the property’s antique-looking windmill? That was Ms. Stadler’s guess, but her son wasn’t so sure. He wanted to Google the answer but didn’t have good cell phone reception. They decided to just keep moving.

Heightened traffic made it too dangerous to keep getting out of his car to photograph each marker, so Mr. Stadler began snapping quick shots of the next two stones with his Sony camera from inside his car. It was almost 11 a.m. by this point, and he and his mother had already driven through Laurel, Mattituck, Cutchogue, Peconic, Southold and Greenport.

“We’re in this thing now,” he joked.

A short time later, the Stadlers crossed the causeway connecting East Marion and Orient. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle and sunshine was beginning to peek through the clouds.

The Stadlers parked their car at the last marker, number 30, and posed beside it.

“Is this some kind of a treasure hunt?” a man waiting in his car for the Cross Sound Ferry joked.

In a way, perhaps it had been. After all, Mr. Stadler pointed out, it’s “amazing” that the markers still exist.

“I’m happy that people take notice of them and try to preserve them,” he said.

Southold Town Councilman Bob Ghosio, who was in Orient to greet participants after they found all the stones, echoed those sentiments.

The Stadlers with Dan McCarthy of Southold, outfitted as Benjamin Franklin.
The Stadlers with Dan McCarthy of Southold, outfitted as Benjamin Franklin.

“The 375th anniversary committee has put a tremendous amount of work into putting this Mile Marker Day event together,” he said. “The markers have been here since what, the early 1800s? George Cork Maul and Mark Terry did a great job putting this together.”

After having a commemorative postcard stamped by Dan McCarthy of Southold, who was dressed as Benjamin Franklin, it was time for the Stadlers to head west. They planned to have lunch at Meetinghouse Creek in Aquebogue. It was a sort of belated Mother’s Day present, Mr. Stadler explained.

The pair said they had fun participating in Mile Marker Day — and they plan to attend more 375th anniversary festivities.

“It was very well-organized,” Mr. Stadler said. “Friendly people.”

He laughed.

“We had a little bit of rain, but you can’t really do much about that.”

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