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The meaning of the word or term "TURN PIKE"

Started by Roadster, August 15, 2017, 02:07:21 PM

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Roadster

Exactly what is the meaning of the word or term known as a TURN PIKE to identify a major highway or road, dead end, alternate route, etc.?

Where did this term originate from?

Was this term the predecessor to the term that is so widely used today known as a  "Toll Road"?

TURN PIKE.....are you actually turning onto another highway or road or another route toward your destination?

Does the term TURN PIKE also consist of paying at a "toll both" before actually entering and using the road, highway or route?

This term is mostly used in the upper North Eastern Coast regions of the U.S.A. and really no other place else in the country.

But I just might be mistaken so if there are any other places where this term is used such as in the West Coast, Southern states, Great Northwestern parts region, etc. post about it.



SidS1045

As I recall, the term originated in the horse-and-buggy days.  When one wanted to use a private ROW, the owner stationed a horizontal bar (called a "pike") across the road at the toll booth.  Once the toll was paid, the pike would be turned (or raised) to let the horse-drawn vehicles through.
"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." - Edward R. Murrow

roadman

From Dictionary.com

QuoteWord Origin and History for turn-pike Expand



n. 


early 15c., "spiked road barrier used for defense," from turn + pike (n.2) "shaft." Sense transferred to "horizontal cross of timber, turning on a vertical pin" (1540s), which were used to bar horses from foot roads. This led to the sense of "barrier to stop passage until a toll is paid" (1670s). Meaning "road with a toll gate" is from 1748, shortening of turnpike road (1745).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source 
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)



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