Milestone

{{Short description|Numbered marker along a road or boundary}} {{Other uses}} {{Redirect|Milemarker|the music group|Milemarker (band)}} {{Redirect|Milepost|the publication|The Milepost{{!}}''The Milepost''}} {{distinguish|Millstone}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

A '''milestone''' is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like mileage signs; or they can give their position on the route relative to some datum location (a ''zero milepost''). On roads they are typically located at the side or in a median or central reservation. They are alternatively known as '''mile markers''' (sometimes abbreviated '''MMs'''), '''mileposts''' or '''mile posts''' (sometimes abbreviated '''MPs'''). A "'''kilometric point'''" is a term used in metricated areas, where distances are commonly measured in kilometres instead of miles. "'''Distance marker'''" is a generic unit-agnostic term.

Milestones are installed to provide linear referencing points along the road. This can be used to reassure travellers that the proper path is being followed, and to indicate either distance travelled or the remaining distance to a destination. Such references are also used by maintenance engineers and emergency services to direct them to specific points where their presence is required. This term is sometimes used to denote a location on a road even if no physical sign is present. This is useful for accident reporting and other record keeping (e.g., "an accident occurred at the 13-mile mark" even if the road is only marked with a stone once every 10 miles). Distance markers are typically written only to integer values (sometimes with a single significant figures), often with the unit name or symbol {{em|before}} the number, as in "mile ''x''" or "kilometre ''y''", for example, "mile 317" or "kilometre 510".{{efn|This is in contrast to the standard practice in technical and scientific fields, of having the unit symbol appearing after the numerical value, as in 317{{nbsp}}mi or 510{{nbsp}}km.}}

== History ==

=== Roman Empire === [[File:Geira Milha XXIX caminho.jpg|thumb|Roman milestone XXIX on Via Romana XVIII – the road linking the Iberian cities of Bracara Augusta and Asturica Augusta]] [[File:Milestone kirkby thore.JPG|thumb|Roman milestone on the former A66 between Kirkby Thore and Temple Sowerby (no inscription)]] ''Miliarium'' ({{IPA|la-x-classic|miːllɪˈaːrɪ.ũː ˈau̯rɛ.ũː|lang|link=yes}}) were originally stone obelisks – made from granite, marble, or whatever local stone was available – and later concrete posts. They were widely used by Roman Empire road builders and were an important part of any Roman road network: the distance travelled per day was only a few miles in some cases.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} Many Roman milestones only record the name of the reigning emperor without giving any placenames or distances.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. I: Inscriptions on stone |last=Collingwood |first=R. G.|year=1965 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |author2=Wright, R. P.| url = https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/rib/vol-I}}</ref> The first Roman milestones appeared on the Appian Way. At the centre of Rome, the "Golden Milestone" was erected to mark the presumed centre of the empire: this milestone has since been lost. The Golden Milestone inspired the Zero Milestone in Washington, D.C., intended as the point from which all road distances in the United States should be reckoned. Odometers were used to measure the Roman milestone spacing, most likely based on Ancient Greek technology.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

=== Byzantine Empire === A mile-marker monument, the Milion, was erected in the early 4th century AD in Constantinople. It served as the starting point for measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the cities of the Byzantine Empire, and had the same function as the Milliarium Aureum of Ancient Rome. The Milion survived intact until at least the late 15th century. Its fragments were discovered again in the late 1960s. A fragment is re-erected as a pillar.

=== Islamic civilization ===

In Islamic civilisation, use of milestone began in the first Islamic century. The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik bin Marwan laid the milestones along the paths that travelers used, and some were found in the city of Faiq in the Syrian Golan, which is, Faiq, one of the main road stations throughout the Islamic ages. The function of these stones was to guide travelers and introduce them to long distances, as the separation between one and the other was one mile. Many of these stones were found in more than one location, one in the Islamic Archeology Museum in Istanbul and another in the Jerusalem Museum. A translation of the text written on the stone currently found in the Kasserine Museum in the Golan reads as follows:

{{Quote|In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. There is no god but God alone, and there is no partner for it. Muhammad is the Messenger of God. He ordered the making of these miles, Abdul Malik bin Marwan, Commander of the Faithful. At the hands of a consultant, the Lord of the Faithful. In Sha'ban from the year eighty-five, from Damascus to this stone fifty-three miles.}}

=== Post-Medieval Europe === [[File:A milestone at Berwick-upon-Tweed - geograph.org.uk - 1513459.jpg|thumb|upright|Milestone in Northumberland, indicating 1 mile to Berwick-upon-Tweed, 14 miles to Belford and 333 miles to London]] In Europe, the distance measured typically starts at specified point within a city or town, as many roads were named for the towns at either end. For example, in London, United Kingdom, a plaque near the Eleanor cross at Charing Cross is the reference point from which distances from London to other towns and cities are measured. In the UK, milestones are especially associated with former turnpike roads.

The British built many milestones on the island of Malta. They consisted of large slabs of local hard rock and they were engraved with the distance to or from a particular location. Many of these were defaced in World War II to disorientate forces in a potential invasion. Despite this, a very small number of milestones still exist undefaced, and one of these is now in the Malta at War Museum.<ref>{{cite web|title=Milestones salvaged and added to the new museum's collection |url=http://www.maltaatwarmuseum.com/milestones-salvaged-and-added-to-the-new-museums-collection.html |website=Wirt Artna |access-date=7 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907124041/http://www.maltaatwarmuseum.com/milestones-salvaged-and-added-to-the-new-museums-collection.html |archive-date=7 September 2014 }}</ref>

===India=== {{Further|Kos Minar}} [[File:Kos Minar 03.jpg|thumb|Kos Minar (Mughal Milestone), Delhi Zoo, New Delhi, India]] The '''Kos Minars''' or ''Mile Pillars'' are medieval milestones that were made by the 16th-century Afghan Ruler Sher Shah Suri and later on by Mughal emperors. These Minars were erected by the Mughal Emperors on the main highways across the empire to mark the distance. The Kos Minar is a solid round pillar, around {{convert|30|ft}} in height that stands on a masonry platform built with bricks and plastered over with lime. Though not architecturally very impressive, being milestones, they were an important part of communication and travel in a large empire.<ref>{{cite web | title = 'Monumental' treasure house |newspaper=The Times of India| url = http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-07-12/ludhiana/28193174_1_archaeologists-city-bus-monuments | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110811054219/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-07-12/ludhiana/28193174_1_archaeologists-city-bus-monuments | url-status = dead | archive-date = 11 August 2011 |date=12 July 2009| access-date = 2013-09-23}}</ref>

Kos is an ancient Indian unit of distance. It can represent either a distance of approximately {{convert|1.8|km}} or {{convert|3.2|km}}. Minar is a Persian word for tower. Abul Fazl recorded in ''Akbar Nama'' that in the year 1575 AD, Akbar issued an order that at every Kos on the way from Agra to Ajmer, a pillar or a minar should be erected for the comfort of the travelers.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sites.ualberta.ca/~rnoor/minar_kos.html | title=Kos Minar | publisher=University of Alberta | access-date=12 September 2018 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085102/http://www.ualberta.ca/~rnoor/minar_kos.html | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A milestone on the highway |newspaper=Hindustan Times |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/A-milestone-on-the-highway/Article1-951130.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130923040501/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/A-milestone-on-the-highway/Article1-951130.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 September 2013 |first1=Nivedita |last1=Khandekar |date=27 October 2012 |access-date=2013-09-23 }}</ref>

== Modern highways == {{main article|Highway location marker}} thumb|Typical mile marker used in the United States

The historical term ''milestone'' is still used today, even though the "stones" are typically metal highway location markers and in most countries use kilometres and metres rather than miles and yards. Also found today are more closely spaced signs containing fractional numbers, and signs along railways, beaches and canals.

== Railway mileposts == thumb|upright|Old and new railway mileposts in the UK, indicating a distance of {{convert|33+1/4|mi|km}} from the zero point The ''Railways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845''<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/8-9/20/contents | work = Railways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 | title = 94 Milestones | access-date = 2008-11-03 }}</ref> compels UK railway companies to provide their passengers with a means of determining the distance travelled (fares were set by distance at this time). Section 94 states:

{{quote|"The company shall cause the length of the railway to be measured, and milestones, posts, or other conspicuous objects to be set up and maintained along the whole line thereof, at the distance of one quarter of a mile from each other, with numbers or marks inscribed thereon denoting such distances."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.railsigns.uk/sect25page1/sect25page1.html | work = Railway Signs and Signals of Great Britain | title = Section 26: Distance Markers | access-date = 2007-04-08 | archive-date = 27 April 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210427140543/http://www.railsigns.uk/sect25page1/sect25page1.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>}}

Similar laws were passed in other countries. On the modern railway, these historical markers are still used as infrastructure reference points. At many points, the distances shown on the markers are based upon points no longer on the network – for example, distances measured via a closed line or from a junction which has subsequently been moved. Whole mileposts are usually supplemented by half and quarter posts. Structure signs often include the mileage to a fair degree of precision; in the UK, the chain (equal to {{convert|1/80|mi|m|disp=or|abbr=off}}) is the usual accuracy. In the U.S. and Canada, miles are "decimalized", so that, for example, there may be a "milepost 4.83" to mark a junction, crossing, bridge or tunnel.

In metricated areas, the equivalent is the ''kilometric point''.

== Boundaries == {{main article|Boundary marker}} Surveyors place milestones to mark the boundaries between the jurisdictions separated by borders. A series of such boundary markers exists at one mile (1.6 km) intervals along the borders of the District of Columbia in the United States.

== Gallery == {{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="United Kingdom"> File:Milestone in the hedge near Corpusty, on B1149 Holt Road.jpg|B1149 near Corpusty, Norfolk File:AD 1836 milestone.JPG|B3306 near Land's End Airport, marked "A.D. 1836" File:Chellaston milestone.jpg|A514 in Chellaston, Derby File:Broughton milestone.JPG|A5130 in Broughton, Milton Keynes File:Trewellard milestone penwith cornwall.jpg|B3318 in Penwith, Cornwall File:Potterne Milestone.JPG|A360 near Potterne, Wiltshire File:A350 milestone.jpg|A350 in Longbridge Deverill, Wiltshire File:Milestone, Township of Balterley, Staffordshire.JPG|B5500 in Balterley, Staffordshire File:Fife milestone (B940) near Lathones.JPG|B940 near Lathones, Fife File:Milestone on Sutton High Street.jpg|Sutton High Street, Sutton, London File:Milestone, Rod Moor Road.jpg|Rod Moor Road, Dronfield, Derbyshire File:Old Milestone - geograph.org.uk - 1493977.jpg|Milestone II of a set erected in 1728-1732 between Cambridge and Barkway by Dr Warren of Trinity Hall </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="Australia"> File:Milestone Batemans Bay NSW 18.JPG|Milepost 18 from Batemans Bay, New South Wales </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="Denmark"> File:Skanderborg milestone.JPG|With royal cypher of Frederick VII in Skanderborg Dyrehave </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="Finland"> File:Fagervik museum road milestone 1.JPG|Fagervik museum road in Fagervik, Ingå File:A King's Road milestone by Vanha Porvoontie in Sipoo, Finland, 2021 July.jpg|King's Road in Sipoo File:Milestone in Pietarsaari.jpg|Jakobstad File:Koivistonkyläntie 7.JPG|Äänekoski </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="India"> File:Haridwar Holy Ganges En Route Milestone.jpg|Near Haridwar File:Milestone on NH 309 A, India.jpg|NH309A in Uttarakhand </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="Ireland"> File:C Milestone023.jpg|Milestone, County Tipperary File:MilestoneDublin1Howth8.jpg|North Strand Dublin File:Milestone on N71 Cork-Skibbereen - main.jpg|N71 in County Cork File:Milestone, Mountbellow (geograph 5365674).jpg|Mountbellew, County Galway </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="Malta"> File:Malta - Mellieha - Triq Selmun 04 ies.jpg|Mellieħa File:Malta - Swieqi - Triq il-Madliena 02 ies.jpg|Swieqi </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="United States"> File:North Smithfield milestone.JPG|Great Road in Rhode Island File:Union village milestone.JPG|Great Road in Rhode Island File:Upper Post Road MP 8.jpg|Upper Boston Post Road in Harvard Square, Massachusetts File:Boundary Stone (District of Columbia) NE 2.jpg|Boundary of the original District of Columbia File:Sleepy-Hollow-Historic-Marker2 updated.jpg|Albany Post Road (U.S. Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow, New York File:KingstonMA GraniteMileMarker 20170521 (35563329673).jpg|Kingston, Massachusetts, marking the 42nd parallel </gallery>

{{clear|left}} <gallery mode="packed" caption="Russia"> File:Kilometric point 9-10 at Savyolovskoye direction of Moscow Railway.jpg|Savyolovskoye direction of Moscow Railway </gallery>

== See also == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} *Boundary marker *Exit number *Ichirizuka *Highway location marker *Kilometre zero *Milepost equation *Parting stone *Reassurance marker – a road sign with a route number, but no distance *Survey marker *Waymarking {{div col end}}

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Milestones}}