Old Route 8B is a 1915-era routing of NY 8 and 30 between Wells and Speculator that is now a dead-end after the lower bridge was closed some time ago. It runs between Auger Falls and Speculator, passing closely by Austin Falls. Old Route 8B is most famous for Robert Garrow killing a camper at the Robb Creek Mill and then fleeing up Fly Creek Road. There are several campsites along the road, and Austin Falls is a scenic location where the Sacandaga River runs through a narrow floom. The road, while paved with concrete and letter covered with two layers of asphalt only receives the most minimum of maintenance, and is quite rough and disjointed in locations. Old Route 8A refers to the 1915 routing of NY 8 and 30, which at one time ran closer to Auger Falls and wound into the valley, taking a closer path to the Sacanadaga River.
I was surprised to see that NY Route 8 and 30 followed Old Route 8B well into the 1950s, if not the 1960s before the modern alignment. I would have thought such a twisty road with sharp, dangerous curves would have been re-aligned in much earlier on.
The original road was built in 1915, according to bridge inspection reports (click on blue box to pull up the report). Before then, people used Gilmantown Road past Gilmantown Lake to get from Wells to Speculator, with the portion of NY 8 along the East Branch heading south to Wells, until the 1935 bridge was built between NY 30 and NY 8 over the Sacandaga River.
The current alignment was built in 1968 it would appear, based on the fact that the Scandaga River Bridge in Speculator was constructed that year and that looking at historical topographic maps from the mid-1960s still shows the old alignment.
Camping opporunties along Old Route 8B south of Speculator.