The Old NYS Thruway Historic Preserve

I wonder if decades after the NYS Thruway is abandoned, they’ll save some of the bridges and piers as a historical site and turn it into a biking trail called the “The Old NYS Thruway Historic Preserve”.

And they’ll erect history signs that show pictures of cranes erecting it, and old cars driving on it with tail fins.

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I am always fascinated by history and what is historic compared to just old or garbage.  But maybe that’s because not all old things are relevant or add value to society today. The old hollow full of broken cans and bottles, junk appliances, tires and partially rotted garbage ashes on the farm probably doesn’t tell much of interest. It’s either an ecological problem or the backfill our cities are built on depending on how you look at it.

History really is valuable only to the extent it advises us on how to live our lives better today by explaining alternative ways of doing things and provide a better understanding of how we got to where we are today. Sometimes old ways of doing things are good for certain situations like homesteading and heritage breeds. Or when the current methods are providing to be inferior or failing. But often old ways of doing things disappeared because they were inefficient, wasteful or failing. People often forget how bad many of the policies and practices of yesteryear once were. Maybe that’s part of the value of history.