WMS Map: Old Route 8B in 1954
About Old Route 8B in 1954 ....
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.
Helpful Hint: While I suggest you look on blog for a downloadable PDF Map, you should be able to print or save this map by clicking the print button on the map above.
Data Sources
Road Trip to Coal Country by Nate Matthews - You can download the KMZ File used in creation of this map.
Historical USGS Topographic Maps - You can browse all historical USGS topographic maps or you can bulk download them on HTTP Directory/Amazon Cloud or using an FTP Client. Retrieved via USGS ArcMap Image Server: https://utility.arcgis.com/usrsvcs/servers/88d12190e2494ce89374311800af4c4a/rest/services/USGS_Historical_Topographic_Maps/ImageServer/ with parameters: mosaicRule: {"mosaicMethod":"esriMosaicCenter","where": "OBJECTID = 113491 OR OBJECTID = 113379","ascending":true,"mosaicOperation":"MT_FIRST"}
OpenStreetMap - Map data: © OpenStreetMap, SRTM | Map style: © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA). XYZ Tiles: https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png
NYS DOT Bridges - Bridge inspection data from NYS DOT. NYSDOT. Download KMZ File / Download GeoJSON File
ArcMap FeatureService: https://gis.dot.ny.gov/hostingny/rest/services/NYSDOT_Structures/MapServer/0
3DEP Elevation Hillshade. LIDAR and legacy USGS DRG Topo Derived hillshades used as a background. DEM - WMS Service: https://elevation.nationalmap.gov/arcgis/services/3DEPElevation/ImageServer/WMSServer, Layer: 3DEPElevation:Hillshade Gray
Full List of WMS and ArcMap Services - CSV Spreadsheet with all web map services currently used on the blog.
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Old Route 8B in 1954
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