[cross South Street to the opposite side of the Monument -- which is Centre St]
This amazing survivor is a mileage marker from 1735. Centre Street was the original road from Boston to points south, known as the Dedham Road. Judge Paul Dudley erected a whole series of these carved granite milestones. He started putting up the markers in 1729 and each delineated the distance to the Town House (the building we now call the Old State House.) The example here is the best of the existing stones (in that it is the largest and has the most words.) It says:
5 miles
Boston
Townhouse
P. Dudley, Esq.
1735
From this stone, the route follows Centre St. to the center of colonial Roxbury, Eliot Square. From there, the route followed along Boston Neck to the Town House (what we know as Washington Street today).