U.S. Highway 1, the most direct route between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, enters Massachusetts as a concrete road winding through a pleasant countryside bordered by farm land and open fields. South of Newburyport, it is still locally called the Newburyport Turnpike. Built in 1804 as a stagecoach road between Newburyport and Boston, the Turnpike, sometimes called the “airline route,” is unusual among Massachusetts highways in that in 35 miles it deviates only 83 feet from a straight line. From Newburyport, it runs through rolling country up and down the glacial hills of Topsfield and Danvers. At Lynnfield, it levels out as it passes Suntaug Lake, swings around its only curve between the red rock outcrops of Saugus.
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Historic Highway Guides 