Turnpike

Originally, a road having toll-gates or bars, called "thirls" or "pikes," with which to obstruct passage until toll was paid. A "turnpike road" means a road having on it toll-gates or bars, originally called "turns." Such roads were first constructed about the middle of the last century. Individuals, with a view to the repair of particular roads, subscribed money and erected gates, taking tolls from those who passed through them. The distinctive mark still is the right of turning back any one who refuses to pay toll. A turnpike company is one which has the power to collect tolls from persons passing over the road, and to enforce the collection by erecting turnpikes or gates, or both, to obstruct the passage till tolls are paid. This definition is general, embracing various species of roads, whether the materials of which they are formed be stones, gravel, or plank, or the structure be flat or rounded. A turnpike road is a public highway, differing from a common highway only in being authorized by public authority and made at the expense of individuals, which expense is reimbursed by a toll.

See Toll, 2; Way.