There were hours of the day when the roads, it is said, were fairly blocked by the heavy traffic upon them, and eye witnesses declare that at night even the floors of the bar and sitting-rooms of the taverns were spread over with the sleepers tarrying to rest themselves and their teams for a few hours on the way.

The activity thus apparent was accompanied with such improvements in the several neighborhoods as readily to attract the attention of travelers. The care taken of the highways and of the various public buildings may be seen in the town and church records. A reference to some of the private accounts shows in the repair of houses and estates a careful and yet liberal expenditure.

It is proper here to say that about this time the

HlSTOllY OF WESTCHESTBll COUNTY.

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Poor House of the County was built. The date of its construction is 1827. It is situated in the town of Mt. Pleasant, about five miles north of White Plains, and two miles east of Tarrytown, in a beautiful portion of the county. The farm contains one hundred and seventy-three acres, and the institution several buildings of stone.

At about the same period the State Prison at Sing Sing, in this county, was erected. It was built from 1825 to 1829, by the convicts themselves. The prison was built here because of the marble quarries upon which the labor of the convicts might be employed. It covers one hundred and thirty acres of land lying on the Hudson River, and a more healthful or beautiful location could not have been selected.