Massachusetts designates the 'Lydia Taft Highway'

On April 1, 2004, the Massachusetts state legislature approved legislation formally designating a section of Route 146A in Uxbridge as the Lydia Taft Highway. This commemorative act recognized Taft's traditional status as the first woman to cast a legal vote in colonial America, more than two centuries after her reported 1756 vote in the same town.

The designation reflects the enduring local and historical significance attached to Taft's story in Uxbridge and the broader Massachusetts community. Highway naming honors of this kind are a common way for state governments to memorialize local historical figures, and the choice to honor Taft underscores how her story has been embraced as an important, if contested, milestone in the history of American women's civic participation.

The highway designation has helped keep Taft's name and story alive in public memory, serving as a physical, everyday reminder of her legacy for residents and travelers passing through Uxbridge. It also reflects a broader trend in the late 20th and early 21st centuries of revisiting and publicly commemorating overlooked or under-recognized women in American history, as scholars and communities sought to correct historical narratives that had for centuries centered nearly exclusively on men.