Opinion ID: 2371662
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Establishment of Public Highway

Text: Pursuant to RSA 229:1 (1993), a public road could be created by prescription if it had been used . . . for public travel . . . for 20 years prior to January 1, 1968. . . . See Mahoney v. Town of Canterbury, 150 N.H. 148, 150, 834 A.2d 227 (2003). Whether a highway is created by prescription is a finding of fact. Id. Findings of fact by a trial court are binding upon us unless they are not supported by the evidence or are erroneous as a matter of law. Id. Here, the trial court found that Old Peterborough Road, sometimes called Old County Road or Stiles Road, had been used for public travel since at least the early 1800s. In support of this finding, the trial court noted that Old Peterborough Road was: (1) referenced on the Wilton Town Plan of 1805; (2) included in the Carrigain Map of 1816; and (3) referenced in the layout petition for the Burton Highway filed with the Court of Common Pleas in 1840. We have held, based upon a different road's inclusion in the same Carrigain map, that the inclusion of a road on a map is competent evidence to support the inference of use of the road. . . . Williams v. Babcock, 116 N.H. 819, 822, 368 A.2d 1166 (1976). Moreover, during a view, the trial court observed stone walls lining both sides of Old Peterborough Road. Where a wall has been erected on either or both sides of a road, its evidentiary value is important. Hoban v. Bucklin, 88 N.H. 73, 80, 184 A. 362 (1936). Further, the trial court expressly found that Blagbrough had not come forward with any evidence that use of the road was permissive. See Mahoney, 150 N.H. at 151, 834 A.2d 227. In Mahoney, we held that similar evidence supported a finding that a public highway by prescription had been established under RSA 229:1. Id. at 151-52, 834 A.2d 227. Similarly, here we uphold the trial court's determination that Old Peterborough Road was a public highway.