The area that is now known as the hamlet of Keene—the modern junction of NY 9N and NY 73—was first settled at the beginning of the 19th century. Many of the early settlers arrived in the region by traveling along a rough and nearly unusable highway connecting what became Keene to Jay in the north and Lewis in the east. By 1810, part of the crude roadway had been supplanted by a privately funded highway leading westward from Westport to at least North Elba and possibly to Saranac Lake by way of Keene. On April 5, 1810, the New York State Legislature passed an act establishing a new state highway linking Westport to Hopkinton by way of Keene and Saranac Lake. The highway incorporated the entirety of the pre-existing roadway between Westport and Saranac Lake.