Stewart v. Watkins

In Stewart v. Watkins, 427 Pa. 557, 235 A.2d 604 (1967), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court set forth three methods of establishing existence of a public road. The first method is "the introduction of court records showing the road to have been opened under the Act of June 13, 1836, P.L. 551, commonly known as the General Road Law, 36 P.S. 1781 - 1785 ...." Stewart, 427 Pa. at 558-59, 235 A.2d at 605. The existence of a public road can also be established under Section 2307 of the Township Code, 53 P.S. 67307, which provides: Every road which has been used for public travel and maintained and kept in repair by the township for a period of at least twenty-one years is a public road having a right-of-way of thirty-three feet even though there is no public record of the laying out or dedication for public use of the road.Stewart, 427 Pa. at 559, 235 A.2d at 605. The third method is "by prescription, requiring uniform, adverse, continuous use of the road under claim of right by the public for twenty-one years." Id.