 Several portions of modern NY 38 were originally part of turnpikes and plank roads during the 1800s . On April 13 , 1819 , the New York State Legislature passed a law incorporating the Cortland and Owego Turnpike Company . The company was tasked with building a highway — the Cortland and Owego Turnpike — from Owego north to the then @-@ village of Cortland . It roughly followed what is now NY 38 north from Owego to the vicinity of Harford , where it turned north to access Virgil . It continued to Cortland by way of modern NY 215 . 
