Road Trip: Franklin-Noblesville State Road

Originally published 14 August 2016.

Went on a short drive today…from Cumberland to Franklin. Coming home from Franklin, I followed the roughly original route of the Noblesville-Franklin State Road.

For those that don’t know, the NFSR (somehow, I’ve yet to be able to follow the complete route) was built between the two titled cities, traveling through Marion County on the far east side (five miles from the Marion/Hancock County Line). If that location sounds familiar to you, it should. The name was shortened to “Franklin Road” in the early 20th century.

Anyway. Traveling from Franklin north, the road follows “Hurricane Road” north from the corner of Forsythe and Hamilton to the junction of CR 700 N. There are a lot of twists and turns on this road. It is also very peaceful, as there is nothing but houses and cornfields most of the way.

Just north of the crossing of Hurricane Creek (north of CR 600N) is a historical marker concerning the Whetzel Trace…one of the first trails into the center of Indiana. The Trace was blazed from Laurel, IN, to Waverly on the Bluffs of the Ohio River.

At CR 700N, the road turns east for 1/4 mile, the follows CR 440E (aka Franklin Road) the rest of the way north.

As best as I can tell, from maps of Marion County from 1876, the NFSR followed what is now Franklin Road (with the exceptions of the areas at I-70 and I-74) north to what is now 52nd St. It turned west at that point, following 52nd St. and Boy Scout Road to the Fall Creek Road. From there it gets sketchy. It could have gone up Hague to 96th St., it could have gone up now non-existent roads through Castleton and Vertland to the Allisonville (originally the Fort Wayne State) Road. Who knows.

If you have any ideas, I would be willing to listen.