Of the original renumbered state roads, one of the shortest was SR 22. It stretched from US 41 at Boswell to US 52 at Montmorenci. What was unique about this particular state road segment is shown in one of its segments current road number. The entire route of SR 22 was the original US 52. In 1926, the ISHC was already in the process of replacing the US route with a new build. The original SR 22 segment from Boswell to US 52 just north of Templeton is now called SR 352.
Indiana Transportation History 
Richard, how much of what was becoming U.S. 52 between Indy and Chicago in 1926 do you think would have existed and been drivable in 1919? Thanks!
John Graves
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That’s kind of hard to answer. When the state highway system was created in 1919, it used roads that were already in place. Most were dirt roads, admittedly. Technically, the only part of future US 52 that existed as part of the state system in 1920 was what was known as SR 6…the Indianapolis-Lafayette Road from Indianapolis to Lebanon. There were only five state roads in Indiana in 1919…and three of those were the Range Line Road, Lincoln Highway, and National Road.
One link that I have used quite a bit (before I actually downloaded the maps, because you can) I will share here:
http://cdm16066.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15078coll8/searchterm/indiana%20highway%20map
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Richard, thanks for pushing me to the ISL website for Indiana Highway Maps. I have been able to download several that go back to 1919-1926. It is interesting to see that the businesses that were eager to see more driving show roads as being way more “complete” and high quality than do the Indiana government produced maps for the same time period. As a result of reviewing these different sorts of maps that my ancestors would have traveled on, I believe they would have traveled on what would become U.S. 31 to South Bend and then around the lake to Chicago.
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You are most welcome. As a general rule, I tend to put less faith in “professional” maps…not because I think that they are inferior. Oh, no. But given a choice between a professional map and one from the government agency that is actually in charge of the subject, I lean towards those in charge.
Keep in mind that it is entirely possible that they could have taken what is now US 421 to Rochester, then US 31 to South Bend and across. I say that only because the old Michigan Road through Carmel (all the way to South Bend via Logansport, Rochester and Plymouth) was a branch of the Dixie Highway…and may have been more improved than the Range Line Road at the time. Both were AutoTrails, yes. But there was a National organization encouraging the completion of the Dixie.
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You must have been doing this for a very long time, as you offer wonderful nuances that could never be picked up from analyzing single (or a few) documents. Thanks!
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I do my blog like I acquire the latest news…by compiling as many sources as I can, and discarding things that just get in the way of getting to the heart of the matter. I also tend to want to put in facts that are a little in left field, only because most of the big facts I can get from any source. I want to make sure that something unique is included on a regular basis. And, since I tend to source stuff, people can look it up to make sure that I am getting those unique facts straight.
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