Road Trip 1926: SR 37

Today, the Road Trip 1926 is going south from Indianapolis. When the Great Renumbering happened, the Indiana State Highway Commission had decided that south of Indianapolis include both 35 and 37, and that north of Indianapolis be less than 30. (This was put into place when the Allisonville Road north out of the city would originally commissioned SR 13.)

This road started at the Ohio River at Tell City. From there, it wound its way to Paoli. At Paoli, the number 37 was attached to the route of the Dixie Highway through Orleans, Bedford, Bloomington, Martinsville to Indianapolis. It had been cobbled together from several original state roads, including the Bluff Road (to Waverly) and the Paoli State Road. From Tell City north to St. Croix, the number 37 was given to original SR 14. From St. Croix to Sulfur, it was part of SR 16. And from Sulphur to Indianapolis, the old number had been SR 22.

Over the years, SR 37 has become one of the most bypassed routes in the state. Bypasses of Waverly, Martinsville, Bloomington, and Bedford were put in place over the years. Complete reroutes at Indianapolis/Smith Valley and north of Oolitic have been put in place. The reroute at Indianapolis is, for the time being, still accessible. The one at Oolitic is actually closed to traffic, and falls off into a quarry. I say for the time being, since SR 37 south of Indianapolis, like its section north of the city, is being consumed (as of this writing) by the construction of Interstate 69. Most of the interstate routing follows what is current SR 37, with the fragmented sections becoming less and less directly accessible in places.

The Riley Highway

Indiana had been a very busy state when it came to roads built during the Auto Trail era. With the creation of the Indiana State Highway Commission in 1919, the Auto Trails didn’t just disappear from the landscape. Many of them were absorbed into the new state highway system. For the longest time, the old highway names were still used along side the new state road numbers in those areas. But one would have thought that the coming of the state road would lead to the end of the creation of new named highways. That was far from what happened. These roads would still being created after the state entered the road building business. The logical question would have been “why bother?” One such named highway would be planned as the Riley Highway.

I covered part of this route when I discussed the coming of SR 9 to locations south of Greenfield. But what wasn’t covered was the actual plan of the complete route. Planning started for this highway in 1925, long after the ISHC had taken a lot of roads into its care. It was Summer 1925 when organizations started planning a “Jame Whitcomb Riley Memorial Highway” from Petoskey, Michigan, to Miami, Florida, through the poet’s hometown of Greenfield. Yes, you read that right. A cross country route through Greenfield.

Memberships in the organization was launched in Goshen in October 1925. (South Bend Tribune, 23 October 1925) It was hoped to sell 125 memberships at a cost of $25 a piece. The primary selling point of the road was that it would cut the travel from Michigan to Florida by nearly 600 miles compared to the already establish Dixie Highway. Strangely, the plan for the new named highway would use other Auto Trails that were already in place between Elkhart and Anderson. From Elkhart to Goshen, the Lincoln Highway would be used. The 110 miles between Goshen and Anderson would follow the route of the Hoosier Dixie Highway.

From Anderson to Greenfield, the plan was to use what was then SR 11 between the two cities via Pendleton. This had been the original Anderson-Greenfield State Road. South of Greenfield, the a collection of roads would be used to connect to Shelbyville, Hope and Seymour. South of Seymour, the Riley Highway would use what was then SR 1 to New Albany and Kentucky. The planned route had, for the most part, the benefit of already having been improved by the state of Indiana.

In my other post about the Riley Highway, I had mentioned that the route left south out of Greenfield using Franklin Street. This wasn’t entirely accurate. But the difference was not by much. According to the Hancock Democrat of 8 October 1925, signage was being posted along the Greenfield section of the new highway. These signs were posted along North Main Street, West Main Street, and South Riley Avenue. Part of this routing was to ensure that the highway bearing Riley’s name would pass by the homestead of the poet. From there, the highway would run west along what is now Tague Street to Franklin Street. From there, it was a relatively straight shot (as straight as could be accomplished in early Indiana!) to Fountaintown. A winding path would be followed from there to Shelbyville. From Shelbyville south, the road was relatively straight through Norristown and Hope, skirting to the east of Columbus, before curving to the southwest, then south, onward toward Seymour.

Shelby County would be an early adopter of the Riley Highway plan. The committee for the road had been put in place as early as mid-August, 1925. (Greenfield Daily Reporter, 15 August 1925) The committee included 36 businessmen from the Shelbyville area, and six residents of Fountaintown. Shelby County would have to come up with at least 100 memberships in the Riley Highway Association before there was even consideration of routing the road through Shelby County. These memberships cost either $10 a year or $25 for three years. One of the advantages that was touted for the Riley Highway was that the Fountaintown Road would become part of the state highway system. This wouldn’t happen until late 1931.

Marking of the route through Shelby County was started, according to the Shelbyville Republican, in October 1925. $2,500 was raised to sign and advertise the road through the county. (The Shelbyville Republican, as printed in the Greenfield Daily Reporter, 8 October 1925) “The road, designed to run from a point in Michigan to Miami, Florida, leads from Greeenfield, the boyhood home of Riley, into Shelby county. It comes from Fountaintown to Shelbyville, over what is known as the Greenfield road, and from here passes along the Norristown road, south and west to Hope.” Again, the selling point of the state highway system was used to raise the money. “It is figured that at the end of the three years the road would be taken over as a part of the State system of highways.” Along with marking the route, signs at all points of danger were also posted, as were curves along the route. The road was marked at road intersections along the way.

Backers of the road were many. According to the Greeenfield Daily Reporter of 26 August 1925, towns that had contributed to the plan were listed: Elkhart, Goshen, Warsaw, Wabash, Marion, Alexandria, Anderson, Pendleton, Shelbyville, Columbus, Seymour and New Albany. One sentence in the article is tinged with irony. “Every town and city in the State through which the road passes has contributed its quote of finances except Greenfield.”

Not all outside Indiana were onboard with the project either. An editorial in the Grand Rapids Press, republished in the South Bend Tribune of 14 May 1926, mentions that “Western Michigan had better make serious inquiry into the why and wherefore of the Indiana Riley Highway proposition before it subserviently hands over its Mackinaw trail designation and its established good will to the purposes of a one-man promotion scheme from another state.” It wasn’t finished there. “In the first place, it might be a wise precaution to send investigators into Indiana, to discoved (sic) what actual possibilities there are behind the optimistic ‘Riley highway’ plan to run another north and south road through that state. It is one thing to name a road and another to build it.” The editorial goes on to question what the ISHC would say about the project. “What does the Indiana state highway department say about this proposition? What does it say about the projected highway from Alexandria to Wabash, dodging the present state route?” The article ends with the question “wouldn’t cooperative work toward these highway linkings be a more practical and profitable plan for Michigan than the blind surrender of our Mackinaw trail with its traditions dating back to the romance of earliest Michigan history?”

Greenfield City Council voted in April 1926 for the improvement of “Riley avenue from Main street south to Tague street, and thence west on Tague street to the west corporate limits, by grading, draining and paving with cement or concrete in such manner and to such extent as may be ordered bu the county commissioners in a petition for improvement of this part of the proposed Riley highway, now pending before said Board.” (Hancock Democrat, 22 April 1926)

Though only parts of the ultimate route would be marked by the white and yellow bands of the Riley Highway, the name was used all over the state to give directions. Especially for the section from Greenfield south to Hope. A popular location in Shelby County was the Flat Rock Caves. Those caves were just off the Riley Highway at the Flat Rock River. The road is now Vandalia Road connecting Shelbyville to Geneva and Greensburg. (The road was originally part of the state road connecting Franklin to Greensburg.) The caves are still there, but have been closed for many years.

Ultimately, it looks like the national trail idea fell through. From what research I can gather, the Riley Highway designation was mostly only used from Pendleton to Seymour. This was especially true in Shelby County, which still maintains that as the name of the road, even though south of Shelbyville it is marked as SR 9. Most of the road can still be followed between these points, with a few places where the state replaced turns with curves. And, with the exception of Pendleton itself, and the section from Greenfield to Shelby County Road 750N, the route was, indeed, taken into the state highway system as SR 9.

Bicycling the Westfield Road

I would like to wish all of my readers, and their families, a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your celebrations…and always, be careful in all you do!

In the early days of the state of Indiana, with the creation of a series of “state roads,” a road was built out of Indianapolis to connect to Westfield, and points beyond. The road would be, in Hamilton County, built along a survey line known as a range line. When, in 1896, the Indianapolis News started publishing a series of articles about bicycling routes along old roads in Marion and surrounding counties, the Westfield Road would be the way back to the city from Noblesville.

The source article for this post comes from the Indianapolis News of 25 April 1896.

The route taken back to Indianapolis started at the square in Noblesville. I am going to cover the short trek across Hamilton County before aiming back south into Marion County. The Lebanon Pike out of downtown Noblesville would leave that city north of where SR 32 and SR 38 cross the river. The old bridge across White River, the one that was part of the old state road built to Lafayette, is now the Logan Street bridge. (This would be part of old state roads that would connect Richmond and Greenfield through Pendleton to Lafayette.)

After leaving Noblesville along the Lebanon Pike (later original SR 37, then SR 32), the road was relatively flat and straight to Westfield. From here, there were two routes back to Indianapolis. The first was west of Westfield down the Indianapolis & Williams Creek Pike, which is now Spring Mill Road and Illinois Street (south of Kessler Boulevard). The other, the focus of this article, was the Indianapolis & Westfield Road.

The Westfield Road was located on the west side of the town of Westfield. “It runs past a school-house and two churches. There is a bit of a hill on leaving Westfield, with a little stream crossing the road at the foot of it.” After crossing the creek, the road becomes level (relatively) on its way, due south, to the town of Carmel, four miles away. Carmel is described as “built a great deal like Westfield, and is a pretty, good-sized village.” Between Westfield and Carmel, the road is slightly downgrade, “just enough to make riding a pleasure.”

Carmel (the village at the time) is four miles north of the Hamilton-Marion County Line. Between those two points, the old Westfield Road paralleled the Monon tracks. The old road jogged a little to the east at the county line then aimed the 1.5 miles to Nora. It is mentioned that the old road crossed the Monon tracks near this area, but that part of the article is incorrect. At Nora “there is a good east-and-west road that crosses the Westfield road…and goes clear across the county.” That road is now 86th Street. It should be noted that 86th Street is actually one mile south of the county line at 96th Street.

From Nora, the old road swings to the southeast and south towards White River, following the course of the river to Broad Ripple. “The road is hard and firm and in excellent condition.” Before Broad Ripple, the route crosses the river on a large iron bridge. That bridge was located south of the current Westfield Boulevard bridge, crossing the river more due west than does the one that replaced it in the 1970’s. After crossing the canal and the Monon, the route turned west to follow the canal. Along the way, it crossed Central Avenue before turning south along what is now called Illinois Street. At the time, it was still the Westfield Road above Mapleton, at Maple Road (now 38th Street).

The trip to downtown Indianapolis could be accomplished by either taking the Central Avenue route or the Illinois Street route. The Illinois Street route was part of the above mentioned Indianapolis & Williams Creek Road that would also take the bicyclist to Westfield. The Westfield Road was so important, in the grand scheme of things, to the state of Indiana that it would become the original state road 1 in 1917. The Spring Mill route would be considered, during the time of the Indiana State Highway Commission, for a second route to Kokomo, possibly helping to cut traffic along what was, at that time, US 31. That plan never came to fruition.

*Edited by Paula Trefun Simpson 06/03/2021 to note that the ‘canal’ mentioned was the Central Canal.

Changes of Indianapolis Street Names in 1895

Editor’s Note: This post marks the 250th such article posted to the Indiana Transportation History blog. Thank you all for your continued support.

At one point in the history of Indianapolis, street names were a strange collection of fits and starts. There were very few through streets in the city. Part of this was due to the fact that additions to the city were done without any consideration to making them fit in with the one next to it. This created a city of street names that ran through one neighborhood and ended. For instance, Dillon Street, located along a range line, would only run south from Michigan Avenue (Road) to Prospect Street. From there, the name changed to a shortened version of the turnpike name that ran south from what is now Fountain Square: Shelby Street (the turnpike was Shelbyville Road).

The first major change in street names occurred in 1895, as the city decided to try to bring some semblance of sanity to the street grid. Streets along the same line were given the same name. But that wasn’t all. Some of the names would change again later. Some were strangely added to other streets for no other reason than to create more confusion.

The first one I would like to focus on is Central Avenue. The current Central Avenue starts at roughly Tenth Street, aiming north through the city ending north of 64th Street at Riverview Drive. But in 1895, that street started at the 300 block of Pennsylvania Street (in 1897, that was changed to the 600 block), aiming northeast to Cherry (now 10th west of Central), then due north to the city limits. The previous name of the section from Pennsylvania to Cherry was Fort Wayne Avenue, originally part of the Fort Wayne State Road. It would later be renamed to, get this, Fort Wayne Avenue.

Another road that changed names back and forth would be Ashland Avenue. Several streets would be consolidated into what would be then known as Ash Avenue. Ashland Avenue and Sheridan Street would be changed to the new Ash Avenue name. This would be changed later to become Ashland Avenue.

Cornell Avenue also was a consolidation of streets. Alger, Forest, Greenwood, and Peru Streets all were merged to become Cornell, which before that time had existed from Massachusetts and Cherry north to Ninth (now 18th Street). There, Greenwood Street would go further north for several blocks to Bruce Street, which was a continuation of 15th Street (now 24th). Peru Street was south of Massachusetts Avenue, so named because it ran along side the Indianapolis & Peru Railroad, later the Lake Erie & Western, now known as the Nickle Plate.

Two of the most “famous” name changes that occurred at the time were those of two streets that were put in place by Alexander Ralston when he created the plat for the town of Indianapolis. Those streets, Mississippi Street and Tennessee Street were changed Senate and Capitol Avenues, respectively. The rumor was that city leaders were not impressed with the progress those two states were making after the Civil War when it came to civil rights. The council felt that there was no reason for them to be honored with street names in the Hoosier Capital. They were renamed to relate to their position in regards to the state house.

Other street names changed that year were Three Notch Road to Meridian Street, Beeler Street to Martindale Avenue, Brinkman Street to 17th Street (for an explanation of numbered streets in Indianapolis, and the massive change that happened, click here), Custer Street and Grand View Avenue to Bellefontaine, John Street to Dawson Avenue, Pendleton Avenue to Massachusetts Avenue, Sutherland Avenue to 17th Street, and Young Street to Olive Street.

The last name that I would like to focus on is another original plat name. The center of the original design for the town of Indianapolis called for a circular road with the Governor’s mansion in the middle. This was called Circle Street. In 1894, the name of that street was changed to Monument Place.

All of these name changes, as well as a list of all the streets in the city of Indianapolis at the time can be found in the 1895 Indianapolis City Directory starting on page 61. A complete collection of city directories is available at the IUPUI University Library online.

Riley Highway, SR 9, and the ISHC

When the state highway system was expanded in 1920, original State Road 11 left Greenfield along the Pendleton-Grteenfield State Road. I have covered Pendleton, and its important location, in a previous post. Anyone looking at a map will notice that route being covered by what is now SR 9. The same reader will notice that SR 9 continues south of Greenfield, toward Shelbyville and Columbus. But that was not the case in 1920. Or even at the time of the Great Renumbering on 01 October 1926. It wouldn’t be until 1931 that SR 9 would be extended south of Greenfield. Before that, the road did have a name: The Riley Highway.

The original Riley Highway left Greenfield along Franklin Street, heading south toward Fountaintown. The highway itself was a collection of county roads that continued south through Shelbyville, Hope, and on south to Seymour. Through most of Shelby County, the road still has the name Riley Highway.

As early as December 1929, plan were underway to get the Riley Highway to be included in the 2,000 miles of roads that were to be taken over by the ISHC in 1930. “Paving of the Riley Highway from Greenfield to a point east of Columbus…is expected to materialize within the next few years.” So reported the Hancock Democrat of 05 December 1929, in a story that had been reprinted from the Shelby Democrat.

The original plan to extend SR 9 from Greenfield south was taken up by representatives of the towns of Fountaintown, Shelbyville and Hope. Those towns put together committees to petition the State Highway Commission to lengthen the then current SR 9 to at least Hope, a town on the Big Four Railway connecting Columbus to Greensburg. The meeting with the ISHC was planned for 20 August 1930.

The Greenfield Daily Reporter of 18 August 1930 reported that “it is estimated that between eighty and ninety per cent of the milage along this route, known as the Riley highway, has already been secured through these grants, which call for the moving back of all the fences to a distance thirty feet from the center of the road.” While Shelby County residents were all for this extension, there was “considerable amount of opposition had been encountered from residents along the Riley highway in Hancock county.” This caused the work of the extension of SR 9 to work on a more eastern route, one that connected to the then current SR 9 at US 40 west of the Hancock County Courthouse. This would leave Greenfield heading south, connecting to the Riley Highway about one mile north of Fountaintown.

The Riley Highway itself, originally, ran through four counties: Jackson, Bartholomew, Shelby and Hancock. According to the Columbus Republic of 16 July 1931, part of the issues brought up by the people trying to get the road added to the state highway system is the lack of state roads in some of those counties. Bartholomew, for instance, was 64th out of 92 in state mileage. Shelby County was 88th. The only counties that had less mileage than Shelby were smaller counties: Union, Fayette, Blackford, and Ohio. Jackson was 32nd and Hancock was 77th.

Up to this point, the most active people in getting the Riley Highway added to the state system were those of Shelby County. The only state roads in the entire county were US 52, which skirted the northern edge of the county and SR 29 (future US 421), the historic Michigan Road, that connected to Shelbyville. The people of the Bartholomew County town of Hope was also big in getting in on the potential new state road.

Disappointment was in play in 1931, when the ISHC added 374 miles to the state system without including the Riley Highway. (Edinburgh Daily Courier, 18 May 1931) The Riley Highway had been named a year prior as to be added to the state road system, but hadn’t been included in those roads taken over thus far in 1931. It was reported that both the Riley and the Minute Man Route would be among the next roads that were in consideration for inclusion. It was understood that the Riley Highway would be first in the list of inclusion in 1931, but was not taken in due to “financial concerns.”

The fight would finally come to an end in July 1931. “Riley Highway Now Part of State System” was the headline in the Hancock Democrat of 23 July 1931. The plan was for the state to ask Hancock, Shelby and Bartholomew Counties to give up the road in the fall of that year. Paving would be completed over the following two years. This would, when complete, make the Riley Highway the only north-south road in Indiana (at the time) to connect to US 40, US 52, SR 29 and SR 46. The route was still being determined by the ISHC, but it was believed that it would lead south from Greenfield along State Street, then along the Fountaintown Pike to the Riley Highway at Fountaintown. Paving work would begin in September 1931.

Mount Comfort Airport

In the early 1960’s, the Indianapolis Airport Authority decided to build a secondary airport. Later, in the late 1960’s, it was decided that a location in northwestern Hancock County would be chosen. The land, containing 3,600 acres, had been the site of the Kingen Gun Club. The land was bordered by Hancock County Road 600N, County Road 400W, County Road 600W, and the Penn Central Railroad. It would later become Mount Comfort Airport, but not in the time frame originally planned.

The idea for Mount Comfort Airport was to relieve light plane traffic at Weir Cook Airport. Studies for the potential secondary airport began in 1962. The Indianapolis Airport Authority had issued a playbook, called the “Secondary Airport Study, Site Selection and Planning Criteria,” in November 1967. In March 1968, the Indianapolis Airport Authority was in the planning stages of issuing $1.25 million in bonds to buy 887 acres of Hancock County farmland. (Greenfield Daily Reporter, 5 March 1968) 40 local residents showed up to protest the location of the airport terminal near Mount Comfort. This was not the first protest of the location. The previous month, 100 residents traveled to Greenfield to appear before the Hancock County Planning Commission. Nothing occurred at that meeting because no discussions of the airport would be held at that council meeting.

Three days later, also in the Greenfield newspaper, a letter that had been mailed to residents of Mount Comfort concerning the land decision was published. (Greenfield Daily Reporter, 8 March 1968) The land chosen was that of the Kingen Gun Club, spanning the above mentioned 3,600 acres. (At the time, Weir Cook Airport was only 2,200 acres in size.) It is estimated that the proposed airport be able to handle, and house, between 500 and 1000 privately owned aircraft. Mr. G. Edwin Petro, manager of Weir Cook Airport, believed that 80 percent of the aircraft using the field would be business owned.

The Airport Authority planned a 6,000 foot southwest to northeast runway, with the possibility to expand it to 7,000 feet. A secondary (cross-wind) runway of 5,100 feet was also in the plan. Hangar facilities for 500-1000 aircraft, three fixed base operator lease plots, an executive terminal building and car parking area were to be built with the new facility.

In addition to the fact that there was a large amount of land, relatively flat, located at Mount Comfort, there was another factor in play for this location. Interstate 70, which had just been completed through western Hancock County, only had two exits in the entire county: one at SR 9, and one at Mount Comfort. Complaints were hot and heavy in the newspapers in February 1969 about the condition of Mount Comfort Road, left barely passable in the area around the I-70 interchange. But then, so were complaints about fixing said road. Locals were both protesting the road conditions left by the construction equipment and the fact that the state, with federal money, wanted to fix the road with one that had a 100 foot right-of-way. Then federal money dried up for the project.

The Indianapolis Star of 7 November 1969 reported that things concerning the new secondary airport had taken a bad turn. “Construction of a much-needed $3.5 million secondary airport at Mount Comfort in Hancock County has been delayed indefinately because of lack of Federal funds, the president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority said yesterday.” The setback was expected to delay the airport construction for at least a year. The plan was to have the airport active by late 1970.

The next reference to the proposed Mount Comfort Airport would be shown in the Indianapolis Star with the headline “Mount Comfort Airport Work May Begin Soon.” This was on page 26 of the 3 May 1973 issue. This would be four years after construction was to start. The Indianapolis Airport Authority made sure to point out that the airport was NOT a second Weir Cook (soon to be Indianapolis International), but one for business and industrial aircraft. Plans, according to the subject article, was for the Mount Comfort Airport to be completed around 1990.

The airport would finally open for air traffic on 16 November 1977. (Indianapolis Star, 15 November 1977) The first phase construction would start on 27 October 1976. It was a scaled down version of the original plan at first. Two runways, the main of 6,000 feet and a crosswind runway of 3,900 feet, would be of sod. There would also be a 3,900 foot concrete runway, 150 feet wide, beside the main 6,000 foot sod runway. Both would be available for use the following spring. While the acreage of the facility would be 1,200, up from the almost 900 originally planned. The first phase was financed, in part, using a $5.7 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. The second phase of construction, as yet unscheduled, would see the main runway paved. The final third phase would include building another runway.

When the airport opened, not only did it have a short runway (too short for use by most private jet aircraft), the hangar facilities were provided by two hand-me-down 110 by 200 foot buildings from Grissom Air Force Base. In 1979, the 3,900 foot runway was fully paved to 5,500 feet. November 1981 finally saw the addition of full instrument landing capability.

Further newspaper articles about the airport report that the 6,000 foot runway was only paved for 5,500 feet. The secondary runway of 3,900 feet was paved as such. The airport, in 2010, would cover 1,800 acres. Studies showed that, at that time, with the increase of traffic at what would soon become Indianapolis Regional Airport, the facility should plan on adding a third runway to accommodate that traffic. (Indianapolis Star, 19 June 2010)

Road Trip 1926: US 36

Today’s road trip focuses on US 36, a road described in the press release for the Great Renumbering as “now known as State Road 31 (the Rockville Road) from Indianapolis straight west through Danville, Rockville and Montezuma to the Indiana-Illinois state line directly west of Montezuma. The section west of Montezuma is one that will be added to the state system soon. (Incidentally, this is the only federal road that begins in Indianapolis.)”

I covered more of the history of this road here.

Tip Top Trail

By 1920, the state of Indiana was crossed by a vast number of named routes, called Auto Trails, that connected many of the bigger towns of the state. Some of these were cross country routes. But many were only in Indiana. Today, we are focusing on the Tip Top Trail, one of those Indiana only roads. The maps included in this post are from the Rand McNally Auto Trails Map of 1920. The Tip Top Trail is labelled as [3] throughout those maps. A downloadable copy of this map is available from the Indiana State Library.

This route crossed eastern Indiana, starting near Madison on the Ohio River. Technically, the road ended at the Michigan Road in North Madison. Starting due west along what is now SR 62, the TTT turned northwest along the old Indianapolis-Madison State Road which is now SR 7. This routing took travelers through Wirt, Dupont and Vernon to enter North Vernon. At North Vernon, the French Lick Trail crossed west to east across town. The French Lick Trail here would later become US 50. The French Lick Trail is marked on this map as [90].

As the Indianapolis-Madison State Road continued to the northwest, the TTT left North Vernon due north aiming the same direction as what is now SR 3. This connected Brewersville, Westport, Letts and Horace before connecting, and multiplexing, with the Terre Haute-Columbus-Cincinnati (THCC) Trail (labelled as [82]) west of Greensburg. West of Greensburg, the THCC became, roughly, the route of SR 46. East of Greensburg, the THCC connects to Batesville and Lawrenceburg, where the above mentioned French Lick Trail begins at the junction of the THCC.

At Greensburg, the TTT crosses what Rand McNally labels as [26], known as the Michigan Road. The southern end of the TTT actually ends at the same road.

There are places between North Vernon and Greensburg where the old TTT would later become part of the state road system. Other places, the TTT went screaming across rural Indiana on county roads that, in some circumstances, have been removed from maps.

The next section of the road continues along the SR 3 corridor north on its way to connect to the National Road at Dunreith. Before getting there, the towns of Sundusky, Williamstown, and Milroy are traversed before the county seat of Rush County, Rushville. Here, the Minute Man Route crossed west to east. The Minute Man route, although connecting several county seats, was almost not ever included in the state highway system later. It would be long after the Great Renumbering that it would make it…I covered that with the post “Fight for Adding SR 44 from Martinsville to Rushville.”

Still following, roughly, the SR 3 corridor, the TTT continues northward. 13.5 miles north of Rushville, the TTT connected to, and multiplexed with, the National Old Trails Road. This multiplex only lasted about one half mile. Here the TTT turned north out of Dunreith on West Street, soon to become Old Spiceland Road. This carries the route through Spiceland into New Castle. The TTT is crossed by the Hoosier Dixie Highway.

Parts of the old TTT would be added, and removed, from the route of future (current) SR 3 between New Castle and Muncie. It leaves the current SR 3 south of Mount Summit, continuing due north (more or less) before turning west due east of Springport. There it, again, aims due north through Oakville to Cowan. West of Cowan, the TTT turned north once again, following Cowan Road and Hoyt Avenue into Muncie. At Muncie, the TTT connects to the Hoosier Highway (connecting Muncie to Indianapolis and beyond) and Hub Highway (Greenville, Ohio, to Lafayette).

The Hoosier Highway and the Tip Top Trail travel together north out of Muncie. At Hartford City, they split ways, with the Hoosier Highway multiplexing with the Auto Trail called the Belt Line, which winds its way across Indiana. The Tip Top Trail continues north toward Warren.

North of Warren, the road keeps going toward Huntington. Here, the TTT connects with three Auto Trails. First is the Wabash Way [81]. This trail connects Fort Wayne with Peru, Logansport, Delphi and Lafayette. Second is the Ben Hur Route, which I covered earlier. Third is another Indiana only Auto Trail called the Huntington-Manitau-Culver Trail, connecting Rochester, Indiana, to Lima, Ohio.

The next destination for the Tip Top Trail is Columbia City. Here, the east-west Auto Trial that connected to the TTT was a coast-to-coast highway known as the Yellowstone Trail. Later, after the creation of the United States Highway System, the Lincoln Highway was rerouted along roughly the same corridor.

From Columbia City to the end of the Tip Top Trail roughly follows the current SR 9 corridor through Merriam, Albion, Brimfield, and ends at Rome City. At Merriam, the TTT crossed the original routing of the Lincoln Highway. At Brimfield, the Toledo-Chicago Pike crosses east to west. At Rome City, the end of the Tip Top Trail comes with the junction of the Ohio-Indiana-Michigan Way.

Bicycling the Reveal Road

In the Indianapolis News issue of 02 May 1896, the paper was continuing a series about traveling around Marion County, and beyond, on bicycles. At the time, that was the latest, greatest thing. Most people don’t realize that bicycles were the starting point to getting the government involved in making better roads, something that helped when cars and trucks started showing up in great numbers. That particular issue of the News started by covering the Crawfordsville Pike, which was covered again, and better, one week later on 09 May 1896. But it was the route back to the city that differed between the two.

The focus of today’s post is one part of the return trip. Most of the trip back was done on the Lafayette Pike, now known as Lafayette Road. But connecting the two major pikes was a gravel road that started at the Crawfordsville Pike as the Reveal Road. The Reveal Road is at the base of a large hill on the Crawfordsville Road one mile east of Clermont.

“The Reveal road soon gives evidence of what it is. The rider has an opportunity to test his coasting powers right at the start, for, after climbing a short hill, it wings down a lone, but not very steep, decline to Big Eagle creek.” This road no longer exists in the form it did then. It has been moved several times over the years, especially when Interstate 74 was built through the area. At the bottom of the hill, a bridge crosses over the Big Eagle Creek along what would become the 34th Street corridor. (This bridge, or its replacements, would disappear when I-74 was built and 34th Street was turned to the northwest to connect to Dandy Trail.)

“The bridge is a good one, but, as there had been fresh gravel placed on the road just beyond the bridge, it might be well to slow up a bit in going over.” From here, the road travels east for a little bit then turns north. Here, the road meanders its way through the Big Eagle Creek valley. It ran along a hillside, a short distance from the creek itself.

A mile and a half after crossing the bridge, a road turns due east to connect to the Lafayette Pike. While this road is now known as 46th Street, which ends at both Dandy Trail and Lafayette Road, in 1896 it was known as the Russe Free Gravel Road. It is noted that the Russe Road is in good condition, but very hilly.

The Reveal Road continues north and north west along the Eagle Creek valley until it met the Centennial Pike, which is now 56th Street. Between the Russe and Centennial Pikes, the Reveal is dirt. As with the Russe, the Centennial connects eastward to the Lafayette Road. The Centennial Pike ended at the Reveal Road, which crossed Eagle Creek heading north.

Much is made in the article about the beauty along the Reveal Road as it winds its way from basically 34th Street to near 79th Street through the Big Eagle Creek valley. The route is relatively flat, easy to ride, and plenty of shade along the way. The Reveal Road itself would connect to the Lafayette Pike along the north bank of the creek. Here, it entered the village of Trader’s Point. The village has been moved, this being a result of the creation of the Eagle Creek Reservoir.

For those that have been following Indiana Transportation History through this blog, you probably recognize the path of the old Reveal Road. It, like the original location of the village of Trader’s Point, has been long gone. Again, the creation of Eagle Creek Reservoir is to thank for this. But, before the making of the reservoir, some 30+ years after this bicycling article, this entire section was included in the driving tour around Marion County: Dandy Trail.

The Cloverleaf Interchanges at US 40 and SR 100

One of the most historic interchanges in the state of Indiana is the cloverleaf at Washington Street and Shadeland Avenue on the east side of Marion County. It was the first such interchange in the county…and as such was called “the Cloverleaf” for years. When it was completed in 1956, the Indiana State Highway Commission had built it to become part of the circular highway bypass of Indianapolis. Washington Street, at that time, was US 40, and Shadeland Avenue had been built as SR 100. (The history of SR 100 was covered here.)

Construction on the above mentioned interchange started in 1954. At the time, SR 100 (the Shadeland Avenue leg) ended at Washington Street. It had just been completed to that point in the previous several years. The road was built to be part of a complete bypass of Indianapolis. And as such, it started doing its job too well. Traffic along both roads was getting rather busy. It was then decided to reconstruct the interchange, which at the time had been a traffic signal. The plan was for the cloverleaf that is still there to this day.

But this wasn’t the only planned cloverleaf interchange. SR 100 on the west side of Marion County was High School Road. The most direct route from downtown Indianapolis to the Indianapolis Municipal Airport was Washington Street to High School Road and south to the airport. The original plan for SR 100 was to use High School Road, Thompson Road, Shadeland Avenue and 82/86th Street as a complete loop around the city. While this was never competed (the construction of I-465 started in 1960, and replaced SR 100 plans), the interchange at High School and Washington was going to be an important part of the plan.

(As an aside, the initial contracts for the construction of I-465 were actually issued by the state as part of SR 100. In the beginning, both numbers were used to refer to the highway, especially on the west side of the city.)

The image above shows the official notification of the contract letting for Washington Street/US 40 exit at I-465. These would be published in newspapers statewide. This one came from an Indianapolis newspaper on 20 October 1959. Although the contract was numbered as part of I-465, the contract actually calls for construction of the SR 100 west leg.

But the planning for the cloverleaf started way back in 1954. To the extent that houses were moved for the building of the interchange. Although, it is noted in the image below from the Indianapolis News of 15 December 1954, that the planning was incomplete. The plans for the highway hadn’t even been laid down at the time. It is important to remember that the plans for the Indianapolis Bypass, as SR 100, were started before the Interstate system had been created.

With the signing, by President Eisenhower, of the law in 1956 that created what would become the interstate system, the planning of SR 100 would be moved from one type of road to another. Traffic through the area would justify the expense of building a controlled access highway around the city.

As it turned out, the matching cloverleafs on US 40 at SR 100 would end up not being completed. The east side interchange would become a landmark. The west side leg of SR 100 dropped off the face of the earth when I-465 became to preferred bypass. And hence, the money spent to move the house pictured below would, in the end, been for naught.

Indianapolis News, 15 Dec 1954. Moving a house out of the way to build a cloverleaf interchange at US 40 (Washington Street) and SR 100 on the westside of Indianapolis. This interchange would not be built until almost a decade later as part of I-465.

A Case for Sidewalks Along US 40 at Cambridge City

Very soon after the Great Renumbering, the Indiana State Highway Commission started on plans to expand and bypass several of the new United States highways through the state. The earliest of these were plans for US 30, US 31 and US 40. Both US 31 and US 40 had quickly become some of the busiest highways in the state, connecting the capital city with surrounding states directly. The US 40 plan was to expand the road to two dual lanes with a center median. However, this ran into problems when it came to towns along the way.

It wouldn’t be until the early 1930’s that the ISHC would be allowed to maintain state roads that used local streets. By 1935, plans for US 40 were made for Cambridge City, in Wayne County. The state owned the road through the town. At the time, the US 40 pavement through the town consisted of nine foot wide hard surface on each side of the interurban tracks that ran through the middle of the street from College Street to the east corporation line. The ISHC then planned to add dirt berms and open ditches on each side of the road. (Source: Cambridge City Tribune, 17 October 1935)

This did not sit well with citizens in the area. Petitions were passed around to have the ISHC reconsider this plan that would not fix the headaches caused by bottle necks in the area. It was decided by the ISHC at the beginning of that week, that the US 40 rebuild would be full width in concrete with curbs and gutters. This was much appreciated by the citizens.

But the newspaper decided it was time to take on the city government to further improve the road. Yes, gutters and curbs would be great…but what about the safety of pedestrians in the town? It was time, the newspaper editorial staff opined, that sidewalks be built by the town for that purpose. “There are no better building sites on state road 40 between Indianapolis and Richmond than right at these locations where there are no sidewalks.”

The newspaper made the case for four foot wide sidewalks adjoining the curb. The case was made that with sidewalks, people would actually stop in Cambridge City. The argument was “dud you ever go into a strange town about meal time and ask for a good place to eat and some one told you the hotel across the street is the best place in town? You step into the dining room – it’s gloomy, table cloths dirty and the cream pitcher on the table had a swarm of flies around it? I’ll go to the next time, where I’m acquainted.”

The writer also pointed out that this was the duty of Cambridge City, not that of the state highway commission or the Federal government.

The planned expansion of US 40 would be completed the following year. The next mention of US 40 in the town would be in 1948, when the ISHC announced that Cambridge City would receive two traffic signal installations: one at Main Street (US 40) and Center Street (SR 1), and one at Main Street and Green Street.

Danville Traction

The Indianapolis & Danville Traction Company. Routes between Indianapolis and Danville had already been in place before the complete opening of this traction line on 31 August 1906. The Big Four Railway had connected to the town as part of the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, a company formed in 1867. The Rockville State Road (future PPOO, and US 36) and the Danville State Road (a little known route, even to the locals) also connected the the two cities. But electric traction fever had hit Indiana…and hard. Really hard.

The original plan for this line wasn’t to connect Indianapolis to Danville. The plan was to connect Indianapolis to Rockville, via Danville. The Indianapolis, Danville & Rockville ID&R) Traction Company was officially incorporated in January 1903 at Indianapolis. The ID&R sent men into the countryside of Putnam and Hendricks Counties in March 1903 to purchase private property for the right-of-way. (Indianapolis News, 27 March 1903) “Surveyors have gone over the route from Indianapolis to Rockville, taking along a level and establishing grades. The road follows the Rockville pike closely from Indianapolis for a distance of sixty mile, touching the towns of Danville, Bainbridge, Morton, Hollandsburg, Bellmore and Rockville.” The plan of the company is to acquire franchise rights in the towns before building would commence. The officers of the company, when first put together, were Everett Wagner (Indianapolis, President), J. W. Ader (Danville, Vice President), J. W. Trotter (Danville, Secretary), and W. C. Osborne (Danville, Treasurer).

Also mentioned in that article was the fact that the ID&R had already made arrangements with the Indianapolis & Western for both companies to both construct and use the tracks. The I&W would use the section between Indianapolis and Danville as a jumping off point to continue their plan to connect to Greencastle and Brazil. The I&W later decided to put its Danville plans on hold to go back to building its line through Plainfield.

By July 1903, it was reported that almost the entire right-of-way was acquired along the route all the way to Rockville. On 29 July of that same year, the company had filed for franchise rights to build over and along the Rockville Gravel Road in western Marion County.

An incorporation document for the Indianapolis and Danville Traction company was filed on 09 January 1904. The original planned issue of capital stock was $100,000. However, with the incorporation that day, it was increased to $700,000 so that construction could continue. The construction would had already started, as reported in the Indianapolis Star of 14 November 1903. “The gangs of men have gone into winter quarters and will work steadily until spring.” The goal of the company officials was to have the line built to Danville by 01 July 1904, “unless some unforeseen obstacle arises.” (Indianapolis News, 01 March 1904) All of the heavy grading was complete, and most of the needed bridges were ready to be swung into place. “The expansion to Rockville, Ind., will begin after the Danville division is completed.”

The arrival of the first train along the entire line (to Danville at that point), according to the Muncie Evening Press of 31 August 1906, was that morning. By this time, the company had already been sold twice. The original owners listed above sold it to a syndicate called the Tucker-Anthony Syndicate. This was sold to a syndicate represented by Hugh McGowan in Indiana. The purchase by McGowan occurred after the previous owner failed, by a year, to complete the Danville section in time. This led to the canceling of both the Rockville and Greencastle/Brazil extensions. It would be almost a year later that, as reported in the Indianapolis Star of 05 July 1907, hourly service would be commenced along the line. Trains would leave Indianapolis starting at 0500 and every hour until 1900 (7 pm). The last two cars would leave the city at 2100 (9 pm) and 2330 (11:30 pm).

The line, when completed, would consist of 19.8 miles connecting the Indianapolis Traction Terminal to “downtown” Danville. Most stops along the line were numbered, but those were rather strange at times. For instance, there were “half stops” after six, 11, 15, 16 and the last numbered stop, 22. Then there were named stops between the numbered ones. (Not unusual. The most well known interurban stops today were along the Greenwood line, with the road names being the stops. But Stop 9 was at Banta Road [1/2 mile north of Southport], and Stop 10 is 1/2 mile south of Southport. Southport WAS a stop…but not a numbered one.) Those named stops included Whitcomb, State Farm, White Lick, Tremont Gardens, Taylors, Griswold, Huron, Avon, Rockwood, Gale, Underwood, Hadley’s and Danville. The Danville line crossed into Hendricks County at Stop 9, nine miles from the Traction Terminal.

With the purchase of the Danville Traction by those represented by Hugh McGowan, in addition to other properties owned by the same syndicate, the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern was created. In addition to the Danville line, the Plainfield line (extended to Terre Haute), the Martinsville line, the Lebanon line, the Crawfordsville line and the Indianapolis & Eastern (connecting to Richmond) all came under the same umbrella. In addition to the above companies, Hugh J. McGowan was instrumental in the building of the Indianapolis Traction Terminal, reorganizing and forming the Indianapolis Street Railway Company, and forming the Indianapolis Traction & Terminal Company, which ended up leasing the Indianapolis Street Railways.

A report in the Indianapolis Star of 25 June 1907 caught my interest for this article. To give you an idea of how much power would be used to keep the interurban running, it was reported that P. H. Zipp, the Avon substation foreman, avoided death even though he fell into a supply wire carrying 33,000 volts of electricity. Apparently, what kept the man from being killed is that he fell through the wires to the floor below without getting the full brunt of what could have been fatal. His head and his face came in contact with the wires in question. His face and head were badly burned, and he did suffer from weakness due to the shock. But his doctor stated that he would recover.

Disaster struck the line, and the town of Danville, on 13 June 1909. Tornadoes and heavy rains struck the town that afternoon, leaving Danville, according to the Indianapolis Star of 14 June 1909, “cut off from all telephone or telegraph communication with the outside world, and cars on the Indianapolis & Danville traction line did not run between the hours of 4 and 10 p. m. on account of washouts.” Hardscrabble, a traction station four miles east of Danville, “was in the center of the storm and suffered considerable damage.”

Weather would be a concern for all transport facilities in March 1913. The floods spread all across Indiana, and most of page 11 of the Indianapolis News of 25 March 1913, covered flood damage all over the state. The section that relates to this article reports that no more cars would run along the Danville line after the 10 a.m. train due to high water. The floods of 1913 will be covered in a later post. Suffice it to say, those floods were extremely dangerous and extremely damaging.

“Improved highways, major busses and private automobiles joined yesterday sounding the death knell for another Indiana interurban line.” This was the first paragraph of an article in the Indianapolis Star of 06 August 1930. “Petition for abandonment of the Indianapolis to Danville line of the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Company was filed with the public service commission by Elmer W. Stout, president of the Fletcher American National bank and receiver for the traction line.” Part of the petition showed that the line had only shown a profit, in the last few years, in 1920, 1921, and 1927. Authority to abandon the line was given to Mr. Stout in September 1930, with traction division traffic to cease on 31 October 1930. The old right-of-way would be mentioned in newspaper articles after its abandonment for less than a decade as a location reference for those stories. But even that would stop. And the Indianapolis-Danville Traction Company quietly faded away with very little fanfare.

Road Trip 1926: SR 35

Today, the Road Trip 1926 looks at another state road that had its number removed. But this time, it was because it was replaced to make room for US 35 in 1933. And SR 35 became the only “major” state road with a three digit number: SR 135.

But at the time of the Great Renumbering, SR 35 would run from Corydon to a point south of Vallonia, where it ended at US 50. The southern part, from Corydon to Palmyra, was a new state road. The rest was OSR 24.

Jackson Highway in Indiana

In the Auto Trail era, there were a lot of highways, for lack of a better term, cobbled together to reach distant parts of the United States. The granpap (or for those not of Pennsylvanian heritage, grandfather) of them all was the Lincoln Highway. Then came the Dixie Highway. After that, organizations were popping up creating more and more of these collections of country roads into named highways. One such road was named to honor Andrew Jackson.

Looking at it in the grand scheme of things, the Jackson Highway was, well, strange when it came to routing. It was designed to compliment the Dixie Highway. From Nashville, Tennessee, to Chicago, Illinois, the two road ran quite a bit of the time together, but usually not on the same road. At Nashville, the Dixie turned toward Florida. Confusingly, the Jackson turned southwest towards New Orleans. I say confusingly because it’s not very often that going from Chicago to New Orleans requires a long journey through Indiana.

The Jackson and the Dixie (at least one branch) both started in Chicago, and left Indiana at New Albany. As the Dixie aimed south toward Danville, Illinois, the Jackson goes straight for Hammond. From there, the Jackson Highway connected Crown Point, Rensselaer, Lafayette, Frankfort and Lebanon on its way to Indianapolis. At Indianapolis, the Jackson Highway met both branches of the Dixie Highway. The Dixie came into town on what would become SR 34 (US 136) and US 31, leaving along what became SR 37 and US 40. The Jackson came into town along what became US 52 and left via US 31.

In 1917, one year after the creation of the Jackson Highway, original state road 1 was created using the Dixie Highway north of Indianapolis and the Jackson Highway south of it. That state road designation would become official in 1919. The OSR 1 designation would separate from the Jackson at Seymour.

That would mean that from Indianapolis, the next stops on the Jackson would be Greenwood, Franklin, Columbus, Seymour, Salem and New Albany before crossing the Ohio River into Louisville.

Also in 1919, according to the Logansport Pharos-Reporter of 3 June 1919, traffic reports were issued, at least as far as Clinton County was concerned. The headline read “Michigan Road Traveled Much – County Kept During Friday and Saturday on Two Best Highways.” According to the Clinton County officials, the traffic counts along the two roads was decidedly leaning toward the Michigan. Cars were 714 to 319, Michigan. Trucks, 53 to 9, Michigan. Motorcycles 13 to 26, Jackson. And horse drawn vehicles, 165 to 1, Michigan.

A more detailed destination list of the Jackson, according to the Rand McNally Auto Trails map of 1919 is as follows: Whiting, Hammond, Chicago Heights, Highland, Schererville, Crown Point, Shelby, Thayer, Demotte, Virgie, Aix, Rensselaer, Remington, Wolcott, Montmorenci, Lafayette, Dayton, Mulberry, Frankfort, Mechanicsburg, Lebanon, Royalton, Flackville and Indianapolis.

From Indianapolis, the route connects Southport, Greenwood, Whiteland, Franklin, Amity, Edinburgh, Taylorsville, Columbus, Walesboro, Waynesville, Jonesville, Seymour, Brownstown, Vallonia, Millport, Kossuth, Salem, Pekin, Borden, Bridgeport, Bennettsville, and New Albany.

Most references in Indiana to the Jackson Highway were gone from the local newspapers by 1933. Occasionally afterwards, the name would be used in places where there was no state road designation. By 1936, even those had dried up.

Bicycling the (South) Michigan Road (Not much info)

Back in September, 2019, when I started posting about late 19th Century bicycling in and around Indianapolis, it started with an article about Bicycling the Michigan Road. That covered from Indianapolis north toward Augusta. But anyone who has been around here for a while knows that Indianapolis is the middle point on the Michigan Road. So today, we are aiming southeast along the old road towards New Bethel… errr… Wanamaker. (There is a history article there that is beyond the scope of this blog…but I’ve been thinking about that.)

The Indianapolis News of 21 March 1896 covered this section of the old road as a return trip that I wrote about when I wrote Bicycling the Shelbyville Pike. The difference in this instance is that instead of the travel back to the city, like the Bicycling the Madison Road was for the Bicycling the Three Notch Road, this article covered the way out to New Bethel (I will be using New Bethel instead of Wanamaker due to the fact that was used in the article.) As a matter of fact, the article mentions that “between New Bethel and the city are over a dozen good country roads, which will be in a short time passable for the wheel.”

The article continues “these dirt roads during the summer months are really pleasanter for the wheelmen than the Michigan road, which is rarely in good condition.” The reporter states that this was more due to the amount of traffic on the road than anything else.

“The Michigan road runs into Washington street near Pine, just a mile east of Pennsylvania street.” This is still the location of the connection, although it has been moved a bit to the east to make the angle of intersection a little better. The condition of the road between this starting point and the Belt Railroad was bad. The News noted that “it will not be used much by riders.” A quarter of a mile east of the Belt Railroad, a road connects the Michigan Road, through Stafford, to the Brookville and Irvington (National) Turnpikes. (Stafford is a neighborhood bordered by English Avenue, the Belt Railway, the Pennsylvania/B&O tracks and Sherman Drive. One of its streets connects, now, directly to the Brookville Road. Check here for when it didn’t.) It is recommended that riders follow that route. That route, by the time of this article, had acquired its current name: Sherman Drive. The National Road is listed as being one of the best into the city.

Unfortunately, the News article is so down on the Michigan Road that it covers a bunch of other routes into the city. Going out the Shelbyville Pike to Five Points, to Acton, and north to the Michigan Road back to the city is a 32 mile trip. It is mentioned many times in the article that the old road was in very bad shape. Due to this, the article mentions very little else about the Michigan Road, but recommends leaving New Bethel to the northeast to connect to the Senour Gravel Road, which would allow the rider to come back to the city via the Brookville Road.

Indiana Reroute of the Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway

When the Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean (PPOO) Highway was created in 1915, a meeting in Indianapolis was held “to promote the acquaintance of the people of Colorado with those of the states to the East.” (Source: Indianapolis Star, 21 April 1915) “The Cumberland and the National Roads form the eastern part of the Ocean-to-Ocean highway as it has been mapped by Pike’s Peak boosters.” While this is mostly true, between Richmond, Indiana, and Springfield, Ohio, that route wasn’t. I covered that on 13 September 2019 with the post US 40 East of Richmond.

Starting in 1916, the PPOO started its Indiana journey across the state by entering along what became US 36 from Illinois, connecting Rockville to Indianapolis (along the Rockville State Road). From Indianapolis, the road followed the National Old Trails Road to Springfield, Ohio, via Greenfield, Richmond, Eaton and Dayton. After Springfield, the PPOO connected to Columbus and Coshocton. This will be important soon.

Fast forward to the Muncie Sunday Star of 16 July 1922. The city of Muncie was looking forward to becoming accessible via a transcontinental highway. The PPOO was changing the route through the state. More to the point, the PPOO organization was thinking about it, but “as now seems certain.” This would make Muncie “the largest city in Indiana on the route and probably the largest city for a stretch of 250 miles or more through this section.”

The article goes on to state that “the trail already had been assured as far as Anderson on the west. The success of the effort to orgnaize a local chapter of the Pike’s Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Association will determine whether the highway will continue on east over the proposed route or whether it will traverse points to the north of the city.”

So, what was the proposed route? At least in the 1922 change listed in that newspaper article? At Rockville, the new path would turn northeast to Crawfordsville. While a path is not specifically mentioned, maps of the proposal show a direct route between the two towns, making it possible for the PPOO to travel through Guion and Waveland on its way to Crawfordsville. From there, the route is pretty much a straight line through Lebanon, Noblesville, Anderson, Muncie, Farmland, Winchester and Union City. On the Ohio side of the state line, Greenville and Piqua would be on the new route before connecting to the original route at Coshocton.

Muncie Sunday Star, 16 July 1922, showing proposed route change to PPOO in Indiana.

When the PPOO was rerouted in 1923, Muncie got its wish. It was included on a transcontinental highway. The difference between what was proposed in 1922 and what became reality in 1923 was the section west of Crawfordsville. Instead of entering the state west of Rockville, the route through Illinois had also been moved north, leaving that state east from Danville. This made the PPOO come through Covington instead of Rockville.

Controversy again arose in 1925 concerning the routing of the PPOO. The Indianapolis Star of 08 March 1925 received a statement from H. D. Judson, of St. Joseph, Missouri, General Manager of the Pike’s Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway. The message read that a new map of the routing was released erroneously. What did this map show? In western Indiana, the route would be changed to connect to Attica. The reason for the controversy was that it was alleged that the change in the route was made with the assistance of the Indiana State Highway Commission…with Attica being the hometown of Chairman of the ISHC, Charles W. Zeigler. Since the proposal was listed as erroneous, I can find no maps that show the routing between Danville, Illinois, and Crawfordsville.

It was determined, according to Mr. Judson, that “it was with forethought and careful consideration of future needs that the highway was purposely rerouted to avoid Indianapolis, Dayton, Columbus, Springfield, O., and other cities on the National Old Trails.” A problem occurred when the Indiana PPOO association had taken subscriptions of money from towns along the abandoned route, including Dana and Montezuma. But Mr. Judson made it a point that sections of original SR 33 (became SR 34 [US 136] west of Crawfordsville and SR 32 east of that city in 1926) were in the list to be paved in 1925, making a good anchor for the road through the state.

Indianapolis News, 14 May 1934. Indianapolis is U. S. Crossroads

After the Great Renumbering, and the creation of the US Highway system, Auto Trails started disappearing from the landscape, having served the purpose of getting good roads supported by the government. A mention in the Indianapolis News of 14 May 1934 states the PPOO, at that time, had been rerouted through Indianapolis at some point, following the Rockville Road to the west of the city. A classified ad in the Franklin Evening Star of 23 January 1932 lists an 80 acre farm “located 26 1/2 miles west of Indianapolis, 6 1/2 miles west of Danville, and 1/2 mile east of New Winchester, Hendricks county, on State Road 36, known as Pike’s Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway.” The PPOO is still listed on SR 32 according to the Noblesville Ledger of 14 February 1931. This is listed in a classified ad for another 80 acre farm for sale north of Fishersburg and Lapel.

Aviation Around South Bend/Mishawaka

A journey on the Lincolnway West out of downtown South Bend brings one to the South Bend International Airport. The airport has become so important to the area that it required the movement of that very same road…one that had been in place since the 1830’s as the Michigan Road.

But what is currently called South Bend International Airport didn’t actually start life as South Bend Airport. The current airport was originally Bendix Field, also called the St. Joseph County Airport. The original South Bend Airport was actually northeast of the city, north of SR 23 and west of Fir Road. In the late 1920’s, the difference between the two were massive. According to the South Bend Tribune of 01 April 1973, South Bend Airport consisted of “four hangars, fairly good runways for that era, and was the principal air terminal for South Bend.” Bendix Field, in contrast, was just being built, and hence only consisted of a horseshoe shaped driveway to a grass runway “and little else.”

St. Joseph County bought the airport from Bendix in 1937, while the name was retained for some time afterwards. This made Bendix Field the first publicly owned airport in the area. But getting to that point was a struggle. There were reports of fraud and political gamemanship in trying to get the purchase not to happen. Bendix Corporation actually owned the field. Part of the reason for starting the airfield was that Bendix manufactured systems for both automobiles and airplanes. The company had been started in 1924 in South Bend, and became a very important local business. The Vice President of the company mentioned the offer from the county for the airport, also making mention of how South Bend was important to the company. The county voted for the purchase of Bendix Field in July 1936, making a bond issue of $210,000.

The South Bend Tribune of 27 October 1940 published an aviation related article, under the title “Airfax,” about what South Bend, a few weeks earlier, felt was a slight to the city. Both South Bend and Fort Wayne had been lobbying for an Army Air Corps base at their municipal airports. South Bend lost. People for aviation in the city were “feeling sorry for ourselves” because the Army passed up South Bend. But those in South Bend felt better when they found out that when the Army took over, “private operators have been ordered to cease their activities there.” Using the hangars was fine, “but must conduct student instruction and other activities at least six miles from the army air base.”

The writer, John H. Magill, makes the point that without the private pilot, the very thing that keeps South Bend’s airport the busiest airport in the region. “Its private operators are still making fliers. The federal government, through the civil aeronautics administration, relies on our private operators to carry out the private pilot training program which is destined to play a large part in the national defense scheme.”

The original South Bend Airport would change its name to Cadet Field. This is where research gets a little interesting. According to the South Bend Tribune of 09 August 1942, “Today will mark the official opening of Cadet field, formerly known as the old St. Joseph county airport, located six miles northeast of the city near the Edwardsburg road.” This is in direct contrast to the mention of the South Bend Municipal Airport quoted two paragraphs before. The new purpose of the airfield was to train pilots. It had been used for that purpose before, and was outfitted for such. Now, with the change of the name, and management, it would be more so.

The name Cadet Field becomes somewhat telling with the reports in the South Bend Tribune of 23 March 1942. “The possible location here of a huge naval air training base in the near future was revealed today after a conference involving Mayor Jesse I. Pavey and members of the county board of commissioners.” The plan was to temporarily use South Bend Airport pending the construction of a naval flying field near South Bend. The plan was to create 30 such bases. One had already been awarded to Peru, Indiana.

The problem is that the South Bend Tribune seems to get a bit confused about which airport is which. The St. Joseph County Airport, aka Bendix Field, after the name change at Cadet Field, seems to be called South Bend Airport interchangeably with the other two, official, names in that newspaper.

Labor Day 1934 marked the beginning of another airport in St. Joseph County. At Dragoon Trail and Elm Road, the opening ceremonies of Mishawaka Airport included an air parade and parachute jumps. In January 1935, the airport was listed in he federal bulletin, and described as follows: “Mishawaka – Mishawaka airport, commercial rating. Three and seven-tenths miles southeast of town on Elm road. Altitude, 700 feet. Rectangular, 3,960 by 1,320 feet, sod, level, natural drainage, entire field available. Houses and trees to southwest; wood to north; hangar in southeast courner. Facilities for servicing aircraft, day only.” (Source: South Bend Tribune, 29 January 1935) The last references I have seen to this Mishawaka Airport is in May 1948, when part of the hangar was destroyed in a storm.

The next reference to a Mishawaka Airport is in September 1949, when Sportsmen’s Park, an air facility on Day Road, was dedicated as the “new Mishawaka airport.” (Source: South Bend Tribune, 25 September 1949) It is safe to assume that the old facility that served that purpose, and was named accordingly, didn’t last long after the personal problems of one of the owners of the airport. That person was part owner of a flying service based at Cadet Field and part owner of the Mishawaka Airport. The company’s assets were listed in the South Bend Tribune classifieds as a “business opportunity” shortly after the personal problem was resolved.

Sportsman’s Airport, one of several referenced names for the field, is listed in the South Bend Tribune until at least 01 October 1968, when it is listed a business property for sale. “50 acres, with 2-2,000 ft. runways. 2 large hangars, plus large brick office building and 3 bedroom home. Aircraft dealership could be available with purchase.” In 1974, St. Joseph County Commissioners voted to rezone a tract of land from residential to manufacturing. That tract of land, at 12801 Day Road, had been part of the old Sportsman’s Airport. Plans included using some of the old airport buildings for spaces to manufacture pickup truck enclosures and boat trailers.

Another airport in the area between Crumstown Highway and Grant Road on Pine Road is the Chain O Lakes. The earliest reference I have found to this airport is in 1946, although officially it was activated in November 1945. Today, it is a private airport with grass runways. It is officially listed as a private use airport, requiring landing permission to use. It is listed as only having attendants on site between March and November, and even then only from dawn to dusk. It is still shown on Google Maps as an airport.

According to the South Bend Tribune of 20 Jun 1947, requests were made to bring a sixth airport to St. Joseph County. This one was to be located .25 south of Edison Road on the west side of Snowberry Road. This location was already listed in a Civil Aeronautics Authority airport list “with a ‘civil commerce airfield.’ which identifies it as an emergency landing field.” This was called Gordon Airport, after the owners of the land.

The major airport in the area went from being Bendix Field to St. Joseph County Airport, then it became Michiana Regional Airport. Now, it is South Bend International, with the runways on Bendix Field. A recent expansion caused the historic Michigan Road/Lincoln Highway to be removed. That road is now rerouted around the expansion.

Martinsville Traction

One of the Interurban lines created around the turn of the 20th century was the Indianapolis & Martinsville Traction Company. Work on creating the line started with the securing of rights of way, in 1899, by Jesse C. Tarkington. This would allow a traction company to build through towns between Indianapolis and Martinsville. The traction line would be, according to the Indianapolis Journal of 03 May 1901, “a short cut to Martinsville and will pass through all the towns on the Indianapolis & Vincennes road between this city and Martinsville.”

The same source newspaper reports that W. R. Todd & Company, bankers of Cincinnati and New York, had a representative, Reamy E. Field, in Indianapolis on 02 May 1901 to discuss with promoters of the line the possibility of investing in the new traction company. Mr. Field told a reporter for the Journal that “he had made arrangements to finance the road and had $600,000 at his disposal with which to begin work at once.” He also stated that “arrangements had been made with Dr. J. E. Lowes, of Dayton, O., to build the traction line, and work will begun (sic) as soon as a private right of way can be secured and the survey made.”

Dr. Lowes, at that time, was involved in building several traction lines. He built the line in Ohio connecting Dayton and Eaton, which would work in conjunction with the Richmond traction line that had just been organized. He also built 42 miles, between Dayton and Greenville (Ohio), that would become part of the line between Dayton and Fort Wayne.

The above mentioned survey, completed under Tarkington’s direction, would be the second such survey for a traction line to Martinsville from Indianapolis. This was reported in the Indianapolis News of 21 May 1901. Tarkington’s survey, under the the auspices of the Indianapolis & Southwestern Traction Company, followed the same right-of-way that had been surveyed by Charles Finley Smith. Smith’s company had already started condemnation proceedings to obtain that right-of-way. “In many places the stakes for the two lines are placed side by side.” The News added “it is understood that Mr. Tarkington claims that he had options on portions of the Smith right-of-way before the condemnation proceedings were begun, so it is likely that the matter will get into the courts.” The confusion caused by the two competitors caused many people to believe that neither line would be built.

The Indianapolis Journal of 25 August 1902 reported that the Indianapolis & Martinsville Rapid Traction Company had opened their line as far as Matthew’s Crossing, a location three miles south of Mooresville. This report, having been published on a Monday, stated that “it is expected to have the service in operation to Brooklyn and Bethany Park next Sunday.”

Indianapolis & Martinsville Rapid Transit Company
time table from 12 June 1906.
Martinsville Reporter-Times

In 1903, interurban tracks were proposed to extend from Martinsville ti Evansville. (Indianapolis Star, 17 July 1903) This was under the auspices of the Indianapolis, Martinsville & Southern Railroad Company, the other company that had surveyed the original Martinsville route. The company had increased their capital stock from $50,000 to $900,000 to fulfill the plan, with the company changing its name to the Indianapolis & Southwestern Traction Company. This route would change the surveyed route to acheive their goal since the Indianapolis & Martinsville had already built along hte original survey. This new route would pass through Marion, Johnson, Morgan, Owen, Greene, Sullivan, Knox, and Gibson Counties to Princeton. There it would connect to the line already being built to that point from Evansville. It would connect Indianapolis to Waverly, Martinsville, Gosport, Spencer, Worthington, Linton, and Vincennes, with branch lines to Bloomfield, Sullivan and Washington. It was never built, but parts would come back into the reign of possibility.

By 1905 (Indianapolis News, 29 June 1905), ownership of the company was in serious flux. It started with the Stone & Webster Syndicate of Boston gaining control of the company from local owners. But in the source newspaper, rumors were floating that the ownership had changed again to Philadelphia interests of the Widener-Elkins Syndicate. While it was a rumor, the News stated that the acquisition of the line was “in line with the commonly accepted purpose of the Widener-Elkins syndicate to obtain the control of every traction line centering in Indianapolis, if that be possible.” At the time, the Philadelphia syndicate controlled the Union Traction, Indianapolis & Eastern, Indianapolis & Western and the Indianapolis & Northwestern companies. These were a small part of the total lines owned by the syndicate, almost creating an interurban line connecting the Mississippi River to New York City. In 1902, the syndicate controlled the Indianapolis Traction and Terminal Company that had just gained control of the Indianapolis Street Railway.

The Indianapolis News of 13 June 1907 reported that promoters from Chicago were in Washington, Indiana, mentioning the with the next thirty days construction would begin connecting that city to Martinsville. This new line would run from Washington, through Bloomfield, to Martinsville. Further records don’t exist stating this line was ever built.

The company came under fire in 1911 when a series of rate increases for the journey between Martinsville and Indianapolis. Five Martinsville businessmen were in Indianapolis, according to the Martinsville Reporter-Times of 13 September 1911, on 12 September 1911 to discuss the problem. E. F. Branch, the spokesman for the Martinsville group, “called attention to the fact that pledges had been made when the franchise was granted that the round trip rate between Martinsville and Indianapolis would not be more than seventy-five cents. Later the round trip was made ninety cents; then it was placed at one dollar and now it is $1.10.” He added that “it is rumored that the round trip will be $1.20 after the first of October.”

A meeting of Martinsville citizens, in response to the rate increases, came up with the possibility of talking to the Vandalia Railway about the possibility creating a better transportation solution to the traction company. (The Vandalia was, at that time, the operator/owner of the original Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad that connected to Mooresville and Martinsville.) Officers of the traction company were told of this citizen meeting, “not as a threat, as the discussion was had in good humor.”

The traction company declined any concessions, as “ties, rails and material is higher and labor costs more.” Promises of an investigation into the matter were made. Mr. Branch countered with complaints of rough road conditions along the traction line, “that the jolting of the cards frequently made people sick, that the cars were not kept in good condition and that the service was not what it should be.” Mr. Todd, General Manager of the traction company, simply responded “it’s not so.”

Only a promise of investigation resulted from the meeting. But the businessmen would arrange a meeting with the Vandalia to decide where to go next.

Parts of the discussion mentioned above concerned the Martinsville line extending to Bloomington. There were questions, by the businessmen, about the possibility of the traction line getting the right to cross over the Big Four line that connected Martinsville to Franklin. The Martinsville contingent stated that the traction company would never get those rights. The traction company simply stated that they would go around. The Bloomington extension, in the end, would never be built.

By 1930, the line had been unprofitable for quite some time. The Franklin Evening Star of 19 September 1930 reported that committees had been formed in Martinsville to work on saving the line from the “probability of the discontinuance of operation of the Indianapolis and Martinsville traction line.” This plan was created with the bankruptcy of the parent company of the Martinsville line, the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern (THI&E). The THI&E held the lease on, or outright owned, and operated a large number of the lines that radiated from Indianapolis, the Traction Terminal in Indianapolis, and the street car companies of Terre Haute and Indianapolis, among other properties.

By October 1930, according to the Indianapolis News of 07 October 1930, court hearings were being held about the abandonment of the line. Businessmen from Martinsville, Brooklyn and Mooresville were, obviously, opposed to the plan. Judge Jere West, of the Public Service Commission, heard the case. Abandonment was postponed, at that time, for five days “in which objectors may present argument.”

The following May, the Union Trust Company and the Security Trust Company, both of Indianapolis, entered Marion Superior Court to seek a foreclosure on the mortgages of the Martinsville line. The THI&E had lost the lease on the line, and was listed as a defendant in the case. The THI&E was scheduled to be sold at auction on 23 June 1931.

The official abandonment by the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern would be announced on 18 February 1932 with a collection of other lines totaling 533 Indiana miles (Hancock Democrat, 18 February 1932). Those lines included: Indianapolis-Crawfordsville, 45 miles; Indianapolis-Martinsville, 30 miles; Indianapolis-Danville, 18 miles; Indianapolis-Lafayette, 67 miles; Lebanon-Crawfordsville, 15 miles; Terre Haute-Sullivan, 20 miles; Terre Haute-Clinton, 20; Indianapolis-Dunreith, 35; and Terre Haute-Illinois line to Paris, Illinois, 10 miles. That brought the total abandonment of the THI&E to 260 miles.

The gutted Martinsville line, as of March 1932, was actively being sought to become part of Public Service Company of Indiana, owners of the Indiana Railroad (1930). At that time, all that existed was the unused tracks, the right-of-way, three substations and a signal switch. (Indianapolis News, 21 March 1932) The company offered to pay $8,233, including $6,320 for the transmission lines. But the city of Martinsville wasn’t going down peacefully. Objections to the plans of disposal were presented by Ralph K. Lowder, City Attorney. It was argued that if the traction company was going to remove their tracks, the company’s original franchise required the company to restore the condition of the city streets that contained the now unused tracks. The purchasers, continued the argument, should be solely responsible for removing the tracks and restoring the streets used.

Road Trip 1926: SR 34

Today, we aim for western Indiana to cover the new SR 34 created on 01 October 1926. The plan for this state road was to connect the Illinois-Indiana state line at Beckwith to Indianapolis. The problem was that when the new signs were posted, only the section from the state line to Crawfordsville was part of the state highway system. The rest of the line, through New Ross, Jamestown, Lizton, Pittsboro, Brownsburg and Speedway to Indianapolis was an authorized addition. That section wouldn’t be added until the next year.

The section from Crawfordsville west was part of original State Road 33. The entire route had been part of the Dixie Highway.

Big Four Yards at Avon

Easily one of the biggest railroad yard facilities in Indiana was built by the New York Central in Avon, a town right across the western county line from Indianapolis. It would be built in the 1950’s as the most advanced such facility in the United States. The yard itself would stretch across almost four miles, including connecting tracks, while the facility itself covered 490 acres.

15 September 1960. That is the day that the new Big Four Yards were dedicated. President of the New York Central, Alfred E. Perlman, and Governor of Indiana, Harold W. Handley, found themselves in a former farm field cutting through a photo-electric beam with a railroad lantern as an electronic ribbon cutting officially opening the facility. The name of the yard would come from the nickname of the company that became part of the New York Central in 1930: the Big Four Railway.

Everything about the new yard was huge…and modern. The purpose of the location in rural Hendricks County was to allow a facility that would allow the New York Central to consolidate several other yards in the Indianapolis area that were being hemmed in by neighborhoods in the city itself. At the time, NYC facilities in Indianapolis included a freight house yard east of Union Station, a coach yard at Shelby and Bates Street, a yard facility at Brightwood, and a large yard and maintenance shops at (and creating) Beech Grove.

Overview of the Avon Yards from the Munster Times
of 15 September 1960.

The new location would allow, if needed, expansion. It already covered over 490 acres. The investment into the facility cost the New York Central, the second largest railroad in Indiana, $11 million. It would be the fourth such yard built by the Central, with others at Elkhart (Indiana), Buffalo (New York) and Youngstown (Ohio). It had a capacity of 4,480 rail cars and an ability to process 3,000 of them a day.

According to Perlman, “the Big Four Yard will save 24 hours in rail shipments from the Mississippi to the Atlantic seaboard.” (Munster Times, 15 September 1960) “Just as the Big Four Railroad was a forerunner in carrying freight by rail, helping develop midwest farms and factories, the Central’s new finger-tip-controlled yard will spearhead faster rail service to all parts of the nation.”

The entire yard would be electronically controlled. This was a big upgrade from the pneumatic handles that had controlled such facilities to that point. The same photo-electric beam that was “cut” in the ribbon cutting would alert controllers that a train was entering the yard. A television camera would scan the numbers on each of the freight cars, passing that information through a closed circuit to receivers in the main yard building.

From there, the cars would be classified by the destination. As classification was being done, a yard engine would start moving cars toward a 19-foot (man made) elevation called a “hump.” The cars were then uncoupled, one at a time, and allowed to roll down the hump to one of 55 classification tracks. Each of these tracks were controlled by a push button panel in the main yard building.

From there, computers and electronics take over. Switches were opened automatically. Computers would measure the car weight, rollability, distance, track conditions and even the wind speed. From there, the computer regulated braking devices, called retarders, slowing the free rolling cars to a safe coupling speed as the car rolled onto the required classification track. As the train is completed, another yard engine moved the new train to departure tracks. Road engines then take that train on its way to its destination, whether that be a customer or another yard closer to where the customer is located.

The whole system could “hump” 160 cars an hour, or 3,000 a day. The yard itself contained 66 miles of tracks across the 3.75 mile length of the facility. A total of 2,030 cars could fit into the classification tracks. This was a little less than half of the total capacity of the Big Four Yard. While this was all going on, a microwave link, using 24-channels, connected all this information about the cars to the New York Central’s Southern District offices in downtown Indianapolis, 12 miles away.

The major reason for building the Avon facility, and its brethren, was to help modernize a flailing New York Central. The railroad was suffering in many ways by the economics of the time. Talks had already started into the possibility of a merger of the New York Central with other companies. The one chosen by management was the Chesapeake & Ohio. But the Interstate Commerce Commission felt that a merger between the two would be bad for the market, and hence shot it down. (At the same time, the Central’s biggest, and bigger, rival, the Pennsylvania, was trying to get a merger with the Norfolk & Western approved by the same agency. It went down in flames, as well.)

With the opening of those four yards, the New York Central did stop of financial bleeding for a while. For the first time in over a decade, the NYC would border on profitable. It wouldn’t last long due to the collapse of the economy of the northeastern United States, the Central’s main bread and butter area. In less than eight years after Avon opened, the New York Central would disappear along with its Philadelphia based rival. It would become a junior partner in the new Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company, known as Penn Central. Three years after that, the Penn Central would file the largest bankruptcy in American history to that time.

The Avon Yard would survive, and still does today. It outlived its builder company, the ill fated merger company, and the government takeover of bankrupt northeastern railroad companies into the Consolidated Rail Company (Conrail). Today, it serves CSX, the consolidation of the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Seaboard System. While the original C&O/NYC merger was shot down, the yard now is part of the same system that would have been created by that merger.

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