Often times, looking at the name of a railroad gives readers the impression that there were bigger plans when it came to the ultimate size of the company. One that comes screaming to mind is the Toledo, Wabash & Pacific. Going by just the name, the Wabash would end up being the biggest railroad in the United States. But then, there are others that have grandiose names just because they can. One such railroad is the New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois (NJI&I).

One would think that with a name that includes three states, the railroad was planned for great things. That thinking would be, well, wrong. The railroad company was set up to serve one industry, and do so on a track of 11.321 miles in length. It was incorporated on 27 October 1902 in Indiana. Construction was completed in 1904 and 1905 by the Universal Construction Company.

The NJI&I was chartered by the Singer Sewing Machine Company to allow its South Bend factory to ship products to a connection with the Wabash at Pine, Indiana, south of South Bend. The chosen name of the company was not for its ultimate destinations, but for the locations of Singer Sewing Machine plants in the United States at the time.

During its history, it expanded to serve other industries in the South Bend area. The other big one would be Studebaker.

The railroad was, at the time of its creation, a stub end track with its only connection at Pine. Pine is located along SR 4 between North Liberty and Lakeville. Railroad records show that the junction was named after the manager of the South Bend Singer plant, Leighton Pine. The connection was to the Wabash line that connected the Grand Trunk Western at Kingsbury across northern Indiana in a relatively straight line to Edon, Ohio, and beyond.

The old Singer plant was on Western Avenue in South Bend. The offices of the railroad, as well, would be located on the same street. (1508 W. Western Avenue, to be exact.) When the railroad was built, Singer was reported to have been trying to ship 7,500 sewing machine cabinets a day from a factory that was operating before the true advent of trucks. The plant had moved to its Western Avenue location from a spot east of the St. joseph River at Madison Street.

Because of its connection to the Wabash, the NJI&I would, in the beginning, run passenger trains bound for Detroit. This service lasted until 1933. Passengers would board at the NJI&I station, at the above listed 1508 W. Western, and disembark at the only building in Pine. By 1976, that building would be used only for train orders and transfer information.

The Wabash would become the sole owner of the NJI&I in the 1920s…one source states 1920, another 1926. Either way, two things would happen. One, the Wabash would come to own all of the stock in the company, and two, it would be operated as a separate company, with separate financial statements for years to come.

In 1930, the company would be compelled by the city of South Bend to elevate their tracks at Division, Walnut and Cherry Streets. In the legal announcement in the South Bend Tribune of 25 April 1930, it was mentioned that part of the elevation included raising the crossing of the New York Central’s connection track from the NJI&I to the Michigan Central Railroad near Division Street. (A quick glance at a map of South Bend shows no street named Division. A city directory search shows that West Division Street started at 400 S. Michigan, and traveled west to the city limits. 400 S. Michigan is the intersection of Michigan and Western today.)

The NJI&I, after crossing Western Avenue, would connect directly to the New York Central line that would leave South Bend to the north bound for Niles, Michigan, past the Notre Dame University campus. But that wasn’t the only direct connection with the NJI&I. The little road had a line that ran, and still runs, due east and west north of Indiana Avenue. On the west end, it was connected to the New York Central line heading off to the southwest to Walkerton and beyond. On the east end, the railroad had a direct connection into the Vandalia (Pennsylvania) Railroad’s yards between Indiana and Ewing Avenues. This meant, as proclaimed in the South Bend Tribune of 8 August 1976, that even though the railroad covered only a grand total of 13 miles, including yards, it had a nation wide, and world wide, customer base…with products coming and going from all over the world.

The New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois would remain a separate railroad company until 1982. It was in that year that the Norfolk Southern absorbed the little South Bend railroad. The NJI&I had become part of the Norfolk Southern when the Norfolk & Western, a predecessor company to the NS, leased the Wabash from its then owners, the Pennsylvania, in 1960. The Wabash would last longer as a separate company, ending its legal existence in November 1991.

The trackage out of South Bend lasted quite a bit longer. The junction at Pine was made a direct connection to Kingsbury when the trackage east of Pine was removed by the Wabash. With the Norfolk Southern purchase of portions of Conrail, the NJI&I track south of South Bend became pretty much pointless, as now the NS could use the old New York Central tracks it acquired in the purchase to connect to the old NJI&I and any customers along the line. Today, at least according to Google Maps, the trackage south of town ends just south of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway (US 20/US 31). The old right of way can still be followed in satellite photos all the way to Pine. The old line over the NYC toward the old offices on Western Avenue had also been removed, and the old New York Central line to Walkerton has been truncated and directly connected to what is left of the old New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois.

When I did the Road Trip 1926 series entries for SR 28 and SR 67, I mentioned that the complete route hadn’t been added to the state highway system for each of those routes. There were going to what was called “Authorized additions,” allowing expansion to the system. The addition to SR 28 would connect the two sections of that highway, since it didn’t exist between the western section at Alexandria and the eastern section at Muncie. The addition to SR 67 would carry that number from Muncie to the Indiana-Ohio State Line east of Bryant. But these authorized additions had already been planned.

The Alexandria Times-Tribune of 22 March 1926 ran a news story on page 1 of that day’s paper with the headline “Three Routes Mentioned For New State Road.” The Indiana State Highway Commission was working on a plan to connect Alexandria to Portland via an extension of what was then State Road 19. As mentioned in the headline, the state was deciding on one of three routes to accomplish this task.

The first choice for the routing would take OSR 19 due east from Alexandria along what was called the “East Washington Street Pike,” or Washington Street in Alexandria and Madison County Road 1100 N/Delaware County Road 500N due east. This road would cross what was called “Old Trail Pike” northwest of Muncie. From what I can tell, this is now known as Wheeling Pike. The report stated that the route would continue along 500N to meet OSR 13 at Royerton then continue east to connect to the Muncie-Albany Road, which would carry traffic towards Portland.

Plan two would have the OSR 19 extension leaving OSR 11 north of Alexandria two and a half miles north of the town, and traveling through Gaston. The route used for this is hard to determine, but it would be safe to assume that the state road would follow a relatively straight line between Gaston and Albany, allowing the use of the same Muncie-Albany (Portland) to get to its Portland destination.

The last plan was to have the OSR 19 extension leave OSR 11 four miles south of Alexandria, along the Jackson Street Pike between OSR 19 and Muncie. From here, the route to Portland would follow OSR 13 until the Muncie-Albany and OSR 13 parted ways at what is now Broadway and Old State Road 3 northeast of Muncie. It is pointed out in the newspaper article that Muncie would push hard for a southern route.

While the state was deciding which route would be used between Alexandria and Portland, both Madison and Delaware Counties were not spending money to improve any route that might be used…so no work was being done.

With the Great Renumbering a little over six months later, the extension of OSR 19 had been turned into Authorized Additions of both new SR 28 and new SR 67. The marking of the authorized addition to new SR 28 showed the Washington Street Pike route. By 1929, SR 28 had used the Washington Street Pike route out of Alexandria, connecting SR 28 to SR 67 northeast of Muncie, and SR 28 would turn south into Muncie to travel east to Farmland. SR 67 was designated, and mostly completed, to the Indiana-Ohio State Line.

By late 1930, SR 28 had been moved one mile north of Alexandria, continuing in a straight line along the then SR 28 corridor through Tipton and Elwood. A year later, SR 28 was truncated to its junction with SR 67, and the old new SR 28 leaving Muncie to the east would be renumbered SR 32. The truncation was temporary, as the state had an authorized addition to SR 28 connecting Albany to Union City via Ridgeville and Deerfield. This is the route that SR 28 follows today.

One common misconception of the end of the toll road era is the the toll companies that bought the roads in the 1840s bought entire routes, or at least those in one county. Nothing can be further from the truth. The National Road east of Indianapolis, for instance, was actually owned by three different companies. The names that are given to roads today for en entire route was just the name given to a specific section of that road.

Getting back to the National Road. In 1895, the Irvington Free Gravel Road started at what is now Rural Street (one block east of the city limits at the time, which was Eastern Avenue). The Indianapolis & Cumberland Toll Gravel Road took over where the Irvington Free Gravel Road ended – at what is now Audubon Road. Muessing Street, in Cumberland, marked the transition from the Indianapolis & Cumberland Toll Road to the National Road before it entered Hancock County a quarter mile later.

The original Indianapolis-Brookville State Road, now called Brookville Road, was divided into two private sections in Marion County. From the beginning of the road (which is covered in the ITH article “The Indianapolis end of the Brookville (State) Road“) at what is now Ewing and Washington Streets, to the Franklin State Road (now Franklin Road), was known as the Brookville Free Gravel Road. From Franklin Road to the County Line, it was the Grassy Creek Free Gravel Road. Before the toll roads started being purchased by the county, these were toll roads of the same names.

On the south side of the county, the town of Southport had its name on several old turnpikes. But not entirely the road that one would think would have the name. The Southport and Indianapolis Free Gravel Road, originally built as the Madison State Road, started at the Indianapolis Belt Railway and progressed south to Union Street in Southport (no longer Union Street, now called Southport Road through the town). The entire route of the Madison State Road also was known as the Madison Road from the county line north to Indianapolis Belt Railway, a name it still basically has today as Madison Avenue.

The road that is now called Southport Road through the city of Southport wasn’t actually called that anywhere near the city. On both sides of Southport, the name given to the road was “Buck Creek Free Gravel Road.” This road started at what is now Sherman Drive and County Line Road, progressed up Sherman Drive to Southport Road. There it turned west into the town of Southport itself. The Buck Creek Road picked up again on the west side of Southport, where it ended the Indianapolis & Leavenworth, or Three Notch, Road, now Meridian Street. After crossing Meridian Street, the road became known as the Southport Free Gravel Road.

A road that is, well, partially related to Southport – if only due to the name of the other town – is a section of the original Indianapolis-Mooresville State Road. From what is now Mann Road to High School Road, along what is now Mooresville Road, and what is now Thompson Road into Valley Mills (Thompson Road and the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad), was known as Northport & Mars Hill Free Gravel Road. The town of Valley Mills was originally called Northport, because it is two miles north of Southport.

Another part of the old Mooresville State Road ended where the Northport & Mars Mill Free Gravel Road began. Known simply as the Mars Hill Free Gravel Road, it used what is now Mann Road, Mooresville Road, and Maywood Avenue to connect to what is now Belmont Avenue near Eagle Creek (what is now the intersection of Kentucky and Belmont Avenues). The Mars Hill Road ended at Belmont Avenue and Morris Street. One would assume that the old Mooresville State Road started at the same point. Parts of both the Mars Hill Free Gravel Road and the Northport & Mars Hill Free Gravel Road would later become, again, a state road with the creation of the State Highway Commission in 1919. At first, they were part of SR 12, but would become SR 67 in 1926.

Some roads had more than one name. And when city street names were assigned, they had nothing to do with the names the roads had before. Two that come to mind are the Wall Street Free Gravel Road/Eagle Creek & Little White Lick Gravel Road, now 21st Street from the old Crawfordsville Road west, and the Osterman Free Gravel/Old Danville State Road which became 10th Street on the west side from Cossell Road west. It should be noted that I did cover the original Indianapolis-Danville State Road.

Marion County had a lot of these types of roads at the time. Keep in mind that the county does cover over 400 square miles.

All of the road information contained in this post comes from the Palmer’s Official Road Map of Marion County, Indiana, 1895, which is available online at the Indiana State Library through the link on the name. If you are interested in all of the names given to these roads, or, like me, just like to try and figure out what the street name is now, I recommend looking at that map.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act. This law created what is now known as the “Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.” The major provision in the law was that the “interstates” would be controlled access roads, connecting major points throughout the United States, and be paid for using 90% Federal money. As opposed to the 50-50 split that had been used to finance road projects to that point. The Act of 1956 was the third such Federal Aid road law passed to that point, with others in 1916 and 1921.

When the law passed, it was believed by many people that it was going to be money spent on upgrading and/or the most important highways in each state. An “interstate highway system” had been designated in 1944. This system used mainly US Highways to ensure the ability to get personnel and materials throughout the country to help in the war effort. This was the idea that started the Eisenhower Administration on its way to creating the interstate system we know today. In Eisenhower’s case, however, it was trying to traverse the United States across the Lincoln Highway in 1919.

It was, however, made quite well known that the new interstate system would be modeled after the Autobahn in Germany, a national system of controlled access and high speed highways. General Eisenhower came to appreciate that highway system when he was exposed to them as World War II in Europe was on the way to ending.

When the routes of the interstates, and their numbers, were released for general knowledge, the present system (with the exception of I-69 southwest of Indianapolis) was pretty much in place. One thing that wasn’t as nailed down was the route of I-65, at least according to news stories at the time. The Seymour Tribune of 19 October 1957 announced that the new highway that would traverse the are was to be called Interstate 65. But, it was also announced in the very same article that “interstate 65 is to start at South Bend and run south through Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery and on to Mobile, Ala. It is scheduled to run through much of the area now served by U. S. 31 and 31-W.”

Interstate 65 never made it to South Bend.

Less than a month later, the Indiana Highway Department announced their 1958 construction plans, mainly concerning the new Interstate system. On the plan was a bypass of Richmond, which would become part of I-70; a new highway through Marion and Shelby Counties that would replace US 421 and become I-74; and three sections of what would become part of I-65 – from Jeffersonville through Clark County, east of Seymour through Jackson County, and from northwestern Marion County to west of Lebanon. Another major project that year was to be the widening of the US 31 Kokomo bypass…a subject that had long been a thorn in the side of the agency running highways in Indiana over the years.

The interstate system was still in flux through the first several years of its existence. While most of the general routing was already in place, there were some questions about additions and where some of the roads would actually run.

A look at the Indianapolis News map of 26 September 1957 (shown at left) shows that Interstate 64 was to take a very more northern route across Indiana. The original plan was to take I-64 along the US 50 corridor from New Albany to Vincennes. And this make sense. Two of the other “major” east-west US Highway corridors were already being mirrored by the new interstate system. I-90 traversed roughly the same area as US 20, and I-70 plays tag with US 40 for almost its entire length across the United States. An interstate along the US 50 corridor through the state would have fit right in.

In the end, I-64 followed a minor US highway corridor. It found itself along the route of US 460, a daughter route to US 60 which runs through northern Kentucky. US 460 started in Virginia Beach, close to the beginning of the new I-64, and ended in St. Louis, the ending of the same interstate. In I-64’s case, it would basically replace US 460 across most of the states it traversed. Because the new I-64 would take a southern straighter route across Indiana, the Indiana Highway Department did throw Vincennes a bone, if you will. US 50 would have a bypass of the city built. While not part of the Interstate system, it did help with traffic flow…and would allow a bigger highway to be built later should the need arise.

A question comes up when it comes to the interstate numbering across Indiana. If US 50 was to be mirrored by I-64, why wasn’t I-64 actually to be numbered I-60? A quick glance at a map of the United States shows no Interstate 50 or Interstate 60. The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), the agency in charge of both US Highway and Interstate Highway numbers, decided that there would be too much confusion if 50 and 60 were included in the plan. Because the Interstate system was numbered exactly opposite of the US highways (higher numbers east and north, as opposed to west and south with the US highways), the possibility of US 50 and I-50 (and US 60 and I-60) being too close to one another was high…so to avoided. And avoided it was until the late 20th Century when North Carolina started building I-74…along the US 74 corridor.

One part of the Highway Bill of 1956 that had been both addressed and removed was that of the toll roads. In Indiana, the Toll Road across the northern part of the state had already been mostly built. It was mainly to then interstate highway standards. It connected Chicago with points east as it connected directly to both the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes. There was some discussion about reimbursing the states that had toll roads that were acceptable into the new interstate system. But that language was removed from the final bill…with the ability to address it later when needed.

A sticking point in the early interstate highway rush for funds was Indiana’s place near the bottom of the list when it came to contracts for the new system. “Indiana Ranks 47th In Value Of Contracts In Big Federal Interstate Highway Program” read the headline in the Richmond Palladium-Item and Sun-Telegram of 20 August 1957. That article points out that there was only one contract on the Indiana list – a whopping 0.6 miles of SR 100 on the southeast side of Marion County. Of the billions to be provided to the states for the new highways, Indiana’s share, as of that time, was $365,000. And even then, the Feds were only giving Indiana 60% of that – or $219,000 – since it wasn’t, technically, part of the interstate system. The contracts list for July 1957 put Indiana in 47th place, with Utah (0.2 miles) in 48th, Delaware (0.1 miles) in 49th and West Virginia, with no contracts whatsoever, in last.

The construction of the interstate system hit full stride when contracts were let for the 1959 construction season. More information about the entire interstate system in Indiana can be found in the post “The Interstate System In Indiana,” published on 10 February 2020.

Earlier, I had written about the Madison Avenue Expressway. That road, a widening of a major route through the south side of Indianapolis opened up the same south side which had been held back by narrow roads and other impediments for years. But while construction on the project was sputtering along, in the background, some not so, shall we say, legal things were going on. It led to investigations into the state highway department by both state and federal officials.

Indianapolis News – 12 April 1957: “Teverbaugh Search Starts; No OK on Madison Lot Deals.” The State Highway Commission purchased a few lots without reason or authorization. When asked by the employee recording it in Minute Books, the then Highway Commission Chairman, Virgil “Red” Smith responded “to forget it.” The lots were purchased in the 1100 and 1200 block of Madison Avenue, which original Madison Avenue plans didn’t include in the project. It was also announced, at the same time, that some 25% of 250 properties involved in the state purchase had changed hands at least once between announcement of the project and the purchase of the property by the state.

New ISHC Chairman John Peters announced that “there are other properties on Madison with a degree of suspicion, and we are investigating them.” Two specific properties were sold by the owners for $2,500 each, later to be sold to the state for $25,800. But the Madison Avenue project wasn’t the only one involved. Included were SR 62 in Vanderburgh County, Tri-State Expressway in Lake County, US 27 in Richmond and the South Bend Bypass.

Because the Federal Bureau of Public Roads was footing half the bill for the US 31 expansion, this would automatically, according to Peters, bring a Federal investigation…most likely by the FBI…into the whole mess.

Former Chairman Smith was also questioned about a house at 2523 Madison Avenue. He purchased said house, but, according to him, never lived there. Never even entered the house. He stated that he had utility service turned on for the house, but had them disconnected days later. Indianapolis Power and Light reports that “few days later” was from July to 6 October 1955. The house was bought by a Russell Maple, at least on paper. Mr. Maple reports to have never bought the house.

Indianapolis News – 15 April 1957: “Madison Avenue Lot Sold Twice.” On 22 March 1954, the state purchased, for $8,750, part of the lot at 2106 Madison Avenue from on Wilbert Tacke. The deal, according to Tacke, was made by Nile Teverbaugh, at the time the Chief of the State Right-of-Way Division. On 5 April 1954, that very same property was recorded by the Marion County Recorder as having been deeded to a Karl Vehling by entry of a warranty deed. That deed from 5 April 1954 was not officially recorded until 27 January 1955. The state then bought lots at 2102 and 2106 Madison Avenue from Vehling for $42,500…on 21 February 1955.

When all was said and done, when the Madison Avenue Expressway opened for business in September 1958, Former State Highway Commission Chairman Virgil W. Smith and Milan attorney Robert A. Peak were appealing sentences of two to 14 years in prison after being convicted of embezzlement to the tune of $25,800 in state funds. Another person involved with the project, and convicted for making a false claim. Austin housemover Marvin Preble’s one to ten year sentence was suspended. Preble did end up in jail for the charge, being paroled in 1962. Two top aides to former Governor George N. Craig were convicted of conspiring to bribe and bribing Chairman Smith in equipment purchases. Those two aides, Elmer W. Sherwood and William E. Sayer, were convicted with the help of another man that plead guilty to the same charges, equipment salesman Arthur J. Mogilner.

The charges didn’t stop there. The Lake County project involved some indictments of three top members of the International Carpenters Union. The trial for these three officials, and the former assistant chief of the right-of-way division hadn’t happened as of the opening of the Madison Avenue Expressway.

Other irregularities occurred during property acquisition for the project. “State examiners found five cases where property owners were paid a total of $117,350 for land not needed for the expressway. The property owners still have the money and apparently will also keep the land.” (Source: Terre Haute Tribune, 21 September 1958) “Five other property owners received $332,500 for land of which only one-third was needed and they also still have the money.”

The appeals were still going on a couple of years later. The Jasper Herald of 10 March 1960 reported that the Indiana Supreme Court refused to here the appeal of Robert Peak, and that he was planning to move the case to the United States Supreme Court. His appeal of his embezzlement conviction was still waiting before the Indiana Supreme Court at the time. The first case mentioned involved a conviction for false notarization of a property deed. In May 1960, that sentence was suspended. (Source: Greenfield Daily Reporter, 12 May 1960) Kinda. June 1960, another judge determined that the first judge had no authority to suspend the sentence, and put Robert Peak in prison. (Source: Indianapolis Star, 9 June 1960) Peak would ultimately end up in prison starting in March 1961, become eligible for parole in December 1962, and was refused a pardon by Governor Matthew Welsh in July 1961. (Source: Indianapolis Star, 28 July 1961) Peak would get paroled in January 1963.

Virgil Smith was convicted in November 1957 of defrauding the state of $25,800. Part of that conviction involved the false notarization mentioned against Robert Peak. Properties concerned with the fraud were sold to a “Dan Burton,” but the signatures on the deeds both were pened by the same person, believed to be Virgil Smith. As of December 1961, Smith was in the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City. He would be paroled in May 1963 after suffering a heart attack.

One of the outcomes of these controversies was the proposal of a law by State Senator Ruel W. Steele, of Bedford, that all right-of-way payments be published in local newspapers. This is the same State Senator Steele that is the current namesake of Indiana State Road 37 south of Indianapolis.

Ultimately, the Madison Avenue project was both good and bad for the south side of Indianapolis. It would find itself basically replaced within a few short years by the Interstate 65 project that was designed to follow US 31 through the state. Due to the signalized intersections at Terrace Avenue and Pleasant Run Parkway, the project would never be more than a blip in the highway radar in Indiana. It never did meet interstate standards for the time. And charges of corruption did not help the image of the project in the long run.

In 1853, a company was chartered to build a railroad across Northern Indiana connecting Logansport to Butler. That 93 miles of track was completed in 1874. That railroad company, and five of its successor companies, fell into financial problems. In 1877, it became the Eel River Railroad Company. Two years later, the company fell under the sway of Jay Gould, controller of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific (Wabash) Railroad. 16 years later, the Wabash found itself on the outside looking in.

The construction of the Eel River was questionable at best. When it was leased by the Wabash for 99 years starting in 1879, the railroad had been built using 56 pound rail. Rather small stuff, even in that time. The Wabash itself owned and operated trackage from Toledo, through Fort Wayne, to Logansport. Questions surrounded the lease. In addition to the light rails, the Eel River ended at Butler, a town of less than 2,000 people. Also, the road ran through the Hoosier countryside, only connecting even smaller towns along the way. What interest would Gould have in such a desolate railroad?

The answer came in 1880 in the form of a new railroad company: The Butler & Detroit. This new company, chartered on 22 June 1880, would build a railroad between the two title cities. The lease of the Eel River by the Wabash, and the creation of the Butler & Detroit by same Wabash, created a railroad that would create a direct line from Detroit to St. Louis. The name change of 25 May 1881 suggested that very thing when the company became known as the Detroit, Butler & St. Louis Railroad Company.

Two weeks later, the DB&StL was merged into the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad. But the Eel River was still only leased. The Wabash owned from Butler to Detroit. But it depended on the financial strength of the Eel River to maintain that connection. Well, they did for a while.

1889, and things were going to get very nasty in the world of railroads and northern Indiana towns. A local concern built a brand new short line connecting the Eel River Railroad at Chili to the Wabash Railroad at Peru. That line was then leased to the Wabash for 99 years. The owners of that line gave it the name Peru & Detroit. There was no pretense whatsoever in the name. And, it was believed that the locals that created the railroad did so under the watchful eyes of the Wabash Company.

The new railroad sucked traffic off of the Eel River between Logansport and Chili almost immediately. Wabash traffic was routed along its own line from Logansport to Peru, where Detroit bound traffic would turn north to connect with the Eel River line at Chili. The Eel River fell into almost immediate disrepair, as facilities fell out of use. Eel River shops at Logansport were closed and consolidated with the Wabash shops at Peru.

And full scale journalistic wars started between the two cities…and started including cities that weren’t even involved in the fight.

Things would come to a head on 21 September 1891 when the Cass Circuit Court, at the behest of stockholders in the Eel River Company, named a Receiver for the company. This started a battle between shareholders of the Eel River and the Wabash Company itself that lasted six years.

The Wabash found itself between a rock and a hard place. Its own tracks, at the time, connected Logansport to Toledo, and Bulter to Detroit. Without the section of the Eel River between Butler and Chili, continued Wabash traffic out of Detroit was impossible. Such traffic was lucrative. And lawyers for the Wabash would fight the receivership as long as necessary to maintain that routing.

The first thing that the appointment of the receiver did, as far as traffic was concerned, was immediately terminate the lease of the Eel River held by the Wabash. It was reported in teh Logansport Pharos-Tribune of 22 September 1891 that the “action destroys the Wabash Company’s Peru and Detroit and Detroit & Chicago divisions and will seriously cripple that company.”

In June 1894, a decision was rendered in Fulton Circuit Court concerning the Eel River, the Wabash, and its lease. It seemed to locals that, by this time, the Wabash might have just wanted to drop the lease of the Eel River altogether. Judge A. C. Capron would order that the Eel River be separated from the Wabash completely, and that all property, books and other items be turned over to the receiver of the Eel River immediately. The orders weren’t completed that way.

The Interstate Commerce Commission, in their reports, list that the charter of the Eel River Railroad was annulled on 4 September 1897. But that wouldn’t be the end of the Eel River, or the Wabash’s involvement in same.

The Indianapolis Journal of 19 May 1900 reported that “the Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision in the Eel River Railroad case affirming the opinion of the Howard Circuit Court, to the effect that the Eel River Railroad Company had forfeited its charter by abandoning the operation of the road, and that the lease given by the Eel River company to the Wabash Railroad Company was null and void.” That ended the long fight over the rights to use the Eel River.

A notice in the Indianapolis Journal of 25 April 1901 stated that on 10 June 1901, “at the depot and station of the Eel River Railroad Company (now operated by the Wabash Railroad Company) in the city of Logansport, Cass county, Indiana, as such receiver, sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash all the porperty and effects of every kind and description of the Eel River Railroad Company.” Such property included 94 miles of railroad track in Cass, Miami, Wabash, Kosciusko, Whitley, Allen, Noble and Dekalb Counties. “Also a tract of land, containing about twenty-one (21) acres, in lot four (4) of Barron Reserve, in township twenty-seven (27) north, range one (1) east, in the county of Cass, and State of Indiana, owned by the said Eel River Railroad Company, and lying west of the right of way of said company and south of Bates street in the city of Logansport.”

Again, according to the Interstate Commerce Commission (a copy of the report is available here), the Eel River was sold to Elijah Smith, William W. Crapo, and Daniel L. Quirk on 10 June 1901. It would become the Logansport & Toledo Railway on 12 September 1901, when all property of the old Eel River was deeded to the Logansport & Toledo. About three years and three months later, on 1 January 1905, the Logansport & Toledo, the Indianapolis & Vincennes, The Terre Haute & Logansport, the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute, and the Terre Haute & Indianapolis all were consolidated into one company: the Vandalia Railroad Company. This consolidation would put the city of Logansport, still serviced by the Wabash, squarely into the hands of one of those roads that the Wabash would always consider a competitor – the Pennsylvania Railroad.

On 8 January 1823, the Indiana General Assembly created a new county north of Marion County. This new county was taken from part of the unorganized Delaware County and from Marion County itself. Becoming effective 7 April 1823, this new county became known as Hamilton County. Some 11 months later, on 4 March 1824, a site was chosen using parts of Section 31, Township 19 North, Range 5 East and Section 36, Township 19 North, Range 4 East for the creation of the county seat. That county seat would be given the name Noblesville.

The city had, from near the very beginning, been a crossroads town, and very important to the history of the state. Just south of the city is the homestead of John Conner. Here, along the banks of the White River, in 1820, commissioners met to decide on the location of the new Indiana state capitol. The commissioners had come up the White River from Waverly, passing through the area that would become Indianapolis.

When the state started opening up roads to connect the various places now available to citizens to each other, Noblesville found itself in the cat bird seat. Many roads came to the town, connecting county seats of the various surrounding areas.

I can find no definitive list of the order in which these roads were created. Suffice it to say, there were quite a few.

Indianapolis-Fort Wayne Road. As the name suggests, this road connected the two title towns. Following the road through the town has, apparently, changed at least once over the almost 200 years since it was created. Some maps show it entering on Eighth Street from the south, entering what is now downtown, then jogging over to Tenth Street to leave Noblesville. This is, in fact, shown on early 20th Century maps, especially those of the United States Postal Service. The road also has been shown to remain on Tenth Street through the city, as it does today. Part of this is due to the state rerouting SR 13 (later SR 37) along this route. Now, this road outside of Noblesville proper is known as Allisonville Road.

Indianapolis-Winchester State Road. This road came out of Indianapolis following the Fort Wayne Road. At what is now 191st Street, it turned due east to connect, ultimately, to Anderson, Muncie and Winchester. The road would be vacated at one point, but would come back as a state highway later. This road is now followed closely by what is now SR 32.

Richmond-Crawfordsville Road. This road proves that the state was, very early in its history, creating far reaching roads to make sure that state and county business could be completed. As the name of the road suggests, this route connected the Wayne County seat to the Montgomery County seat. This route would was set up to travel through New Castle to the Falls of Fall Creek, later to be known as Pendleton. It then entered the Noblesville area from the southeast. After traversing Noblesville, it left the town going (more or less) due west. Today, it roughly uses the routes of SR 38 and SR 32.

Noblesville-Lafayette Road. Ultimately used as the connector route from Richmond and New Castle to the Tippecanoe County seat, this road started by crossing the White River on what is now Logan Street, as did the Crawfordsville Road. After crossing the river, this road aimed toward the northwest, crossing the Hoosier countryside along the route of what is now SR 38.

Noblesville-Greenfield Road. As the name suggests, this road connected the two named cities. However, it was almost in both cases. On the Noblesville end, the route followed Tenth Street south to a point where the road turned to the southeast for its jaunt across Hamilton and Hancock Counties. At the Greenfield end, it connected to the National Road at what is now Franklin Street, about a mile west of the center of Greenfield. It would be given several state road numbers over the years before it was decommissioned for good. The building of Hamilton Town Center further created discontinuances in the old road.

Franklin-Noblesville Road. This road traveled roughly due south from Noblesville, through eastern Marion County, to the Johnson County seat. It should be noted here that the Range Line separating the two sections listed above as for the location of Noblesville (the line between Range 4 East and Range 5 East) is the same range line, with a 3/4 mile western jog at what is now Indianapolis’ 62nd Street, that runs the line of what is called Franklin Road through a large section of Marion County. It is called Franklin Road because it was part of the Franklin-Noblesville State Road.

Noblesville-Tipton Road. This road connected to the Lafayette Road on the west bank of the White River, and progressed, more or less, due north aiming for the county seat of one of the last three counties created in the state. (Those last three counties, created in 1844, were Tipton, Richardville [now Howard] and Ohio.) It would be one of the last of the modern state roads numbered to connect to Noblesville.

In addition to all of these roads connecting to Noblesville, the railroad came early to the town. The Indianapolis & Peru was extended to the Hamilton County seat in 1851, creating a much better connection to Indianapolis from Noblesville. The I&P would create what is called street running through Eighth Street in downtown Noblesville. The companies that owned the railroad over the years would changed several times, ending with the Norfolk & Western when the line was sold to local government interests.

Another railroad would come to Noblesville, crossing the city from west to east. What would later become the Midland Route, it served as a bypass north of Indianapolis connecting Anderson and Lebanon. The Midland would ultimately connect to Brazil before it started being scaled back by its owners – the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

When the Indiana State Highway Commission was created, Noblesville found itself only on original SR 33, which became SR 32 when the Great Renumbering occurred. The towns state road fortunes would improve with pending additions that were placed on maps in 1930, which would follow the lines of SR 38 and SR 13. SR 13 would be made official by 1932, following the old Fort Wayne State road through Noblesville. SR 13 would later be given the number SR 37 later in life. 1933 added SR 38 through Noblesville and SR 238 along the Noblesville-Greenfield State Road. The last state road that was brought to Noblesville would connect to Tipton in 1953 – SR 19.

For those that were wondering since the first paragraph, the survey lines are: range line between 4 East and 5 East is Eighth Street; township line between 18 North and 19 North is Cherry Street.

I want to start this post with the asking for thoughts for the crew of USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71). On its current Western Pacific deployment, it finds itself in port in Guam due to the discovery of crew members with Covid-19. I served three years about that noble vessel. The idea of being stuck on the ship due to an outbreak of disease was always present, but never thought about. I am not saying that they are going through anything any different than other people are at this time of troubles. But keep in mind that there are over 5,500 people on that ship. And, no matter what you think, an aircraft carrier really becomes just a big boat after spending sometime on it.

In 1902, an ordinance introduced by Councilman Negley asked “that the name of all the streets leading from the Massachusetts avenue depot northeast to Brightwood, along the line of Massachusetts avenue, be changed to Roosevelt avenue.” (Indianapolis Journal, 18 February 1902) The Big Four Massachusetts Avenue depot was near what is now 10th and Interstates 65 & 70. It would connect to the Big Four depot in Brightwood. What became Roosevelt Avenue wasn’t one street from end to end. It was a collection of streets and avenues that were combined to make the ultimate product.

The Polk 1904 Indianapolis City Directory street guide describes it as follows: (keep in mind this is a direct transcription, including capitalization) “ROOSEVELT AV – (Formerly Malott av, Hill av, parts of Hillside av, Valley av, Beech, Lawrence, Bloyd av and Glen Drive) From cor Eleventh and Lewis n e.” It was described in the above mentioned Journal article as: “The change will take in a section of Lewis street, all of Malott avenue, section of Columbia avenue, all of Hill avenue, south end of Hillside avenue, section of Valley avenue, all of Beech street, all of Lawrence street, east end of Bloyd avenue and east end of Glen drive.” Councilman Negley didn’t stop there. “The ordinance also provides that Nevada street, from Sheldon street to Hillside avenue, be changed to Eighteenth street; that Holloway street be changed to Ingram street, and that Parker avenue be changed to Winter avenue.”

Starting at 11th and Lewis, or the Monon and Nickel Plate, whichever you prefer, the city renamed Malott Avenue to Columbia (Street) Avenue. There is a break in the new avenue at this point, even though I highlighted part of Columbia Avenue. Continuing northeast, Hill Avenue, from Columbia to (what is mismarked as Hill) Hillside Avenue, then became part of the new boulevard. (For information, the 1885 Polk Indianapolis City Directory lists Hillside Avenue as extending from the corner of Sixth and Hill ave, northeasterly to city limits. That would be the curve turning from Hill to Hillside near Ludlow and/or Clarke.)

Only a few blocks of Hillside Avenue was taken for Roosevelt Avenue. A curve to the right, and now you are on what was once Beech Avenue. While the description in the city directory lists “part of Beech” as part of the avenue, I can’t see where, from the included map, there was any part of Beech that WASN’T made part of the road. Beech connected to Lawrence, which then would take the mantle of Roosevelt. It would carry it to Rural Street.

At Rural, Roosevelt Avenue replaced what was Bloyd Avenue. This corner is still shown, although not with Indianapolis’s standard oversized street signs at signaled intersections, as Bloyd to the west, Roosevelt to the east. Roosevelt was rerouted, removing a traffic intersection on both sides of the Bee Line tracks. I can tell you, from what I remember going to school at IPS #37, there was ALWAYS traffic snarls at those two intersections!

Roosevelt’s take over of Bloyd would last until it reached the old Shade Street, now known as Olney Avenue. There, the Glen Drive (now Glenn Drive) portion would start. That would take it to Brightwood Street. That portion of Roosevelt Avenue does still exist, creating a situation just like that at Rural Street at Sherman Drive. The major difference is the sheer difference in altitude of the rail crossings at both Rural and Sherman. Sherman Drive’s is relatively flat. This stems partially from the fact this was also where the Indianapolis Belt Railway’s north leg and east leg come to meet the Bee Line. Rural Street’s intersection with Massachusetts Avenue is quite a bit lower than the railroad track next to it.

Indianapolis Union Station has been, for quite a while, a landmark in the city. Located on Jackson Street, originally the alley between Georgia and Louisiana Streets, the building erected in 1888 has seen many lives over the years. It was once the great entryway to the city, with hundreds of daily trains coming and going. From the station, there were direct connections to St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, not to mention the countless other places along the lines.

But it wasn’t always that way. When railroads started connecting the Hoosier capital to the rest of the nation, they each had their own stations in different parts of the city. As it was in every other city with multiple railroad lines. I covered that later in the entry “Before Indianapolis Union Depot.”

It wasn’t long before some had to be done to make thing easier for the traveling public. By 1853, a new building was erected and a new concept had been created: the Union Depot.

Wait. What? Union DEPOT? Isn’t it Union STATION?

Yes, it is. But it wasn’t originally.

In August 1849, a company was created to create track connections between the three railroads then in Indianapolis: Madison & Indianapolis; Terre Haute & Richmond; and Indianapolis & Bellefontaine. The company took the name of the Union Track Railway Company. The company then took to not only connecting those railroads, but also creating a central ticketing and boarding location.

But before that could happen, the directors of the company decided to allow other connecting railroads to join the Union Track Railway. The Peru and Indianapolis had already given part of its line to the new venture. The Indiana Central (was originally the Indianapolis to Richmond section of the Terre Haute & Richmond) and the Lawrenceburgh and Upper Mississippi joined the group.

So, with the core group of railroads, the company changed its name to the Indianapolis Union Railway Company (IU). One month later, a brick station was built, being called the Indianapolis Union Depot. It was the first of its kind.

The location of the Depot, and the grand edifice that is Union Station that replaced it in 1888, is called the Wholesale District. One of the reasons that the Depot was built where it was is simply that the south side of the original mile square of Indianapolis was, quite honestly, not preferred real estate. Pogues Run meanders through the area. That section of the original town, and south of it, was known to be very swampy. To the point that malaria was a real concern to the young capital.

The Union Depot quickly became too small for its purpose. It took over 30 years, but the original building was replaced, on site, with the building standing today. It would be another 30 years until the track plan that exists today, being elevated over the grade of the city streets, would be completed.

Because of the ownership of the IU, through the many railroad consolidations, it became basically owned by two companies: New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1968, it ended up with one owner: Penn Central, a merger of the NYC and PRR.

There are several “pictures” online of the Union Depot. I won’t be putting any of them in this blog because they just don’t appear right to me. None of them are true pictures, they are drawings. The Depot had five tracks. Some images show them going through the station, some show four going through and one skirting the outside. The Depot is drawn in different scales, and most of them, that I have seen, don’t show any buildings…in downtown Indianapolis. Granted, there weren’t the tall behemoths of today. But since the railroad had come to Indianapolis six years before the Depot was built, and Indianapolis was, by then, legally a city, there should have been SOMETHING in the background.

Indiana is nowhere near unique in the naming of roads. Throughout the state, there are roads that are named using three major principles: location, person or destination.

Most county roads, at least south of Marshall County, and not including Marion County, have coordinate naming: CR 500 S, meaning 5 miles south of an arbitrary center line. In Marshall County, the roads running east-west are named for their distance from the northern county line. St. Joseph County, they are more or less alphabetical by mile from the Michigan State line. These are just a few examples.

But, what I wanted to discuss is roads named after destinations. And why you can’t really follow that road name to its destination easily.

For instance: Shelbyville Road in Marion, Johnson and Shelby Counties. It’s easy to start…heck, Indianapolis didn’t change the original road’s name that much from where it started at Fountain Square to almost the township line at Troy. (Yes, it’s called Shelby St. because it was the old Shelbyville Pike.)

And, yes, Carson Avenue is a little puzzling. But we can deal with that. Leaving Marion County, it is called Shelbyville Road. And from there, poof. No idea where it goes. I would assume that it meets the Michigan Road at the intersection of SR 9 and Boggsville Road. But that is only a logical estimation. I really can’t find anything about it.

My wife went to Franklin College. Right off the campus, there is a road called Greensburg Road. Guess what? It used to be the Franklin-Greensburg State Road. But just as the road enters Shelby County, the name just disappears. Another logical assumption is that the old route would have included Vandalia Road, which is a straight line (more or less) from SR 9 west of Geneva to Greensburg. But how it gets from the Shelby County line at just south of CR 500S to the south center of Shelby County at SR 9 near CR 900S is beyond me.

There are a lot more examples of such things: Lafayette Road west from Noblesville, Mooresville Road south from Indianapolis, and Franklin Road connecting Franklin and Noblesville are just three. I am sure that wherever you are, if you are in Indiana, there is an example of such a destination road near you…that might wind its way to that destination.

I know that part of the reason for this is that early in Indiana history, very few roads were actually built to go directly to the destination. Most roads in this state follow survey lines. While some roads were started in the general direction of the destination, the builders would inevitably find a reason to use existing paths. Sometimes it was the easiest. Sometimes, it was land owners that wanted nothing to do with a road crossing their land.

All I know is that I would love to find out two things: 1) what were the paths of those old roads and 2) how on Earth did they mark them for travel.

Two digit state road numbers in Indiana are generally used for major roads. In the history of the state highway system, this guideline has left the highest two digit state road number to be 75. (Yes, I have made the case, and will continue to make it, that there were two three digit “two digit” roads in Indiana – SR 135 and SR 100.) With the building of Camp Atterbury, the largest major state road number would be SR 79 for a while.

Camp Atterbury is located in southern Johnson County and northern Bartholomew County. Its construction would have a great effect on the state highway system was it was in the early 1940’s. Among other things, the routing of SR 252 from Morgantown to US 31 had been changed. And US 31 had been completely moved and rebuilt by the Indiana State Highway Commission through the same period. Especially near Edinburgh, the closest town to the new Army facility.

When US 31 was being rerouted to the west of Edinburgh, the old route through the town, which included SR 252 and Eisenhower Drive, would be given a new state road number – 79. Other bypasses of US 31 in the state created different state road numbers. The bypasses in both northern and southern Marion County, and adjacent areas of Hamilton and Johnson Counties, would be given the number SR 431. Bartholomew County’s replaced US 31 would become US 31A, then SR 11. Today, from South Bend north to the Michigan state line, the old US 31 is SR 933, and in southern St. Joseph County, and near Kokomo, it is called SR 931.

SR 79 came into existence with the bypass of Edinburgh. This bypass was completed in the time frame of 1942-1943, and was a direct result of the creation of Camp Atterbury. This designation would last from around 1943 to 1964, when it was completely removed from state records. The bypass around Edinburgh was also built as part of the plan to create a dual-lane highway along the US 1 corridor from Indianapolis south to Jeffersonville. Some that project was never finished to this day. That project would create bypasses, in Johnson County, or Greenwood, Franklin. Amity and Edinburgh.

Today, I want to share some paragraphs of articles that I started to write, and ended up forgetting them as information about the subject became harder and harder to come by. Some of this stuff has been waiting in the “draft” bin for almost two months. And every day, I try to look for some more information to no avail.

Short Lived State Roads: My goal was to write an article about state roads that came and went, usually within a decade or so.

Over the past century, there have state roads that have come and gone in Indiana. Most of these roads were short connectors between other state roads. Some of them were created and removed within a decade.

SR 407: “Daughters” of SR 7 tend not to last long. So is the story of SR 407. North of North Vernon, on both SR 3 and SR 7 was a connector road that was created in 1933. On the SR 7 end, it connected at Queensville. Moving its way up Geneva Road out of Queensville, then turned east on County Road 500N. The road ended at SR 3. By 1938, SR 407 was removed from the state highway system.

SR 9W: At one time, SR 9 connected from US 50 to SR 7. The route of SR 9 south of SR 7 traveled through Elizabethtown, then turned south along what is now US 31 southeast of Columbus. West of Elizabethtown, a short connector road went due north to SR 7. This road was called SR 9W. It shows as under construction in 1938, and completed in 1939. By 1941, a US 31 bypass was being built around Columbus…but the route of US 31 had been changed to follow SR 7 to what had already been renamed from SR 9W to US 31. The rest of SR 9 south of Elizabethtown was also changed to US 31 at that time.

Bluff Road Bridge Over the Illinois Central/Indiana Railroad: I had planned to write this article about this overpass. I found information about when it was (repeatedly) closed and finally demolished. But nothing about when it was built.

Reconstruction work on the deteriorating span was scheduled in both 1971 and 1977. The Indianapolis Transportation Board posted a long list of bridge projects for that year in newspapers in mid May 1971 and early April 1977. By 1984, the city was looking at removing the bridge all together. Unfortunately, getting the right of way to do this proved troublesome. The bridge was built with very little clearance when it came to the actual right-of-way used. It was suggested by John Willen, DOT Chief Engineer, that land acquisition was a problem, and that the bridge would not be replaced due to decreased rail traffic at that location.

In September 1986, the city of Indianapolis introduced a resolution to implement a five ton weight limit on the overpass. The notification of the resolution in the newspapers of the time stated “whereas, the Indianapolis Department of Transportation Street Engineering Division was notified that certain portions of this structure had a stage of deterioration.” Prior to this, the bridge had had a ten ton weight limit. In May 1987, the bridge was closed completely as the city of Indianapolis decided it would be better off replacing the structure with an at-grade crossing. The city reported that the work would be completed by 15 July 1987.

National Road: Admittedly, this one died because I found this article, and wrote this paragraph…then nothing. I stopped there not knowing where I wanted to go with it.

The last contract for the complete widening of US 40 across Indiana was issued in August 1944. The Calumet Paving Company of Indianapolis submitted the low bid for the 10.75 miles of 22-foot concrete pavement between Dunreith and Dublin. The bid was $768,034. “Building of the new strip will complete multiple-laning of U.S. 40 between Richmond and Terre Haute.” (Source: Indianapolis Star, 24 August 1944)

I still have all three of these articles in draft status. And I continue to look for more information. So it may be that these articles will come back to life some day.

How much did the state routes in cities change between 1926 and 1930. Depends. Most of the time the answer is not much. But I put together a collection of city maps from the Indiana Official State Highway Maps from October 1926, January 1929, October 1929 and January 1930.

On 1 June 2019, I posted about Indiana license plates and their history. It went over the different designs used, the evolution of them, and so on. Today, for the benefit of those that see antique license plates about and wonder where they might come from, I want to delve into the plate numbers that were issued.

Until the 1950 issue of Indiana license plates, all registrations had been issued sequentially. The numbers on the plates were just that, numbers. The United States standard size license plate had not been decided upon, as yet, but the width and height of Indiana’s had been basically the same for a decade starting in 1945 – with the exceptions of the “metal saving” years of 1952, 1953 and 1955. In 1956, Indiana’s plates became the same 12 inch by 6 inch they are today.

With the 1950 issue, the state started making the plates with county designations on them. Each of the 92 counties in the state had a specific two letter code as part of the registration number. I will list these later. 1963 saw the beginning of the system that most Hoosiers are familiar with…the two digit county code. For the most part, we still use this one today, although the numbers above 92 are no longer used.

The following is a list of Indiana counties and their licence plate codes used over the past 70 years. The current county code, used since 1963 is listed before the county name. The 1950 county code is listed after. If there were more two digits codes used, they will be listed after the 1950 code. Also, the maximum number of plates that could be issued for each county will be after the 1950 county code, the first number being using the 1950 scheme, the second using the 1963.

01 – Adams: JA-JC (29,997 / 239,976)
02 – Allen: DD-DH (49,995 / 239,976)
03 – Bartholomew: ZA-ZB (19,998 / 239,976)
04 – Benton: ND-NF (29,997 / 239,976)
05 – Blackford: ZD-ZE (19,998 / 239,976)
06 – Boone: HA (9,999 / 239,976)
07 – Brown: YE (9,999 / 239,976)
08 – Carroll: QC (9,999 / 239,976)
09 – Cass: SS-ST (19,998 / 239,976)
10 – Clark: WA (9,999 / 239,976)
11 – Clay: FA-FB (19,998 / 239,976)
12 – Clinton: XA (9,999 / 239,976)
13 – Crawford: ZG (9,999 / 239,976)
14 – Daviess: XG-XH (19,998 / 239,976)
15 – Dearborn: CA-CB (19,998 / 239,976)
16 – Decatur: LC (9,999 / 239,976)
17 – Dekalb: UA-UC (29,997 / 239,976)
18 – Delaware: JJ-JK (19,998 / 239,976)
19 – Dubois: PF (9,999 / 239,976)
20 – Elkhart: GG-GK (49,995 / 239,976)
21 – Fayette: ZC (9,999 / 239,976)
22 – Floyd: WW-WX (19,998 / 239,976)
23 – Fountain: XJ-XL (29,997 / 239,976)
24 – Franklin: TD (9,999 / 239,976)
25 – Fulton: TC (9,999 / 239,976)
26 – Gibson: NA (9,999 / 239,976)
27 – Grant: NN-NR (49,995 / 239,976)
28 – Greene: MA-MC (29,997 / 239,976)
29 – Hamilton: SA-SB (19,998 / 239,976)
30 – Hancock: UD (9,999 / 239,976)
31 – Harrison: XD (9,999 / 239,976)
32 – Hendricks: EA-EC (29,997 / 239,976)
33 – Henry: QQ-QS (29,997 / 239,976)
34 – Howard: PP-PW (79,992 / 239,976)
35 – Huntington: UT-UU (19,998 / 239,976)
36 – Jackson: SJ-SL (29,997 / 239,976)
37 – Jasper: GF (9,999 / 239,976)
38 – Jay: LA-LB (19,998 / 239,976)
39 – Jefferson: EJ (9,999 / 239,976)
40 – Jennings: LD (9,999 / 239,976)
41 – Johnson: KA-KC (29,997 / 239,976)
42 – Knox: TT-TU (19,998 / 239,976)
43 – Kosciusko: RR (9,999 / 239,976)
44 – Lagrange: YD (9,999 / 239,976)
45 – Lake: CC-CQ (149,985 / 719,928) – Extra codes 94, 96
46 – Laporte: LL-LN (29,997 / 239,976)
47 – Lawrence: QA-QB (19,998 / 239,976)
48 – Madison: FF-FK (59,994 / 239,976)
49 – Marion: AA-AU (209,979 / 1,199,880) Extra codes 93, 97, 98, 99
50 – Marshall: YA-YB (19,998 / 239,976)
51 – Martin: FM (9,999 / 239,976)
52 – Miami: ZY-ZZ (19,998 / 239,976)
53 – Monroe: VV-VW (19,998 / 239,976)
54 – Montgomery: TA (9,999 / 239,976)
55 – Morgan: WF-WG (19,998 / 239,976)
56 – Newton: ME-MF (19,998 / 239,976)
57 – Noble: PA-PC (29,997 / 239,976)
58 – Ohio: XE (9,999 / 239,976)
59 – Orange: SE (9,999 / 239,976)
60 – Owen: KN (9,999 / 239,976)
61 – Parke: UE (9,999 / 239,976)
62 – Perry: PY (9,999 / 239,976)
63 – Pike: QD (9,999 / 239,976)
64 – Porter: XX (9,999 / 239,976)
65 – Posey: HD (9,999 / 239,976)
66 – Pulaski: RD (9,999 / 239,976)
67 – Putnam: NC (9,999 / 239,976)
68 – Randolph: YX-YZ (19,998 / 239,976)
69 – Ripley: SC-SD (19,998 / 239,976)
70 – Rush: VE-VF (19,998 / 239,976)
71 – St. Joseph: BB-BH (69,993 / 239,976)
72 – Scott: JD (9,999 / 239,976)
73 – Shelby: RA-RB (19,998 / 239,976)
74 – Spencer: SP (9,999 / 239,976)
75 – Starke: VJ-VK (19,998 / 239,976)
76 – Steuben: SU (9,999 / 239,976)
77 – Sullivan: YF-YH (29,997 / 239,976)
78 – Switzerland: GD (9,999 / 239,976)
79 – Tippecanoe: MM-MN, MP (29,997 / 239,976)
80 – Tipton: SC (9,999 / 239,976)
81 – Union: ED (9,999 / 239,976)
82 – Vanderburgh: EE-EH (39,996 / 239,976)
83 – Vermillion: FC-FD (19,998 / 239,976)
84 – Vigo: HH-HK (39,996 / 239,976)
85 – Wabash: VA-VB (19,998 / 239,976)
86 – Warren: HE (9,999 / 239,976)
87 – Warrick: JF (9,999 / 239,976)
88 – Washington: WD (9,999 / 239,976)
89 – Wayne: KK-KM (29,997 / 239,976)
90 – Wells: GB-GC (19,998 / 239,976)
91 – White: MG (9,999 / 239,976)
92 – Whitley: DA-DB (19,998 / 239,976)

And Code 95 was used for “Special” plates. Not sure what that was.

Simply looking at the numbers, it is easy to tell which counties were less populated…at least with cars. Obviously, Marion and Lake Counties had outrageous numbers. Howard came third, then St. Joseph, Madison, Allen, Elkhart and Grant. That’s not exactly the order I would have thought.

The renumbering of license plates came, obviously, from the need to create more plate numbers. Pre-1950 numbers would end right around 2,000,000. The new numbering scheme in 1950 lent itself, as planned, to having 2,179,782 different combinations. There were a lot of letter combinations that could have been added to the mix, as well. In 1963, the new scheme allowed for 23,757,624 different combinations.

When the scheme was changed again in 2008, it was not because the state was running out of available registration numbers. Some counties were, however. There is a large market for old license plates…and some counties had way too many made for the sales. I had, at one time, 70 sequential 1981 license plates from Johnson County. When the state went to three year plates, that made it a bit better. Five year plates, even more so.

Indiana has joined other states in the “multiple issue” club. What I mean by this is very simple. Indiana’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles changes the plate background every five years (Except the Bicentennial, those were four years). Indiana state law states that license plates are good for SEVEN years. So depending on issue date, there were three valid passenger base plates legal in the state. In 2018, it was possible to still see legal plain blue, bicentennial and covered bridge plates. All the blue ones should be gone by now. The one thing that is different in the state today from years past is that when an actual new piece of aluminum shows up to be put on the back of your car, it (generally) will have the same number on it that your previous one did…as long as you get the same type of plate. This is the eighth year that I have had the same Navy Veteran registration number on my car…and that’s been over two cars.