Where the road curves
Canon PowerShot S95
2014
The Lincoln Highway was the nation’s first coast-to-coast highway, cobbled together out of local roads across 14 states. It begins in New York City and ends in San Francisco. It passes through northern Indiana along the way.
In northeastern Indiana, for the most part the Lincoln Highway became US 33. A few old alignments lurk here and there. Only one of them that I know of is paved in brick. You’ll find it just south of Ligonier. If you’re curious, you can see it mapped here.
This is a short segment of road, about two tenths of a mile. It was left behind when US 33 was realigned here to eliminate a fairly sharp curve. That’s what makes this segment so interesting. To make this road curve, the roadbuilders had to change the bricks’ pattern.
I’ve seen gently curving brick roads where the pattern remains consistent. I assume the space between the bricks increases slightly along the radius of the curve. But on a sharp curve, there’s little to do but create a joint like this.
To see more photos of this segment, click here.
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