In 2008, I surveyed the Michigan Road from end to end, documenting the road and its built environment. Here is an installment of that trip report.
Decatur County was organized in 1821 and many of its towns, including Greensburg, the county seat, were formed before the Michigan Road came through.
Just because the map shows a name and a dot doesn’t mean there’s a town there, as evidenced by Smyrna and Slabtown, the first two alleged towns on the Michigan Road in Decatur County.
This older home stands where the dot for Slabtown persists.
Just north of Slabtown stands the 1883 Sand Creek Baptist Church with its 1972 addition at left.
Just north of the church, the view north across the creek is lovely.
A house and what looks like a former store and gas station are all that stand at Knarr Corner. Both buildings stand on a brief former alignment left when the curve here was made smoother.
This is the former gas station and store. The gas pumps likely stood at the road between the two posts. Motorists would have pulled over to the curb to fuel up. (Sadly, within a few years of making this photo, this building was razed.)
Just south of Greensburg stands this grand old house.
The Sand Creek Cemetery is on the outskirts of Greensburg. Sand Creek appears to have several forks.
The broken and crooked tombstones in the oldest portions of the cemetery reminded me of a set of bad teeth.
This little house is on the south side of Greensburg. It has many of the architectural cues of other 19th-century homes along the route, except that it has only one story.
The road is Michigan Ave. in Greensburg.
Next: A close look at the Michigan Road in Greensburg.
I’ve documented Indiana’s historic Michigan Road extensively. To read all about it, click here.
