Tag: highways
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Learning to see
In case you can’t tell by my recent posts, I have the Michigan Road coming out of my ears. Most of my road trips take me places I’ve never been, and my Michigan Road trips have been no different. If you look back at my early trips, such as along the National Road in western…
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Pleasant View, on the Michigan Road
Southeast of Indianapolis, about 3½ miles of a five-mile stretch of I-74 were built on top of the Michigan Road. Within those five miles, I-74 swings slightly west, allowing 1½ miles of the Michigan Road to reappear. In the middle of that segment is the tiny unincorporated town of Pleasant View. If you look carefully as…
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Scenes from the Michigan Road in southern Indiana
I made my second visit to the Michigan Road in southern Indiana on Saturday. I returned to Napoleon, where I finished last time, and drove north from there. It was another great trip, full of sunshine and sights. It was cool, so I rolled the windows down and enjoyed the breeze. My dogs napped in…
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Stone bridge on the Michigan Road
A 1913 stone bridge still stands on the Michigan Road in Jefferson County, Indiana. Take a short tour of it here!
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The Michigan Road
When Indiana was new, most Hoosiers lived along the Ohio River. The state’s first and largest city, Madison, was on the river, and the state’s first capital, Corydon, was near the river. Indiana wasn’t ten years old in 1825 when the capital moved to Indianapolis at the state’s swampy center. People needed ways to get to the…
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The National Road revisited
“I know!” someone at the highway maintenance barn exclaimed. “Let’s get drunk and go stripe some road!” This and many other adventures, including an abandoned bridge, 10 miles of abandoned brick highway, and an 1830 stone arch bridge still carrying traffic, in my report on the Indiana and Illinois National Road, Revisited.
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Exploring Old US 31 in Indiana
Taking a drive down old US 31 in Indiana from the Michigan line to Indianapoils, and exploring all the old alignments along the way.
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Holiday lights along the Michigan Road
After a nice Thanksgiving in South Bend, I drove home Friday evening. I always start my trip on US 31, but I like to exit at Rochester and follow the old Dixie Highway and Michigan Road back to Indianapolis. The old road follows State Road 25 to Logansport and exits on old State Road 29,…
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A kink in the National Road
Last year I wrote on my Roads pages about a trip I took with a friend down US 40 and the National Road across western Indiana. We enjoyed finding forgotten and sometimes abandoned segments of the road’s original alignment. Since then, thanks to the gang at the American Road forum, I’ve discovered the Automobile Blue…
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A very important Plymouth
I’m a bit of a car nut. Last week I was surfing around Dailymotion looking at old TV spots for cars and found this one for what looked to me like a 1966 Plymouth Fury, but was called the Plymouth VIP instead. I’d never heard of the model, which surprised me, because I’m pretty on…
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The National Road in Illinois
A long trip down the National Road in Illinois, with plenty of old-alignment goodness. They built a new road and left the old one behind, right alongside!