Tag: US 50

  • Driving US 50 across Indiana

    I have a running mental wish list of old roads I want to explore, and US 50 across Indiana and Illinois are at the top of the list. But as this road-trip season began and I received the e-mail about the Eilas Conwell house and learned a few things about Mr. Conwell, the choice was easy.…

  • What if they built a bridge and nobody ever drove on it?

    Here’s a weird one – a bridge along US 50 in southwestern Illinois that has an unused twin! Here it is, up close and personal. There are actually four such bridges along this 21-mile stretch of US 50 between Carlyle and Lebanon. The State of Illinois built them in about 1973 anticipating a four-lane divided…

  • The General Dean Bridge

    A suspension bridge in the middle of Illinois? Yup.

  • Three abandoned bridges in a row

    As you drive US 50 in Illinois, in several places you parallel an older alignment of the road. The state has intended at various times to build a four-lane expressway out of US 50, to the extent that new lanes have been laid down with the presumable intent of rebuilding the old lanes to carry…

  • Where Lincoln first entered Illinois

    Abe Lincoln’s family crossed into Illinois near a place that would later carry US 50.