About the Michigan Road Historic Byway project
In case you haven’t heard, we submitted the official byway application to the Indiana Department of Transportation just before Christmas. We received nearly 80 letters of support and votes of endorsement from boards and individuals along the route. We’re excited for all our communities as we move this process forward and await word from INDOT.
Thank you for your support!
Kurt and Jim and our committee delegates have been meeting with INDOT and planning organizations across the state to gain buyin for the byway. The byway application is nearing completion and has been shared with INDOT for preliminary feedback. So far, responses have been mostly positive, with a few speed bumps we’re negotiating now. We hope to submit the final application soon. Thank you for your continued support, and wish us luck!
The Elias Conwell House in Napoleon stands just north of where the two Ripley County alignments of the Michigan Road come together. Here’s some of this home’s story.
via Down the Road
At least two log cabins still stand on the Michigan Road — one in Lakeville and one in Indianapolis. Do you know of others? Let us know in the comments!
via Down the Road
We are back to work on the Historic Michigan Road Byway project and have scheduled our next informational meeting, this time in Shelbyville. If you live in the area and are interested in our project, please join us on Tuesday, March 30, at 6:00 pm at the Porter Center, 501 N. Harrison in Shelbyville. We wish to thank Rachael Ackley, Director of Shelby County Tourism, for organizing this meeting.
Kurt Garner will also be giving an update on the Michigan Road byway project at the Indiana Byway Conference to be held in Aurora, Indiana on May 19 and 20. Read more about the conference here.
Jim Grey will speak this Wednesday morning, February 19, to the Franklin Township (Indianapolis) Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee about the Michigan Road Historic Byway project.
It is still on our agenda to arrange a meeting in Shelbyville with interested parties. We hope to do this in March or April. If you live in the Shelbyville area and would like to attend, please either leave a comment or contact us via e-mail.
The Middletown Bridge, which stands on the Michigan Road in southeastern Shelby County near the town of Waldron, has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.
The four-span stone arch bridge, probably built about 1890, stands on County Road 450 South, which is a one-lane alignment of the Michigan Road that was bypassed no later than 1940 when a new routing of US 421, including a more modern concrete-arch bridge, was built.
The old alignment and its bridge still serve a few homes and farms.
This photo shows the bridge’s north face.
The bridge was named to the National Register on December 24, 2009, making a nice Christmas present for the Michigan Road.
The Michigan Road features three things in abundance: homes, churches, and cemeteries. It’s not surprising, really; where a major road went through in the 1800s, there was opportunity. People moved to be near it, and they lived, worshiped, and died along it.
Many of the road’s homes are downright arresting. Here’s a brief and incomplete survey of the homes you’ll see when you drive the Michigan Road from end to end. To get a better look at any of these houses, click its image to see it larger on Flickr.
The 1872 Fairmount House stands at the top of Michigan Hill in Madison:
At least two log cabins still stand on the road. Here’s one in Ripley County south of Napoleon:
This home with its strong presence stands on the north edge of Napoleon:
This grand old home, which stands south of Greensburg, commands your attention:
This house stands on the road just as you leave Greensburg:
This 1858 house stands just outside Greensburg near the new Honda plant:
This house is north of the public square in Shelbyville:
This home stands were I-74 ends along the Michgan Road’s path on Indianapolis’s Southside:
This 1840s farmhouse near 64th Street in Indianapolis has been for sale for more than a year:
The 1834 Boardman House anchored the former town of Augusta, but it’s now well within Indianapolis:
This farmhouse is just inside Boone County:
This lonely little house is in the tiny town of Waugh (pronounced “Waaa”):
This home with its graceful porches stands in Middlefork:
Just north of Middlefork stands the well-preserved Mathews Hoosier Homestead farmhouse:
Rochester is chock full of great old homes, of which this is just one:
This 1892 house is just north of downtown in Argos:
Plymouth’s First Assembly of God was probably once a residence. Sadly, it is gone, removed this year in favor of a parking lot.
Plymouth’s first mayor, Horace Corbin, lived here:
New Carlisle is rich in historic homes, of which this is just one:
The road was leveled sometime after these comparatively Johnny-come-lately homes in Michigan City were built, creating the need for the retaining wall:
Welcome to the Historic Michigan Road blog, a companion to the Historic Michigan Road Web site. We’re building a grassroots organization from communities along the Michigan Road that will provide the support necessary to win historic byway designation from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
We’ll share information about our effort here as we move forward with our project.
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Jim