State Road 26 (IN 26 or SR 26) is an east–west discontinuous

state road A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

part of the US state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. The western end of the western segment is at the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

border, where it continues as

Illinois Route 9 Illinois Route 9 (IL 9) is a cross-state, east–west rural state highway in the central part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It travels from Niota at the Fort Madison Toll Bridge, that crosses the Mississippi River into Iowa, eastward across ce ...

. The highway passes through rural areas of Warren and Tippecanoe counties, before ending near

West Lafayette West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...

. The eastern segment begins at an interchange with

Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gul ...

(I-65) and heads east passing through the cities of Kokomo, Hartford City, and Portland, before ending at the

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

border, where it continues east as

Ohio State Route 119 State Route 119 (SR 119) is an east–west highway serving rural sections of west-central Ohio. It begins just west of Fort Recovery at the eastern terminus of Indiana State Road 26. It travels through Mercer, Auglaize, and Shelby counties t ...

. The road covers a distance of about , passing through mostly rural areas. The originally designated road along modern SR 26 was SR 29, running between Lafayette and US 31, with SR 26 being routed between Bloomington and Madison. In the mid-1920s the state of Indiana renumbered its state road system and the SR 26 designated was moved to its contemporary alignment. During the early 1930s the route was extended, with several segments of SR 26 added to the state system. The last major addition happen in the late 1930s between SR 9 and Hartford City. The entire roadway was paved in the 1960s. In December 2013, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) relinquished the road through West Lafayette and Lafayette to the two cities.

Route description

SR 26 runs for as an almost entirely east–west undivided surface highway in central Indiana. Most of the highway is two-lane undivided rural highway. There is a section east of Lafayette that is a four-lane highway. The road exists in two segments with the first running between the

border, near the town of Ambia, and near

. The second segment is routed between Lafayette and the

border.

Western segment

SR 26 is a two-lane highway that connects with

and SR 352 at the Illinois state line in western Warren County. The road heads east passing through agricultural land, before turning south concurrent with

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

(US 41). The concurrency heads southeast, before SR 26 leaves the concurrency heading east towards Lafayette. The road makes a few curves, but the roadway stays generally east–west in direction. North of Pine Village SR 26 joins SR 55. The concurrency enters town on Main Street. At the intersection of Main Street and Lafayette Street, SR 26 turns east onto Lafayette Street, while SR 55 continues south on Main Street. The street passes some businesses before reaching the east side of town. The road enters rural Warren County before entering rural Tippecanoe County. The highway turns towards the southwest before passing by many houses on the west edge of West Lafayette. SR 26 passes north of

Purdue University Forestry and Natural Resources Farm Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, before an intersection with

US 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follo ...

US 231 U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north-south U.S highway that is a parallel route of US 31. It runs for from St. John, Indiana, at US 41 to south of US 98 in downtown Panama City, Florida. One of its most notable landmarks is ...

. At this intersection the SR 26 designation ends, but the roadway continues east as State Street, passing through West Lafayette and heading towards Lafayette.

Eastern segment

The eastern segment of SR 26 begins, as a continuation of South Street, at an interchange with I-65 on the east side of Lafayette. The road heads east as a four-lane highway, passing through both commercial and residential properties. As the road continues east it becomes a two-lane road, with some curves, and passes through farmland. The highway enters rural

Clinton County Clinton County may refer to: *Counties named for George Clinton, first and third Governor of New York, and later the fourth Vice President of the United States: **Clinton County, New York **Clinton County, Ohio *Counties named for DeWitt Clinton, s ...

, before entering Rossville. In Rossville SR 26 is concurrent with Main Street and passes through a business district. The business district becomes houses as the street heads east. The road enters the downtown area of Rossville passing through an intersection with Plank Street (

US 421 U.S. Route 421 (also U.S. Highway 421, US 421) is a diagonal northwest–southeast United States Numbered Highway in the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. The highway runs for from Fort Fisher, North Caro ...

/ SR 39). East of Plank Street, SR 26 passes more houses before leaving Rossville. East of Rossville, SR 26 passes through agricultural land, heading due east towards Kokomo. In rural Clinton County SR 26 has an intersection with SR 75, before passing through Sedalia and Geetingsville. The road enters Middlefork and has an intersection with SR 29. East of Middlefork the highway enters Howard County. In Howard County the road enters Russiaville, passing through town on Main Street. While in Russiaville, Main Street passes through commercial and residential properties. SR 26 leaves Russiaville and enters rural Howard County, passing through mostly farmland. The road enters Kokomo, passing through the Indian Heights neighborhood. While in Indian Heights the road passes through an intersection with SR 931. East of SR 931, SR 26 leaves Kokomo and passes through the community of Oakford. After passing through Oakford, SR 26 has an interchange with US 31, before passing through rural Howard County, having intersections with SR 19 and SR 213. The road leaves Howard County and enters Grant County and passes through an intersection with SR 13, in Point Isabel. East of Point Isabel SR 26 has an intersection with SR 37 and SR 9, before entering Fairmount. In Fairmount SR 26 is routed along Eighth Street and passes through residential part of town. Before leaving town the street has an at-grade crossing with a

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

railroad track. East of Fairmount SR 26 has an interchange with I-69, before crossing over the Mississinewa River. After the river SR 26 turns north at a four-way intersection with County Road 900 South and County Road 950 East, formerly SR 221. SR 26 heads north for about towards the town of Upland, before turning east at a four-way intersection with SR 22 and County Road 700 South, southeast of

Taylor University Taylor University is a Private university, private, Interdenominationalism, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country. T ...

. The road then leaves Grant County and enters Blackford County. SR 26 then enters Hartford City on Water Street before curving onto Washington Street, prior to an intersection with SR 3. East of SR 3, Washington Street enters the

Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District The Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District is located in Hartford City, Indiana. Hartford City has a population of about 7,000 and is the county seat of Blackford County and the site of the county courthouse. The National Par ...

and passes on the south side of the

Blackford County Courthouse The Blackford County Courthouse is a historic building located in Hartford City, Indiana, the county seat of Blackford County. The building stands on a public square in the city's downtown commercial district. Built during the Indiana Gas Boo ...

. SR 26 leaves the historic district and turns south on Mill Street for one block, before turning east onto Water Street and crossing a Norfolk Southern Railroad track. The highway leaves Hartford City and enters rural Blackford County, before coming to an intersection with the north end of SR 167 at the Blackford– Jay county line. SR 26 joins SR 1 for a short distance heading south, before SR 26 turns east towards Portland. The road joins SR 67 before entering Portland. The two state roads enter Portland on Votaw Street, passing through mostly commercial lots. At US 27 (Meridian Street) SR 67 turns north concurrent with US 27, while SR 26 turns south concurrent with US 27. Meridian Street heads south passing through the Portland Commercial Historic District, about a block east of the Jay County Courthouse. SR 26 turns east on Water Street, while US 27 continues south across the

Salamonie River The Salamonie River is a tributary of the Wabash River, in eastern Indiana in the United States. The river is long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 19, 2011 It is ...

. Water Street leaves the historic district and passes through a residential part of town, before leaving Portland. As the road leaves Portland it crosses over the Salamonie River. East of Portland SR 26 parallels the Salamonie River, before the highway crosses over the river again. The road passes through agricultural land, before the Ohio state lines the road curves towards the southeast. SR 26 ends at the Ohio–Indiana border, just outside of Fort Recovery, the roadway continues east into Ohio as State Route 119.

History

SR 26 was originally designated between Bloomington and Madison along approximately the modern alignment of SR 46 and SR 7. The highway ran between SR 22 in Bloomington and SR 40 in Madison, passing through Columbus. When the Indiana State Highway Commission renumber the state road system in 1926 in coordination with the creation of the

United States Numbered Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

, the SR 26 designated was moved north to its modern alignment. The modern SR 26 was designated on October 1, 1926 on a route that ran between Lafayette and Oakford, this route was previously known as SR 29. The modern route of SR 26 between the Indiana–Illinois state line and US 41 was added between 1927 and 1928, as SR 22. During 1930 a state road was proposed between US 41 and Lafayette and between US 31 and SR 9. Also at this time a state road was proposed from Upland east to the Ohio–Indiana state line. Between late 1930 and early 1932 the highway commission added SR 26 between US 31 and SR 9 to the state road system and the SR 22 designation west of US 41 was changed to SR 26. During this time frame SR 26 was added to the state road system between Hartford City and SR 67 and the modern route of SR 26 between the modern eastern end of SR 22 and Hartford City became part of SR 22. During 1932 the proposed route between Portland and the Ohio–Indiana state line was commissioned as part of SR 26 and the small north–south segment of modern SR 26, southeast of Upland, was commissioned as part of SR 221. SR 26 proposed to be extended east from SR 9 to SR 221 between 1936 and 1937. The road was extended from SR 9 to Hartford City between late 1938 and early 1939. The entire road was paved between 1966 and 1967. SR 26 formerly passed through the campus of

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

, where it was concurrent with State Street, and through Lafayette as South Street and Columbia Street. The segment of roadway between the US 231 junction in the west and Interstate 65 interchange in the east were relinquished to the cities of West Lafayette and Lafayette in December 2013; SR 26 is now discontinuous.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Indiana State Road 26 026 Transportation in Blackford County, Indiana Transportation in Jay County, Indiana Transportation in Grant County, Indiana Transportation in Warren County, Indiana Transportation in Tippecanoe County, Indiana Transportation in Clinton County, Indiana Transportation in Howard County, Indiana