The Michigan Road was one of the earliest roads in

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 s ...

. Roads in early Indiana were often roads in name only. In actuality they were sometimes little more than crude paths following old animal and Native American trails and filled with sinkholes, stumps, and deep, entrapping ruts. Hoosier leaders, however, recognized the importance of roads to the growth and economic health of the state, and the needed

improvements Improvement is the process of a thing moving from one state to a state considered to be better, usually through some action intended to bring about that better state. The concept of improvement is important to governments and businesses, as well a ...

. They encouraged construction of roads which would do for Indiana what the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

was doing for the whole country. As early as 1821 the legislature earmarked funds for more than two dozen roads throughout the state. Road building was often the responsibility of the counties, which were empowered to call out a local labor force for construction and provide road viewers, or supervisors.

History

Indiana's first "super highway" was the Michigan Road, which was built in the 1830s and 1840s and ran from

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

to Michigan City via

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. Like the National Road, it did much to spur settlement and economic growth. Half of the pioneers to settle northwestern Indiana did so by using the Michigan Road to travel from the Ohio River to their destination. It was the "most ambitious" project to connect Indianapolis with the rest of the state. One of the things that made the road possible was a treaty the state of Indiana forged with the

Pottawatomie The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

on October 16, 1826.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

James B. Ray James Brown Ray (February 19, 1794 – August 4, 1848) was an Indiana politician and the only Indiana Senate president pro tempore to be elevated to governor of the state of Indiana. Ray served during a time when the state transitioned from per ...

led the negotiations. It allowed for a ribbon of land wide to stretch from the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

(at Madison) to

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

(Michigan City). The Pottawatomie left the region by that very road when the last of their tribe was forcibly removed in the 1838 Pottawatomie Trail of Death. A commission was selected in 1828 to route the road from Indianapolis to Lake Michigan. It was told to make the trailhead be the best harbor, preferably natural, that could be had with Lake Michigan. The

Kankakee River The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in the Central Corn Belt Plains of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time, the river drained one of the largest wetlands in N ...

's swamp posed a problem for the construction of the road, forcing the commission to avoid a more direct northwesterly route and instead have it go from Logansport, straight up to the south bend of the St Joseph River (now the city of

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

), and then west to Lake Michigan. Michigan City was formally selected to be the trailend in 1832. The route from Madison to Indianapolis was straighter. From Madison it went north through Ripley and

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

counties straight to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, and from there straight through Shelby County to Indianapolis. It proved to be the preferred route to Indianapolis for 34 separate counties, even through the road went through only 14 counties. In 1836, the

Indiana General Assembly The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate. ...

passed the

Mammoth Internal Improvement Act The Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act was a law passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed by Whig Governor Noah Noble in 1836 that greatly expanded the state's program of internal improvements. It added $10 million to spending and ...

, which provided funds to

pave PAVE is a United States Air Force program identifier relating to electronic systems. Prior to 1979, Pave was said to be a code word for the Air Force unit responsible for the project. ''Pave'' was used as an inconsequential prefix identifier for ...

the entire length of the road. However, the economic difficulties brought on by overspending and the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

caused the state to enter partial bankruptcy before the entire length could be paved. The situation forced Indiana to give control of the road to the individual counties as part of a plan to avoid losing it to the state's creditors.

Today

Michigan and National Road Crossing Monument Indianapolis

State Road 29, originally much longer, followed the route from Madison to Bryantsburg, and from Napoleon in the south to Logansport in the north. State Road 25 followed the original route to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, and U.S. Route 31 followed the original route from Rochester to

. State Road 2 and

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

follow the original road from South Bend to Michigan City. The later

U.S. Route 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 ...

replaced Indiana State Road 29 from Madison to near Boyleston. The original route for US 421 was altered when

Interstate 465 Interstate 465 (I-465), also known as the USS ''Indianapolis'' Memorial Highway, is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately . It lies almost complet ...

was constructed. A more "truck friendly" route was also built from Madison to North Madison. The original US 31 has been bypassed in several locations, most notably, in terms of the Michigan Road, from Rochester to north of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. SR 29 from the south into Logansport has been decommissioned, as has the entire route (that which remains) from the junction of

I-74 } Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities); the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchang ...

and US 421 north of Greensburg to the junction of I-465 and US 421 on the northwest side of Indianapolis. In Indianapolis, a few remnants of the road still remain. A

tollhouse A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and ...

stands just north of the White River. It was erected by the Augusta Gravel Road Company to recoup its costs in repairing the road. A monument marking the intersection of the Michigan Road and the

sits at the corner of Washington Street and Southeastern Avenue near downtown Indianapolis. The monument was relocated slightly as part of the changes to

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 Gulf ...

exits in 2008. The road received a State Byway Designation in 2011.

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Michigan Road Historic trails and roads in Indiana Streets in Indianapolis

History

Today

See also

References

External links