Richmond

The National Road crosses from Ohio into Indiana and almost immediately enters Richmond, founded in 1806 by Quaker settlers. So Richmond is one of the rare National Road towns in Indiana that predates the road. The National Road isn’t even the oldest road leading out of town – a road to Eaton, Ohio, was built [...]

The end of the Dayton Cutoff

My road-loving colleague Denny Gibson tells the story best, but when the National Road was laid out across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, the Federal Government mandated that the highway be laid out as straight as possible between the three states’ capitals. That meant that the road would not pass through the Ohio towns of Eaton [...]

Where the National Road fades away

One more old alignment of US 40 and the National Road lurks in western Indiana, and it takes us from West Terre Haute almost to the Illinois border. It’s highlighted in green on this image.

At one time, as best as I can piece together, the road curved south just before it crossed Sugar Creek (at [...]

Roadside relics

My trip along US 40 and the National Road in western Indiana finally brought me to Vigo County, where I lived for nine years. Sadly, those were years before my full roadgeek had been awakened, and I was blind to much of what the road offered there.
Of course, since then my eyes have opened. I’ve [...]

Return I will to old Brazil

Before you read this, click Play on this video. If you get caught up watching the animation, which is pretty cool, then play it again before you read the rest of this post and let it provide a soundtrack!

In 1986 I first visited Brazil, Indiana, about which that song was not [...]