Adoption
The Indiana General Assembly passed a resolution in 1937 establishing the phrase as the state's official motto. [1]
Crossroads of America is the official motto of the U.S. state of Indiana. Various cities in the Midwestern United States also use the phrase or a variant thereof to describe their location.
The Indiana General Assembly passed a resolution in 1937 establishing the phrase as the state's official motto. [1]
In the early days of cross-country travel by horse and wagon, Terre Haute, Indiana benefited from its location on the old National Road between Indianapolis and Vandalia, Illinois. The National Road was later named U.S. Highway 40 when it became a U.S. Highway in 1926. At the same time, US 41 was commissioned between Chicago, Illinois, and Miami, Florida. This north–south highway through downtown Terre Haute followed Seventh Street at the time, and met US 40, which followed Wabash Avenue, the main east–west street in town. The Seventh and Wabash intersection thus became known as the "Crossroads of America", an appellation now memorialized with a historical marker at that corner. [2]
Indianapolis, the state capital of Indiana, adopted "Crossroads of America" as its official slogan in 1988. [3] The moniker refers to the city's central location at the junction of four major Interstate Highways: 65, 69, 70, and 74. [4]
Vandalia, Ohio, has also been called the Crossroads of America because US 40 and the eastern division of the Dixie Highway crossed in the middle of the town. [5]
Schererville, Indiana, uses the motto "Crossroads of the Nation" to describe the intersection of U.S. Route 30 and U.S. Route 41 in the center of town. Much of US 30 was originally the Lincoln Highway, one of the first cross country highways in America. US 41 was once one of the most traveled roads from the Midwestern United States to the Southern United States. [6]
Wentzville, Missouri, uses the motto "Crossroads of the Nation" as well to describe the intersection of I-70 and U.S. 40. [7]
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, just outside Baltimore, Maryland.
Vigo County is a county on the western border of the U.S. state of Indiana. According to the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 106,153. Its county seat is Terre Haute.
Vermillion County lies in the western part of the U.S. state of Indiana between the Illinois border and the Wabash River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,439. The county seat is Newport. It was officially established in 1824 and was the fiftieth Indiana county created. Vermillion County is included in the Terre Haute, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county contains seven incorporated towns with a total population of about 9,900. as well as several unincorporated communities; it is also divided into five townships which provide local services. An interstate highway, two U.S. routes, and five state roads cross the county, as does a major railroad line.
Parke County lies in the western part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Wabash River. The county was formed in 1821 out of a portion of Vigo County. According to the 2020 census, the population was 16,156. The county seat is Rockville.
Fountain County lies in the western part of the U.S. state of Indiana on the east side of the Wabash River. The county was officially established in 1826 and was the 53rd in Indiana. The county seat is Covington.
Terre Haute is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles (8 km) east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716.
The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was the longest canal ever built in North America.
U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes whose numbers end in a zero, US 40 once traversed the entire United States. It is one of the first U.S. Highways created in 1926 and its original termini were in San Francisco, California, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. US 40 currently ends at a junction with I-80 in Silver Summit, Utah, just outside Salt Lake City. West of this point US 40 was functionally replaced with I-80, and as these segments of I-80 were constructed the western portion of US 40 was truncated several times.
Anton "Tony" Hulman Jr. was an American businessman from Terre Haute, Indiana, who bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945 and brought racing back to the famous race course after a four-year hiatus following World War II.
State Road 46 in the U.S. state of Indiana is an east–west state highway in the southern half of Indiana.
Chauncey Rose was an American businessman during the 19th century.
State Road 16 is an east–west state road in the US state of Indiana. The western terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 41, near Ade, and its eastern terminus is at SR 5, near Huntington. The state road runs through seven counties in northern Indiana mostly through rural farm fields and small towns.
The Butler Branch was a historic railroad line that operated in Indiana, USA. It ran between the city of Logansport on the Wabash River in north central Indiana and the namesake town of Butler near the Ohio border in northeastern Indiana.
State Road 63 (SR 63) in the U.S. state of Indiana is a north–south route in the western portion of the state. Until mid-2008, it covered a distance of just over 96 miles (154 km), but now is a discontinuous route. For 63 miles (101 km), from the city of Terre Haute until it rejoins U.S. Route 41 (US 41) near Carbondale, it is a four-lane divided highway and replaces US 41 as the major north–south artery in this portion of the state.
Virginia Jenckes served three terms as a U.S. Representative from Indiana's Sixth Congressional District. The Terre Haute, Indiana, native was the first woman from Indiana to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Alongside Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy, she was the second woman Representative from the Midwest and the first who was not succeeding a male relative. In 1937 she became the first American woman appointed as a U.S. delegate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Paris, France. The outspoken, independent-minded farmer from Vigo County was an advocate for women and became known for her support of flood control measures and repeal of Prohibition, as well as her opposition to communism. Jenckes's most significant accomplishment for her Indiana constituents was obtaining an $18 million appropriation for the Wabash River basin that eventually became law.
Interstate 70 (I-70) in the US state of Indiana travels east–west across the central portion of the state, passing through the capital of Indianapolis. I-70 crosses from Illinois into Indiana near Terre Haute and departs into Ohio at Richmond. It covers 156.6 miles (252.0 km) in Indiana, paralleling U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), the old National Road.
Interstate 74 (I-74) in the US state of Indiana traverses central parts of the state from west to east. It connects Champaign, Illinois, with Indianapolis in the center of the state, and Indianapolis with Cincinnati, Ohio. I-74 covers 171.54 miles (276.07 km) across Indiana, a portion of which is concurrently routed through Indianapolis along the southern and western legs of I-465.
U.S. Route 150 (US 150) in Indiana is a 176.315-mile-long (283.751 km) east–west highway that travels from the Illinois state line east of Paris, Illinois to Louisville, Kentucky at the Kentucky state line. A section of US 150 from New Goshen to Vincennes travels north–south instead of east–west. US 150 travels concurrently with its parent route, US 50, from Vincennes to Shoals. Between West Terre Haute and Terre Haute, US 150 travels along part of the historic National Road. Also, from Vincennes to New Albany, the route is designated as part of Indiana's Historic Pathways, as it roughly parallels what was then part of the Buffalo Trace.
The Vandalia Railroad Company was incorporated January 1, 1905, by a merger of several lines in Indiana and Illinois that formed a 471-mile railroad consisting of lines mostly west of Indianapolis.