This Hoosier road trip will take you from the Ohio River to Lake Michigan.

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Hoosier History

Here lately I've been on a kick of learning about some of the oldest places around Indiana, and through this journey through Hoosier history, I've learned a lot of really neat facts about our state.  For instance, Indiana's oldest store was founded the same year Abraham Lincoln was elected President, and it's STILL open to this day!  I also learned recently that the oldest continually open high school in the state is located right here in Evansville.  Oh, and did you know that the oldest city in Indiana is older than the United States of America?   So to continue this journey down memory lane, I thought we could hop on one of the oldest highways in the state.

Hoosier Highways

Indiana's motto is "Crossroads of America"  due to the many major highways that run through the Hoosier State. But which road is the oldest in the state?  While it's hard to pinpoint exactly which road is the oldest in the state, one Indiana highway sits among the oldest in the state, and you can still drive it from end to end.

From the Ohio River to Lake Michigan

The Historic Michigan Road is considered Indiana's "Pioneer Highway."  The road was built nearly two centuries ago in the 1830s.  It goes along the length of Indiana, connecting the northern part of the state with the southern part.

According to Historic Michigan Road, this highway was one of the most important routes when Indiana was first a state as it connected the Ohio River to Indianapolis to Lake Michigan and opened the state to commerce and settlement.

You can drive the historic Michigan Road today and wind your way through fourteen counties and more than two dozen communities.

Almost all of the the Michigan Road’s original route has survived to this day. From one end, you can drive straight through to the other end with only a few brief detours. Along the way, the road takes on many different characters, from almost-forgotten farm road to country US highway to major city thoroughfare to Interstate highway.

If you want to travel along Michigan Road you can still do so to this day, with very few detours.  Historic Michigan Road has directions if you'd like to travel the entirety of the historic road and a lot of information about attractions to see along the way.