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Madison State Road, Indiana


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I completed posting the trip album for a trip my wife and I took last month to Madison Indiana. The route we took was along a route that used to be called the "Madison State Road" and was completed in 1824. From the first page, you can follow a link to some turn-by-turn directions I created if you want to follow the route yourself.

 

I was somewhat inspired to take this trip because my wife ran into a man in the grocery store who stopped her and started talking incessantly about how the "Madison State Road" was really the "Mother Road" of Indiana. A good percentage of the early migration to Indiana came to Indianapolis on this route from the Ohio River. In later years once river traffic was not as important, I think the National Road surpassed it in volume.

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the trip!

Chris

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I just spent a pleasant 25 or 30 minutes reading this road trip - couldn't put it down, so to speak, even tho it was way past my breakfast time.

 

Great write-up and loved the pictures. Another road tripper with the talent of bringing the reader along on the trip.

 

Thanks for the road trip.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

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Chris, great report! I'm not terribly familiar with the Southside but always figured that Madison Ave. must have been a road to Madison at one time. You chose good places to stop for photos; they help me imagine the route.

 

I wasn't aware that SR 37 ever went this way. I knew it followed Bluff Road out of town. About what timeframe did it follow the Madison/31 corridor?

 

I'm hoping to take a trip to Madison this weekend to drive the Michigan Road back to Indy. Now that you've laid the route of the Madison Road out for me, I may drive that down!

 

jim

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Very nice report. I'm kind of familiar with the area and both Madison and Columbus are favorites of mine. But you've still managed to turn me on to some new spots, such as Mill Race Park, and you definitely raised my knowledge of Madison State Road. Thanks.

 

P.S. Loved the micrometer tombstone.

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I wasn't aware that SR 37 ever went this way. I knew it followed Bluff Road out of town. About what timeframe did it follow the Madison/31 corridor?

jim

SR 37 followed US-31 from 38th Street to the south side as its most recent routing until it was routed completely around I-465 the same time that Binford Boulevard came about, which was just a few years ago. IN-37 was routed down Madison and then down East Street to I-465 where it traveled west two miles on the interstate to the Harding Street exit where it currently goes south.

 

Chris

 

P.S. Loved the micrometer tombstone.

It was cool that you can see it as you drive by, without slowing down, if you want to. It really stands out.

 

I'd like to take my wife back to Columbus to show her some of the other architectural sites around there. I kind of piqued her interest.

 

Chris

 

Great write-up and loved the pictures. Another road tripper with the talent of bringing the reader along on the trip.

I really enjoyed coming back home and doing research on the things that I saw. I thought adding some of that detail in-line livened it up a little bit.

 

Chris

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Did you find, as I often do, that the post-trip research revealed things worth a return trip?

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

Dave

I certainly did! Thanks again for the excerpts from Scarborough and other guides. I enjoyed matching them up against some of the historical Indiana maps and atlases available on-line at the IUPUI site.

 

Chris

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Chris,

 

GREAT report! I had to laugh to myself when I saw your note this afternoon, as Madison Avenue was my "snow route" today. I typically take the interstate from Speedway to get to my job across from St. Francis South. But with the ice we had today, I took the city route and picked up Pennsylvania downtown and took Madison to Stop 11 Rd.

 

Madison is one of our favorite day trips. Next time you're there, stop by the Madison Fudge Factory on the west side of downtown on SR-56. If you can get a copy, the 1958 movie "Some Came Running" was filmed in Madison, starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine. Most of the buildings used in the filming are still there.

 

I was totally unaware of this road ever existed. We typically take both routes coming & going on our Madison trips....Michigan Road/421 one way & SR-7/US 31 the other way. Cool to hear the latter is of an historic nature. Great research!

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I'd like to take my wife back to Columbus to show her some of the other architectural sites around there. I kind of piqued her interest.
As I suspect you know, the Columbus Visitors Bureau offers a bus tour of many of the city's architectural gems. Your post was a somewhat shocking reminder that it was nearly five years ago that I took half of that tour and a needed nudge to get me back for a complete tour. For those who don't know, Columbus, Indiana, is an architectural showplace due largely to the generosity of the Cummin's Diesel Company. Yep, I gotta get back there.
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Chris, I printed your turn-by-turn directions -- you sure you didn't write for the ABBs in a former life? -- and will drive them down to Madison tomorrow. Then I'll turn around and drive the Michigan Road right back home! I'm gonna fold down the back seat and let the dogs ride along. I've never made a road trip with them before so we'll see how it goes. This is mostly a pleasure cruise, so I won't be doing much roadsleuthing and I won't stop for as many photos. jim

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