The Oldest Road In America, Yellowstone Trail, Passes Right Through Indiana
By Elizabeth Crozier|Published March 31, 2020
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Elizabeth Crozier
Author
An Illinois transplant who grew up and went to school in Indiana for 22 years, Elizabeth holds a BFA in creative writing and has enjoyed traveling across the country and parts of Europe. She has visited half of the states, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and regularly travels home to the Hoosier State to see friends and family. With more than five years of writing experience, Elizabeth’s articles have been featured on several websites, and her poetry and short stories have been published in multiple literary journals.
The oldest road in America is known as the Yellowstone Trail, and it goes right through Indiana. Full of history, this extensive highway is actually part of the entire country and connects travelers to one of the nation’s best natural wonders. Check it out:
Spanning 3,719 miles, the Yellowstone Trail stretches coast to coast from Seattle, Washington to Plymouth, Massachusetts, passing right through northern Indiana.
It is known as the first transcontinental automobile highway in the United States. Established in 1912, it is named for Yellowstone National Park as it follows the trails that people were taking to get to this natural wonder.
This was around the time when automobiles were becoming popular and people wanted the freedom and convenience of independent travel. Most roads were made of dirt, though, which made long-distance travel by car difficult.
The original road was only designed to take up a 25-mile stretch of road in South Dakota. Nowadays, it is used to allow travelers to get from one ocean to the other.
Throughout the county, the road passes through many different small towns and big cities. In Indiana, it goes right through Fort Wayne, Warsaw, Hobart, Gary, and a town called Hamlet that puts on a festival in celebration of the history of the road each year.
The highway enters the state from the northwest corner out of Chicagoland and goes straight across the northern half, making its way toward Fort Wayne before exiting into Ohio and heading toward Lake Eerie.