Current and historic endpoints of
US 421 in Michigan City, IN
Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical
road atlases, much of the info on this page is based on the research of Robert
Droz; click here to view
his site. Photo credits: Robert
Mortell; me
The north end of US 421 has been in Michigan City since the early 1950's. The
photo below is looking north on Franklin Street, approaching its junction with
US 20:
me, May 2005
The actual endpoint is about a block ahead, at the traffic signal. On a pole
at that intersection, there's another end sign:
me, May 2005
Franklin continues ahead and becomes what is today a one-way street into downtown.
According to the USGS topo map, the US 421 designation used to extend ahead
via Franklin. But at the time Franklin didn't go all the way to 4th Street (as
it does today)... so instead, at 9th Street, northbound traffic was directed
one block to the east, and then north again via Pine Street, where the route
ended at Michigan Street (US 12):
Mortell,
June 2006
At far right, you can see a sign assembly that's probably left over from when
this really was US 421; below is a close-up:
Mortell,
June 2006
Pine was (and still is) one-way northbound. Southbound US 421 began
off US 12 via Washington Street (which runs one block west of Franklin, and
two blocks west of Pine). If the car in the photo above were to turn left and
proceed two blocks, the driver would reach the intersection shown below:
Mortell,
June 2006
That's looking west on US 12 - the north beginning of US 412 was to the left
on Washington. City Hall is just off the left edge of that photo - it's shown
in the photo below, which is looking the opposite direction (east) on US 12:
Mortell,
June 2006
The north beginning of US 421 was to the right. If you turn that way, there's
another sign that hints at US 421's historical presence here:
Mortell,
June 2006
At 9th, traffic was directed east one block to Franklin, and then continued
southward out of town. A sign assembly heading that direction (south on Franklin)
is a remnant from back when US 421 still existed north of US 20...
me, May 2005
...but today US 421 begins at US 20; just ahead is the first southbound reassurance
marker:
me, May 2005
From eastbound US 20, the beginning of US 421 looks like this:
me, May 2005
Pretty much the same arrangement from westbound US 20:
me, May 2005
Ahead from there is one more assembly marking the north beginning of US 421:
me, May 2005
Page (in its original form) created 25 August 2000; last updated
25 July 2006.
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