Crossroads of America

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The Crossroads of America is a nickname given to the state of Indiana as it, and, more specifically, the city of Indianapolis is the hub for several major Interstate highways that criss-cross the state, connecting Hoosiers to the rest of the United States.

The Interstates that make up the Crossroads and intersect the Indianapolis beltway, Interstate 465, are:

• Interstate 65
• Interstate 69
• Interstate 70
• Interstate 74
• Interstate 865

Interstates that serve northern Indiana, but not Indianapolis, are:

• Interstate 80 and Interstate 90, which are for most of their length in the state share a concurrency along the Indiana Toll Road
• Interstate 94
• Interstate 469

Southern Indiana has its own Interstates as well, which, like their northern Indiana counterparts, do not serve Indianapolis but do link the southern portion of the state with major metropolitan areas like St. Louis, Missouri, Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. These are:

• Interstate 64
• Interstate 164
• Interstate 265
• Interstate 275

Interstate 275, the Cincinnati beltway, is interesting in that it serves Indiana only briefly, with a single interchange in the state at U.S. Highway 50.

[edit] First Crossroads was in Terre Haute

In the early days of cross-country travel (by horse and wagon), Terre Haute, Indiana benefitted by its location on the old National Road between Indianapolis and Vandalia, Illinois. The National Road was later named U.S. Highway 40 when it was made a U.S. highway in 1926.

At about the same time, U.S. Highway 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 U.S. 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. Vandalia, Ohio has also been called, at one time, the Crossroads of America due to U.S. Highway 40 and the eastern division of the Dixie Highway crossing in the middle of the town. I-75 and I-70 cross in Vandalia as well.