Crossroads of America

The Crossroads of America is the official motto of the U.S. state of Indiana.

Adoption

The motto was included on Indiana's state quarter.

The Indiana General Assembly passed a resolution in 1937 establishing the phrase as the state's official motto.[1]

Use

In the early days of cross-country travel by horse and wagon, Terre Haute, Indiana, benefited by its location on the old National Road between Indianapolis and Vandalia, Illinois. The National Road was later named U.S. Highway 40 (US 40) when it was made a U.S. Highway in 1926. At the same time, US 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 US 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.[2]

Indianapolis, the state capital, is also unofficially nicknamed the Crossroads of America, due to its central location at the junction of four major Interstate Highways.[3]

Vandalia, Ohio, has also been called the Crossroads of America because US 40 and the eastern division of the Dixie Highway crossed in the middle of the town.[4] I-75 and I-70 cross in Vandalia as well.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Emblems" (PDF). State of Indiana. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  2. ↑ Indiana Historical Bureau. "Crossroads of America". Find a Marker. State of Indiana. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Capital at the Crossroads of America". Indianapolis: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary. National Park Service. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Vandalia Crossroads". Retrieved August 9, 2017.
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