The Indiana National Road Association (INRA) has installed interpretive panels along the Historic National Road. From Richmond to Terre Haute, 15 panels inform tourists and residents about the history and significance of the National Road.

The National Road, today US 40, was our nation’s first federally funded interstate highway.  In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson approved the funding, and in 1811 construction started in Cumberland, Maryland westward to Vandalia, Illinois. By 1834, Indiana’s section of the Road was completed. Thousands of settlers used the Road to move west.  By the 1850s, the traffic included families in covered wagons, stagecoaches, and farmers moving their livestock to market.

In 1994, the Indiana National Road Association was created to assist in designating the National Road as a National Scenic Byway, which was obtained in 1998.  Later in 2002, the National Road was designated an All-American Road.  This designation is reserved for Byways that are of great national significance.

In the early 2000s, the Interpretive Panel project was started with the creation of the Indiana National Road Association’s Interpretive Master Plan. The plan called for the interpretation of significant locations along the Road. INRA utilized a TE grant and local match funds to research, develop, and install the 15 panels.

On December 1, at 11:00am, INRA and the Richmond/Wayne County Visitors Bureau dedicated the panel at the Old National Road Welcome Center in Richmond. Additional dedications are being coordinated for the remaining panels for 2013.

We are currently developing literature and website materials to correspond with the new panels.  Stay tuned for additional materials.

For more information:

Contact: Joe Frost, Executive Director, Indiana National Road Association, 317-822-7939, jfrost@indianalandmarks.org

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The Indiana National Road Association (INRA) a private nonprofit organization has worked since 1994 to Protect, Preserve and Promote Indiana’s historical resources along the National Road.