The Diner is now re-opened under new management with a full menu serving home made tenderloins and chili platters that gave the Diner it's name!
In contrast to the pioneer history in the eastern region, in
the west the byway traveler will enter the automobile age and have the
opportunity to enjoy a true Hoosier delicacy, the pork tenderloin, in
an authentic diner, drive an original alignment of the 1920s road, and
stop at the 1930s Twigg Rest Area which is now rehabbed as a trailhead
for the National Road Heritage Trail. The early auto age made its
mark on the National Road, and INRA's first preservation project was
the relocation of one of this era's landmarks, the Coffee Cottage/Gas
Station which now sits in front of the Rose-Hulman baseball
diamond. Before entering or leaving the Road in Indiana, the
byway traveler will be greeted or given farewell "On the Banks of the
Wabash River," which is only miles from the border with Illinois. The
original crossroads of America is in downtown Terre Haute at the
intersection of US40 and 41.
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| Plainfield Diner, Plainfield |
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beautifully preserved diner is an excellent example of the type of
eateries that dotted the landscape along the National Road (U.S. 40)
during the automobile touring days of the mid 20th century. The Diner is now re-opened under new management with a full menu serving home made tenderloins and chili platters that gave the Diner it's name! |
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| 3122 E Main St, Plainfield | ||
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| Van Buren Elm Marker, Plainfield |  |
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| At this spot in 1842 President Martin Van Buren’s stagecoach was overturned because of tree roots in the road, sending him into the mud. President Van Buren was opposed to using federal funds to pay for improvements along the National Road. Legend has it this “accident” was intended to give the President a lesson on the importance of keeping the road in good repair. | ||
| Wabash St and US 40, Plainfield | ||
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| Stilesville |
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| Settled in 1823, before the National Road reached western Indiana, Stilesville is a small town with a unique past. The cemetery, which is unusually large for a town this size, was created when town founder Jeremiah Stiles buried his wife there. Not long after, a group of pioneers who were traveling the road through town stopped to rest and eat supper. Unfortunately several in the group got food poisoning. Fourteen died and were all buried in the cemetery, thus creating a large cemetery in a small town. | ||
| www.in.gov/whiteriver/intro.html | ||
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| Rising Hall Estate, Putnam County |
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| Located on the border of Hendricks and Putnam counties, this extraordinary Italianate home was built in 1872 by Melville F. McHaffie at a cost of $2,500. Mr. McHaffie raised mules and received a commendation from President Lincoln for providing the Union Army with the largest number of mules during the Civil War. Mr. McHaffie’s son, Ernest later ran the farm as a breeding and training facility for race horses. The famous trotter Dan Patch even trained on the farm at the turn of the 20th century. This home is an excellent, little altered example of the Italianate style. Rising Hall is a private home and is not open to the public. | ||
| 10474
E US 40, Stilesville vicinity PRIVATE PROPERTY |
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| Original Road Section, Greencastle |
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| Vicinity Behind the old Walker Motel lies another section of the original National Road. Drive down the hill behind the motel to the enormous concrete bridge over Deer Creek. Look over the south side of the bridge to see where early pioneers forged the river and where the original covered and iron bridges crossed the creek. The concrete bridge eventually replaced these structures and served as the only way across the creek until U.S. 40 was rerouted to its current location. From this one spot, travelers can view four generations of the Historic National Road. | ||
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| Brazil Historic District, Brazil |
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| The Historic National Road passes through the heart of Brazil’s downtown historic district, the town’s business center. The district is characterized by excellent examples of 19th and early 20th century architecture. The architecture of the district demonstrates a variety of styles, including Italianate, Neo-Classical Revival, Romanesque Revival and others. This variety and quality of design and execution is unique for commercial structures in a small, rural Midwestern environment. Two of the best examples are the D.H. Davis building and the U.S. Post Office, both built in the early 1900s. The old Post Office building is now home to the Clay County Historical Society Museum. | ||
| Clay
County Historical Society 812.446.4036 Hours: Mon-Fri 1-4; Sat 1:30-3:30 |
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| Brick and Coal Museum, Brazil |
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| The brick and coal industries fueled much of Brazil’s growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Brazil block coal was considered “unsurpassed and almost unequalled in the entire Mississippi Valley.” By 1908, there were 24 mines each producing well over 1,000 tons of coal per day. At the same time, clay industries were booming as well. In fact, Brazil’s clay works produced most of the brick used to pave the original road across Indiana. So, you could say the road built Brazil and later Brazil built the road, literally. The Brick and Coal Museum is a link to Brazil’s illustrious past. | ||
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| Mansfield Stone Quarry, Brazil |
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| On the west end of town, just two blocks from the Historic National Road, is the Mansfield Stone Quarry. The quarry has been producing sandstone of building quality since the 19th century. Many of the brownstones in New York City and Chicago were built with stone from this quarry. The giant limestone state of Indiana sculpture at the entrance to the new Indiana State Museum was sculpted with stone from the quarry as well. The quarry is open to the public and tours are available | ||
| 201
N Sherman, Brazil 812-448-3430 www.mansfieldstone.com info@mansfieldstone.com |
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| Twigg
Rest Park & Historic National Road Heritage Trail, Terre Haute |
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| Opened
in 1935 as nothing more than a gravel pull off with two outhouses,
Twigg Rest Park was one of the first “rest stops” along the road during
the early days of auto travel. It offered early automobile travelers a
place to relax as they drove the National Road across Indiana. The city
of Terre Haute purchased the site in the 1990s and restored it as a
modern rest site with an historic feel. Visitors to the site will also
find the trailhead for the Historic National Road Heritage Trail, an
eight and a half mile multi-use trail that travels through Terre Haute
to the Wabash River. |
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| 1718
Wabash Ave, Terre Haute 812.238.1561 |
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| 1931 Gas Station, Terre Haute |
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| Believe it or not, this small cottage was an early filling station on the National Road. A master distiller of whisky built the station in 1931 during prohibition. In the first decades of auto travel, travelers often looked for a familiar place to stop, someplace that reminded them of home. Consequently, many early gas stations were built to resemble small cottages and homes. In 1999, the Indiana National Road Association and Rose-Hulman Institute saved the building from demolition by moving it from its original location to the Rose-Hulman campus. The cottage serves as a snack bar for the school’s baseball and soccer fields | ||
| 4480 Wabash Ave, Terre Haute | ||
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| Fairbanks Memorial Park, Terre Haute |
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| Nestled just off the Historic National Road on the banks of the Wabash River is Fairbanks Memorial Park. The Fairbanks family donated the land for the park to the city of Terre Haute in 1916. Today, it is a sprawling 104 acres and features a riverwalk, picnic shelters, a boat ramp and an amphitheater with a band shell. Also located in the park is the home where Terre Haute native Paul Dresser was born. Dresser wrote "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" — Indiana's state song. | ||
| South
First St, Terre Haute 812.232.2727 www.terrehaute.com |
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| Additional
Points of Interest |
| Following
are additional sites of interest along your journey on the Historic
National Road in Indiana. Some are on the Historic National Road.
Others are near the road, but still worth a visit. KEY PLAINFIELD *Historic
Warren Truss Metal Bridge **Plainfield
Friends Western Yearly Meeting House *Plainfield
Historic District **THI&E
Interurban Depot-Substation CLOVERDALE *Indiana
Penitentiary *Putnamville
Historic District & Museum GREENCASTLE *Walker
Motel BRAZIL **Clay
County Courthouse *Eaglesfield/Hunt
Home & Barn ***McKinley
House Bed & Breakfast TERRE
HAUTE *Clabber
Girl Billboard ***Eugene
V. Debs Museum ***Hulman
& Co. Building/Clabber Girl Baking Powder Museum **Indiana
State University ***Indiana
Theater **Interurban
Arcade-Terminal Restaurant **Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology ***Swope
Art Museum **Vigo
County Courthouse *Wabash
River & Bridge |