Current and historic endpoints of US 421 in Michigan City, IN

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Robert Mortell; me

The north end of US 421 has been in Michigan City since the early 1950s. 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 confirming 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