With the closure of the intersection of Plymouth-Goshen Road at U.S. 30, I thought it would be good to look back at the history of this road most of us probably are not aware of....and with it the parallel history of the Plymouth-LaPorte Trail. Only the Michigan Road through Marshall County claims an older history as an established road. I think sometimes it's hard for us to not think we're the center of the universe, here at the crossroads, but I'll take you back before there was a Plymouth.
Imagine most of Northern Indiana, north of Logansport to the south edge of the St. Joseph River Valley, was largely unsettled in the 1820s-early 1830s. A few posts existed in Michigan City (due to the Michigan Road), LaPorte, South Bend, and by the early '30s, Goshen. This great middle part of Northern Indiana between the Wabash River (canal) and St. Joe River lacked roadways which is why the Michigan Road became so important to the settlement of the state. To understand the development of the LaPorte and Goshen Roads, you'd have to understand the Michigan Road's history. Surveyed in 1829, the road connected Madison to Michigan City (established as a port at the northern terminus). Construction of the road began in 1830 and by 1836 it was mostly complete (passable). Plymouth was founded in 1836 by three men, one of whom was the chief superintendent of construction on the road-Mr. William Polke. The road was originally conceived to go north from Logansport to LaPorte, but surveyors felt that the Kankakee Marsh proved too difficult to build through, so it doglegged and went northeast, then straight north toward South Bend. Both Rochester and Plymouth followed the road.
Prior to Plymouth being established, both LaPorte and Goshen were interested in the construction of the Michigan Road as it came north from Indianapolis. The Michigan Road brought trade and postal carriers, but more importantly, settlers to the region. Because of the road's crossing of the Yellow River in what would become Plymouth, both Elkhart and LaPorte County Commissioners felt there was a need to tap into the Michigan Road at that point. LaPorte County was first to do so. In 1833, the LaPorte County Commissioners paid for the establishment of the "Yellow River Road" to go southeasterly out of LaPorte toward a crossing of the Kankakee River where a ferry was authorized. The road also extended northwest from LaPorte to tap into the Michigan Road leading from South Bend to Michigan City. A bridge over the Kankakee followed shortly after, and the road was planked by the 1840s. According to Daniel's History of LaPorte County "the road and ferry did much to advance the county in population, as it made Michigan City the market for all the country as far south as Logansport."
Today, this route is part of the state highway system in LaPorte and St. Joseph Counties, but not in Marshall County. State highway designations are U.S. 35 from its intersection with the Michigan Road (U.S. 20) south to LaPorte, then State Road 4 southeast of LaPorte until 4 turns toward North Liberty-the old trail follows State Road 104 to the west edge of Walkerton (which was not established until the early 1870s). With some diligence, one can make out segments of the old Yellow River Road, which took on the name "Plymouth-LaPorte Trail" through the southwest corner of Walkerton, then into Marshall County. While the route succumbed to some straightening on section lines, the old trail can mostly be followed to Plymouth where it enters from the west and becomes LaPorte Street ending just a half-block north of the Yellow River Bridge on Michigan Road. While not evidenced as much in Marshall County, in LaPorte County the old trail features some of the oldest architecture in Northwest Indiana, including the Major Lemon House, built in 1837 at the crossing of the Kankakee.
The Plymouth-Goshen Trail has a similar history. Elkhart County Commissioners set to building "highways" a term that literally means "roadways built on high ground" shortly after the county was organized in 1830. The years 1831-32 saw considerable road building. But, according to a news article, what became known as the Plymouth Trail was established on October 19, 1835. The desire of Elkhart County Commissioners would have mirrored those of LaPorte's, to open up a direct route, at its shortest point, to the Michigan Road for settlers, commerce, and postal carriers. Tapping into the route on the north bank of the Yellow River made the most sense, so the Plymouth-Goshen Trail stayed north of the river, only crossing it at its narrow fork width near what would become Bremen, then meandering southwesterly until it joined the Michigan Road about a mile north of the Yellow River Bridge. The situation with this route, however, was a little different within the boundaries of Marshall County because of Bremen being established within ten years of Plymouth, along this route. That meant that a good trade route between the county's two largest villages was secured.
Again, much like the LaPorte Trail, the Goshen Road follows a southwesterly route from Goshen ignoring cardinal points of a grid, much less section lines. The trail is intact, for the most part, with its current designation of State Road 119 between Goshen and State Road 19. However, it suffered from rerouting onto designated county roads as well. The Plymouth-Goshen Trail is fairly obvious in the northeast corner of Marshall County, and from its intersection with State Road 106 west of Bremen to King Road where it follows about two miles directly south before it cuts off to the southwest again north of King Road's Yellow River Bridge. Older maps would likely give a better idea of the route before it was conformed to the grid. The State of Indiana felt that the old route was important enough still to maintain it as an overpass for the new U.S. 31 northeast of Plymouth, however, with the number of accidents occurring now at its intersection with U.S. 30, the road was cut off. I recall a vote while on the Plymouth Plan Commission when the state asked us which intersection was the most important to address for safety (in about 2005), and we indicated U.S. 30 and Plymouth-Goshen. And since that time, they've improved three other intersections on 30, but not the one we requested.
If you imagine Plymouth, as a county seat, being connected to all of its neighboring county seats and mostly larger population centers, due to these roads, we should have had greater prosperity. We had direct routes, the best of their time, to Goshen, South Bend, LaPorte/Michigan City, and Rochester/Logansport. When the Yellowstone Trail was established in the early 1900s, we were also connected to Warsaw/Ft. Wayne and Valparaiso/Chicago. I did wonder, though, why the routes in Marshall County were never designated state routes when they were in LaPorte and Elkhart Counties. So, I did a little investigation that yielded only a little information. Evidently, when the state highway commission began in earnest designating state routes, Highway 17 had been proposed between Logansport and Goshen, following its current route from Logansport to Plymouth, but then following the Plymouth-Goshen Trail for its last leg. This was being promoted, particularly by Bremen, as early as 1929 (photo above). Why it never occurred, and why only the portion of 119 was designated (by 1940), is a mystery to me. Marshall County was left out. The Plymouth-LaPorte Trail's lack of designation in Marshall County is also strange. During the early 1930s, the old trail was considered an "improved" county road in all three counties it touched, however, Marshall County's segment was of a lower quality construction. This remained true in 1940, though in all counties, the construction improved. But by 1945, both State Roads 4 (between LaPorte and North Liberty) and 104 (south to Walkerton) had been designated. It remained a county road south of Walkerton. This may have been in part to the development of the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant during WWII, just west of these routes in LaPorte County. Left out again. Did the lack of designations in the 1930s-40s have an economic impact on Marshall County? It's hard to say. Being the crossroads doesn't necessarily put you at the center of the universe, even as we sit here now at the crossing of two of Northern Indiana's most important highways: 30 & 31.
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