Trippin' along with Lin & Maryke!: On the Historic National Road—Richmond, Indiana

When we were registering at the Deer Ridge Camping Resort in Richmond, Indiana on July 23, 2014, we picked up several tourist brochures on Richmond, about which we knew nothing. First, Richmond is located on the old National Road, which linked the East with the Western frontier in the 1830s. In reading the brochures, we were hooked on spending time when we found out that there are at least 20 murals Downtown and in the Historic Depot District, many related to a pioneer jazz recording studio, Gennett Recording Studio, where many of the jazz greats, including Hoagy Carmichael, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton, recorded their first tunes!

" The Rescue" The original Firehouse--now a BBQ restaurant
Watch the cat falling out of the window!

Richmond was settled in 1805 by Quakers from North Carolina. When the National Road arrived in 1827, it became Richmond's Main Street and retailers moved their businesses there to greet settlers heading west. In those days, over 200 wagons a day passed through Richmond! The town continued growing and soon became a railroad center and the county seat of Wayne County.

Several years back, we visited the National Road Museum in Zanesville, Ohio. It's a fascinating story! A road connecting the existing states was conceived by President George Washington, authorized by President Thomas Jefferson and traveled by President Abraham Lincoln! Construction was approved by Congress in 1806 to open the western interior to commerce and settlement. The National Road was America's first federally funded “interstate” highway! It ran from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling, West Virginia on the Ohio River.

An extension to Ohio, Indiana and Illinois was authorized in 1824 to link the capitals of these new states. The road reached Indiana and Richmond in 1827! 824 miles through seven states! Carriages, stagecoaches, and wagons competed for space with travelers on foot, cattle, hogs and geese! By 1850, canal and rail transport expansion decreased National Road traffic and it fell into disrepair.

The Automobile revived the National Road in the 1920s! The Federal Government began building a network of paved all weather highways. The National Road became U.S. Route 40 from Atlantic City, New Jersey to San Francisco, California! Gas stations, diners and motels opened to service travelers. In the 1970s, I-70, a new Interstate Highway as envisioned by President Eisenhower, replaced the National Road as the primary route West.

The National Road is still very much alive as U.S. Route 40 and in 2002, the entire historic National Road from Maryland to Illinois was named an All-American Road as the longest National Scenic Byway in the greatest number of states! Indiana, like most of the other National Road states, is actively promoting the route for tourism! The Old National Road Welcome Center at 5701 National Road East in Richmond has an excellent exhibit on the National Road and many other Richmond attractions with a very friendly staff to help you!

Richmond's Downtown and Railroad Depot Districts is a treasure chest of wonderful history-themed Murals. Some of our favorites are shown in our photographs: “The Cradle of Recorded Jazz”; “The Rescue”; “The Depot”; Hoagy Carmichael and Louis Armstrong” and “Cross-Rhythm Coda”

Besides murals, the Downtown area has some very fine architecture and the Welcome Center has a Downtown architectural walking tour and a historic building walking tour plus a National Register of Historic Districts guide.

The Richmond High School

Some of the "painted ladies" need some work!

The Wayne County Courthouse completed in 1893 is a fine example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture.

We really enjoyed seeing the Lingle Real Estate Building at 801 North A St. which is an English Cottage design of a mid-1930s Pure Oil Service Station. The company built a number of stations to this design, thinking it connoted “friendliness.” Haven't seen one of these in many years and probably very few left in the country!

The other must-see Richmond destination in the Depot District is the Richmond Furniture Gallery in the former Miller Bros. Hardware Store built in 1886. This was the 3^rd largest hardware store in the United States in 1910 with 3 floors and 120,000 square feet! The building sat abandoned for 30 years until the present owners bought it in 2004 and completely renovated the premises as part museum and part furniture store. Now why would anyone from the West Coast want to visit a Midwest furniture store, anyway? It's the museum part that's sensational with huge amazing mural art of historic events in Richmond. One of the biggest murals is a 22'x 80' mural of the Starr-Gennett Recording Studio that made Richmond the “Birthplace of Recorded Jazz!”

An opera horse in a furniture store? And shelves full of food packages from the '30s! A huge B&W photograph of how the store looked 100 years ago

There is a tiny 1950 Crosley automobile on the 2^nd floor that was manufactured right here in Richmond! There is a great model train display on the 3^rd floor that the local Model Railroad Society runs on a regular basis and daily during the Christmas season. They have a 14' tall Bunny Rabbit with different costumes for each season!

Fire engines and airplanes in the kid's furniture department

The World's Largest Dining Room Chair is at the front door and in the company office there's a 12' tall medieval knight's suit of armor!! Also in the office is a Castle made from U.S. Pennies---256,729 of them made by the owner's children over the years! The store has an amazing collection and it's all free! They even give you a bottle of water and cookies! Check out our photographs.

The Underground Railroad that transported and sheltered fugitive slaves and brought them to the North and freedom was active in this area. The Levi Coffin House built in 1839 in Centerville is called “The Grand Central Station” of the legendary Underground Railroad. Over 2000 slaves sought shelter here and escaped to freedom in the pre-Civil War days.

The Model T Ford Club of America is headquartered in Richmond and their Model T Museum is in the Historic Depot District close to the epicenter of all the murals! The Wayne County Historical Museum, which we did not have time to visit, is described as “ this gem of a museum is like a miniature Smithsonian, New York Metropolitan and Williamsburg -- all rolled into one!” Wow, I think there are at least 4 more museums! Richmond's 1902 Pennsylvania Railroad Depot is a grand building and is being rejuvenated by new owners and exciting new tenants.

And finally, Whitewater Gorge Park in Richmond is the location of the Starr-Gennett Historic Site and Walk of Fame. It commemorates the musicians of the early jazz, blues, and gospel music of the early 20^th Century who recorded at Gennett Studios, whose former site is the location of the Walk of Fame. Walk of Fame inductees are shown on a giant bronze 78 RPM record and include Louis Armstong, Bix Beiderbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, Gene Autry, Lawrence Welk and many others.