Recently, I drove SR 62 from Madison down to Jeffersonville. Instead of taking my normal turn on I-265, I stayed on this route into downtown Jeffersonville.
I noticed there were quite a few older motels along the road. These were not small and appeared to be the type you would typically see on primary US routes, not used for local commerce.
I have looked at some older maps, and don't see any real reason this would have been a regional through route. I know US 31 has been moved a few times in this area, but I don't think it would have ever used this alignment.
Does anyone have any more information on the historical significance of this route?
It appears to be a well-traveled route connecting Madison with Jeffersonville and the Greater Louisville area, but probably nothing else of greater significance beyond that. From what I've seen in Jeffersonville, that corridor heading east from Downtown Jeffersonville up toward SR 265 is the primary commercial area for the city. And for what I've seen in the past, even in smaller county seats is the abudence of a few hotels along that kind of stretch, regardless of whether or not the highway was that important.
I drive past said motels every day to/from work. I've lived in the area less than ten years, but from what I can gather, before interstates existed, IN 62 was the primary route between Madison/Jeffersonville/New Albany/Corydon, and on over to Evansville. There was no US highway serving this corridor that I'm aware of.
Charlestown to Jeffersonville was four lanes by 1956: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~212070~5500208:Shell-Map-of-Indiana--cover-title--?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No
Seems to have been because of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant.
A correction to the next to previous post. The New Albany/Jeffersonville to Evansville corridor was served by US 460 (cosigned in those days with SR 62) until it was decommissioned in November of '76 right after I-64 was completed in Indiana. Despite the presence of 460, before I-64 was complete most traffic between Evansville and the Louisville area drove out of their way via SR 57 to Oakland City and SR 64 the rest of the way, because SR 64 was on a straighter and faster alighment, while US 460/SR 62 was a very slow and curvy road virtually the entire distance.
Thanks for the link to the '56 Shell map. Interesting that SR 62 was four laned prior to either US 31E or 31W. The Ammunition Plant makes the most sense, it is obvious this place was huge in its time. The pics below are a couple of the motels along this route, The Holiday and Wayfare. Neat vintage signs. My personal favorite is the Alben, which is on Spring Street, an old alignment of US 31 in downtown Jeffersonville.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F%26lt%3Ba%2520href%3D%26quot%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fjoeyharrison%2F2511513978%2F%26quot%3B%2520title%3D%26quot%3BAlben%2520Motel%2520by%2520Joey%2520Harrison%2C%2520on%2520Flickr%26quot%3B%26gt%3B%26lt%3Bimg%2520src%3D%26quot%3Bhttp%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.staticflickr.com%2F2088%2F2511513978_18e64b01cc.jpg%26quot%3B%2520width%3D%26quot%3B500%26quot%3B%2520height%3D%26quot%3B334%26quot%3B%2520alt%3D%26quot%3BAlben%2520Motel%26quot%3B%26gt%3B%26lt%3B%2Fa%26gt%3B&hash=9b31cabb2ab00050965781ae56e15c9863ade8a9)
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeyharrison/3310199819/" title="Wayfare Motel by Joey Harrison, on Flickr"><img src="ht
US 31 & the former SR 311 still aren't 4-lanes through that stretch, ironically (obviously because I-65 was built)
The ammo plant was definitely the reason... Charlestown was actually larger than Jeffersonville for a period there when the plant was employing 27,000 people or so.
http://homepages.ius.edu/RVEST/INAAP.htm
QuoteThe onslaught of workers affected Charlestown in other ways. The local restaurants, swamped with customers, had little time to devote to sanitation. The sewers were unfinished, and garbage collection and disposal were inadequate. (36) As each shift ended, the highway was choked with autos from Charlestown to the nearby city of Jeffersonville. (37) EJ Howard describes the situation vividly: "Transportation became impossible. They actually built Highway 62 and widened it in order to let people drive their cars and get in and out of that plant. I have been in that plant parking lot for over two hours at the end of the day trying to get out." (38)
Unfortunately, a classic diner along this route has been demolished..... :-(
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/aug/08/fire-wrecking-ball-claim-landmark-southern-indiana/
It also appears that routes that I suspected once were states routes were in fact not state routes.
Quote from: Captain Jack on August 08, 2013, 04:56:16 PM
Unfortunately, a classic diner along this route has been demolished..... :-(
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/aug/08/fire-wrecking-ball-claim-landmark-southern-indiana/
Yes, that site is about 2 blocks from my office. The Waffle House had to be demolished due to the downtown bridge project, so the property owner (who also happens to be the mayor) is hoping they will buy and rebuild on this site.