Community Question: Where should the Crossroads of America REALLY be and Why?

[silverback1065]

Indiana has self claimed to have the "Crossroads of America" within its boarders, these are the 3 intersections that I've been told were at one time the official xroads:

Downtown Indy at the junction of Meridian and Washington St (US 31 & 40)
Terre Haute at the junction of US 40 & 41
Merrelville at the junction of us 30 and 41. 

What is everyone's opinion of where the REAL Xroads should be?  Should it be an interchange between 2 interstates, or 2 us highways?

[Pete from Boston]

Honestly?

Missouri.

[ET21]

I'll point somewhere in the middle of the US....

Iowa or Missouri

[Brandon]

There are a lot of places called the "Crossroads of America"  Indiana claims many of them, even so far as to use the term on their map.  Joliet, IL, is known as the "Crossroads of Mid-America" (and on its seal) due to the fact that the Mother Road (US-66) and the Lincoln Highway (US-30) originally crossed here.

[noelbotevera]

Here.

https://www.google.com/maps/place//@40.4913066,-99.6239483,8.26z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xad8352768ee1781a?hl=en

Why not.

[oscar]

There are a lot of places called the "Crossroads of America"  Indiana claims many of them, even so far as to use the term on their map.  Joliet, IL, is known as the "Crossroads of Mid-America" (and on its seal) due to the fact that the Mother Road (US-66) and the Lincoln Highway (US-30) originally crossed here.

Chicagoland has a better claim to "Crossroads of America" than Indiana, IMO. Not just all the major highways converging on or passing through the area, but also its importance as a major rail and air hub.

[triplemultiplex]

Missouri.

Specifically, St. Louis.

Because it lies at a point that divides the nation culturally into North and South and into East and West.
It's a divide historically; The Missouri Compromise; Dred Scott, The Louisiana Purchase.
It's (almost) at the junction of our two largest rivers.
St. Louis is close the to center of population in the United States.
As an interstate crossroads, the importance of 44, 55 and 70 nationally gives St. Louis more significance than other cities in the region like Indianapolis.

[silverback1065]

Can anyone name a specific junction?  Where does the longest N/S interstate cross the longest E/W?  I'd say that could be the place.  Or the same thing but the added goes through the most major cities.

[noelbotevera]

Can anyone name a specific junction?  Where does the longest N/S interstate cross the longest E/W?  I'd say that could be the place.  Or the same thing but the added goes through the most major cities.

Weston, Massachusetts. I-95 (longest N-S interstate) crosses I-90 (longest E-W interstate).

[silverback1065]

Can anyone name a specific junction?  Where does the longest N/S interstate cross the longest E/W?  I'd say that could be the place.  Or the same thing but the added goes through the most major cities.

Weston, Massachusetts. I-95 (longest N-S interstate) crosses I-90 (longest E-W interstate).

That's my candidate then

[Buffaboy]

US 281 and US 36 in Lebanon KS

Literally the center of America

[xcellntbuy]

A case could be made for Tennessee since it has borders with the most States.

[AlexandriaVA]

Junction City, Kansas

[SD Mapman]

US 281 and US 36 in Lebanon KS

Literally the center of America

No, US 85 and SD 168 in Castle Rock, SD! Get it right!

[briantroutman]

I don't think the "crossroads of America"  could or should be assigned to a specific junction–US, Interstate, or otherwise. Longest N/S meets longest E/W is essentially meaningless.

In a broader sense, though, I can see Indiana's claim, particularly in a late 19th to early 20th century context. For most of that period, the #1 and #2 most populated cities in the country were New York and Chicago. In 1950, with the lone exception of LA as a western outpost, every city in the top 10 was somewhere between Boston, Washington, St. Louis, and Chicago. At that time, Phoenix–today the country's sixth largest city with a population of over a million–had barely 100,000 residents and was smaller than Reading, PA.

So in that world, where cars manufactured in Lansing would round the southern tip of Lake Michigan in rail cars on their way to Minneapolis–or where grain milled into flour in St. Louis would be shipped to grocery stores in Buffalo–Indiana was likely the geographic center of the nationwide movement of most of our goods and people.

As the center of population as steadily moved west and south, this has become less the case.

[Pete from Boston]

Honestly?

Missouri.

To elaborate, when driving I-70 from its western end, things suddenly feel very different, very... eastern once one gets into Missouri.  Coming from the east, on the other hand, Kansas City undeniably represents a step into the west.

Northern Missouri is so close to Chicago, yet at the other end the Ozarks blur into Arkansas, and undeniably southern state, without a thought.

Missouri is our cultural centerpoint, all geographical rules aside.

[corco]

I'd shift further west than Kansas City - Kansas City is still well into humid America. Coming from the west, I feel like I've arrived in the east when I get to Kansas City. The real east-west shift is the arid-humid line, where irrigation becomes unnecessary and population density increases significantly. Generally, that's a little bit east of the US 83 (Nebraska and north) and US 81 (Kansas and south) corridor. 

I would say Enid, Oklahoma is the crossroads of America. That's fairly close to the arid-humid line, is far enough south that there is barbeque and people start to have southern accents, but it's still definitely not southern. Dodge City might be another candidate, though that has cultural western connotations that to me disqualify it- though it is essentially one of the easternmost cities in the true west.

Alternatively, northern Delaware south of Brandywine country. While not geographically central, I feel like northern Delaware (excluding Brandywine) is possibly the part of the country that best represents completely generic America. Where I feel Enid is a town that well encapsulates all of the weird eccentricities of most regions in America, northern Delaware encapsulates essentially none of them. It just kind of is.

Perhaps it could be Kansas City, though. If people from the west feel like they've arrived east in KC, and people from the east feel like they've arrived west, that's worth noting. KC also has hints of southern and northern culture.

[Jardine]

Here's an absurdist contender for the title:

9. Beebeetown
Originally called Officialredrydercarbineactiontwohundredshotrangemodelairrifle, the town was asked to come up with something a little shorter by the Post Office.

The name actually comes from the Beebee family, who settled the area in the 1840s.  The name is also spelled Bebe, Beebe, and Beeby.  It comes from the town of Beeby, in Leicestershire, England.  It means "bee town."   So, in other words, Beebeetown really means Beetowntown.  How confusing.

This teeny crossroads is just north of Omaha, NE, not too far from the town of Missouri Valley (see "Honorable Mention,"  below).



(fron Weird Place Names)

[Duke87]

Can anyone name a specific junction?  Where does the longest N/S interstate cross the longest E/W?  I'd say that could be the place.  Or the same thing but the added goes through the most major cities.

Weston, Massachusetts. I-95 (longest N-S interstate) crosses I-90 (longest E-W interstate).

Interestingly this is not that far from where the longest N-S and E-W US routes historically met - US 1 and US 6 in Providence, RI.

Today, since California eliminated most of their part of US 6, US 20 is the longest E-W route. US 20 and US 1 do not intersect today but they used to intersect in Boston (even closer to where I-90 and I-95 meet) and still both come within the city limits.


Speaking in terms of divides between halves of the country, it is commonly asserted that US 81 is the border between east and west. US 50 can be said to play the same role for north and south. The two meet in Newton, KS, but they share a brief concurrency so you have two crossroads... and because US 81 is concurrent with I-135, they are interchanges, not intersections. One of them is only a partial interchange.

[SteveG1988]

Honestly, a lot of freight goes through Indiana, it connects you to so many places it's insane.

[mukade]

I don't thing the Crossroads of America refers to the Mean center of the United States population or a geographic center. I think Indiana made the claim because: 1) Lake Michigan causes a bottleneck of cross-country traffic thru NW Indiana (for example US 30 and US 41 in Schererville, I-80/94 and I-65, etc.) and 2) Indianapolis really is a hub - especially now where there will soon be 9 freeway spokes in the hub.

Again, there are many much busier intersections elsewhere, but Indiana gets more than its share of long distance traffic. Still, it is just a motto, and any judgment is subjective.

[hbelkins]

Officialredrydercarbineactiontwohundredshotrangemodelairrifle

Are you sure that isn't a line from "A Christmas Story?"

You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

[noelbotevera]

Another good crossroads is Des Moines, Iowa. It's home to the I-35/I-80 junction, pretty much our crossroads.

[kurumi]

Sandoval, Illinois. US 50 and US 51.

[empirestate]

Missouri.

Specifically, St. Louis.

Because it lies at a point that divides the nation culturally into North and South and into East and West.
It's a divide historically; The Missouri Compromise; Dred Scott, The Louisiana Purchase.
It's (almost) at the junction of our two largest rivers.
St. Louis is close the to center of population in the United States.
As an interstate crossroads, the importance of 44, 55 and 70 nationally gives St. Louis more significance than other cities in the region like Indianapolis.

Indeed, this is very much the assessment given by roadgeek emeritus William Least Heat-Moon (on Missouri generally, not just St. Louis), and I would certainly cast my vote as well for that state if we're looking at this from a socio-cultural viewpoint.

Now, if we're talking roads-wise, it's got to be the intersection of I-35 and something, as I-35 is undeniably the spine of the American heartland as Interstates go. And I-70 is no slouch as an east-west heartland route (though 40 and 80 are also good candidates), so perhaps Kansas City?