U.S. 24 East - Miami & Wabash Counties

Upon entering Miami County, U.S. 24 is one mile away from the interchange with U.S. 31. U.S. 31 begins in Mobile, Alabama and travels north near Interstate 65 to Indianapolis and northward to Mackinaw City, Michigan. Altogether, the highway travels for 1,280 miles.

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U.S. 31 travels for 266 miles across Indiana, beginning in Jeffersonville across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky and heading north through the communities of Scottsburg, Seymour, Columbus, Franklin, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Rochester, Plymouth and South Bend before crossing into Michigan.

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U.S. 24 has a cloverleaf interchange with U.S. 31 to the northwest of Peru. The interchange was built as a part of the project that made U.S. 24 four lanes from Logansport to Peru. Before 2000, U.S. 24 was a four lane highway to the east from a trumpet interchange. From there, U.S. 24 went south along U.S. 31 to a slip ramp that connected U.S. 31 with the two lane U.S. 24. The trumpet interchange was converted into a cloverleaf when the new U.S. 24 expressway was built. From here, Kokomo is 20 miles to the south with Indianapolis 70 miles away.

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Crossing over U.S. 31, a loop ramp takes travelers north toward the communities of Rochester (20 miles away) and South Bend (67 miles away).

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East of the junction with U.S. 31, U.S. 24 is three miles away from the Miami County seat of Peru, 14 miles from Wabash and 59 miles from Fort Wayne.

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The Miami County seat of Peru (population 11,417) is served by two stoplights off of U.S. 24, which bypasses the city to the north. The first stoplight is with Broadway/Old U.S. 31. Broadway heads south into Peru and follows the old alignment of U.S. 31 town. Here, the highway is signed as Business U.S. 31. To the north, Old U.S. 31 heads north to the town of Mexico and north to the current U.S. 31 expressway.

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A mile east of the junction with Broadway/Old U.S. 31, U.S. 24 reaches the intersection with SR 19 (Chili Avenue). SR 19 goes for 143 miles from SR 32 in Noblesville north through Tipton, Peru, Akron, Nappanee and Elkhart before ending at the Michigan border. The town of Chili is about eight miles to the north from U.S. 24 while Peru is just to the south along Chili Avenue.

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East of the junction with SR 19, U.S. 24 is 13 miles from the Wabash County seat of Wabash and 31 miles from Huntington.

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East of Peru, U.S. 24 is a rural four lane expressway, but the terrain changes slightly as it remains within the valley of the Wabash River, climbing up the valley's edge and into some flat agricultural fields to the immediate north. En route, the highway passes the small town of Erie, accessed via County Road 425 East.

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U.S. 24 now enters Wabash County (population 32,888).

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Upon entering Wabash County, U.S. 24 crosses the intersection with County Road 700 West. To the north, the county road heads to the town of Roann and to the south it goes to Richvalley.

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The first few miles of U.S. 24 across Wabash County follow straight line to the east toward the county seat of Wabash. This view looks at the crossing over Kentner Creek.

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U.S. 24 approaches the intersection with SR 115 north. SR 115 is a short, 3.7 mile highway that connects U.S. 24 with SR 15 to the north of Wabash.

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Now at the junction with U.S. 24 and SR 115 north. Those heading to Silver Lake and Warsaw can use SR 115 to access SR 15 to the north of Wabash.

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East of the junction with SR 115 north, Business U.S. 24 breaks off to the east from U.S. 24, with the present-day highway bypassing the city of Wabash to the north. Business U.S. 24 follows Stitt Street into Wabash (population 10,666) and connects with both SR 15 (Cass Street) and SR 13 (Wabash Street) before following SR 13 north back to the current U.S. 24. Wabash, the county seat for Wabash County, is best known for being the first electrically-lit city in the world.

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East of the Business U.S. 24 (Stitt Street) intersection, U.S. 24 now approaches the junction with SR 15 (Cass Street). SR 15 goes for 95 miles from U.S. 35/SR 22 in Jonesboro within Grant County and heads north through Marion, Wabash, Warsaw and Goshen before crossing into Michigan.

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Entering the intersection between U.S. 24 and SR 15 (Cass Street). Most of the shopping centers and fast food restaurants that serve Wabash reside around this intersection. Downtown Wabash is a mile to the south along SR 15 (Cass Street). To the north, the town of Silver Lake is 19 miles away and the Kosciusko County seat of Warsaw is 31 miles away.

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East of SR 15 (Cass Street), U.S. 24 is 21 miles from Huntington and 46 miles from Fort Wayne.

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U.S. 24 approaches the junction with County Road 200 West, called Alber Street to the south. Alber Street connects with SR 15 (Cass Street) to the south.

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A view of the U.S. 24 bypass of Wabash to the east of Alber Street. The bypass continues in a northeast direction toward the intersection with SR 13 (Manchester Avenue).

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U.S. 24 next approaches the junction with SR 13, which is a 138 mile highway that runs from Fortville at U.S. 36/SR 67 and heads north through Elwood, Wabash, North Manchester, Syracuse and Middlebury, ending at the Michigan state line. To the south, SR 13 and Business U.S. 24 follow Manchester Avenue to the south back toward Wabash. To the north, the town of North Manchester and Manchester College are about 12 miles away.

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East of the junction with SR 13 (Manchester Avenue), U.S. 24 is 18 miles from Huntington and 43 miles from Fort Wayne.

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Now following U.S. 24 to the east of Wabash. As with the stretch from Logansport to Peru, the stretch of U.S. 24 from Wabash to Huntington was finished in 2000 and the concrete highway still looks brand new ten years later (from the time of the pictures). For the first couple of miles, the new U.S. 24 is positioned just north of the older highway, which serves as a frontage road.

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U.S. 24 will turn toward the northeast at the junction with SR 524 east. SR 524 goes for only two miles from U.S. 24 east to the town of Lagro and the Salamonie River State Forest.

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SR 524 turns off toward the east in the direction of Lagro. From U.S. 24 east to Lagro, SR 524 follows the original routing of U.S. 24 as it was bypassed around Lagro around 2000 when the new highway was completed.

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East of the junction with SR 524 east, Huntington is 16 miles away with Huntington at 41 miles.

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U.S. 24 continues in an eastern path as it heads up and down the hills that are formed by small ravines from small streams that flow into the Wabash River. Despite the flat terrain of the northern part of Indiana, the area around the Wabash River has a bit of elevation, at least compared to the surrounding landscape.

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U.S. 24 crosses into Huntington County (population 37,124) and starts to enter the Fort Wayne metropolitan area.

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