US 36 in Western Indiana

The Jim Grey PageRoads


Rockville

Some time ago I entered Rockville's square from the road to Bridgeton and drove around the square twice looking for US 36 so I could head back to Indianapolis. I was surprised to find no US 36 shields anywhere. I saw a gas station west of the square on Ohio Street, so I drove that way after a soda and maybe directions. As I drew closer to the gas station, I began to make out a US 36 sign in the distance. I got the soda, turned around, and followed Ohio Street east towards home.

This time I knew my way around a little better, and besides, I entered Rockville from the east on US 36 so there was no chance I would not be able to find it in town. Like so many Midwestern small towns, Rockville has a courthouse square. This is the square from the northeast, at Ohio and Jefferson Streets. If you look close you can almost make out that Jefferson Street is paved in brick. So are the other two streets on the square.

Rockville appears to be making quite an effort to keep its square bright and tidy. I understand that this square is the center of the annual Covered Bridge Festival, a major tourist attraction here, so there's ample reason for the town to invest here. I took the photo below from the southeast corner of Ohio and Market Streets, a block west of the previous photo.

Past the square, past some tidy older homes, US 41 quickly comes to signal the end of Rockville. This photo shows US 36 as it heads west into Rockville, taken from the southeast corner of US 36 and US 41.

And this photo is of the US 36/US 41 intersection northbound and westbound.

I really need to get a second battery for my camera so I can make longer road trips. I had been nursing my camera along since Bellmore, leaving the screen turned off and framing shots with the old-fashioned viewfinder to save juice. But I could tell in Rockville that I was going to get only a few more photos no matter what. So, reluctantly, I decided to end my trip at US 41 on Rockville's west side. I'll go back and get the stretch to Illinois another day. I pulled my car out of the Burger King parking lot in which I stood to take the photo above and drove US 36 east toward home. The road still lacked romance, but I had a deeper appreciation for where it had once gone.

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Start • 1 Indianapolis • 2 Danville • 3 Big Walnut Creek • 4 Bainbridge
5 Raccoon Lake • 6 West of Bellmore • 7 Billie Creek • 8 Rockville
9 West of Rockville • 10 Montezuma • 11 On to Illinois

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Created 27 June 2007. Updated 26 August 2007.
These pages, including text and photographs, are copyright 2007 by Jim Grey. (Replace # with @ if you click that link to send me e-mail.)
Maps are screen shots from Windows Live Local. All copyrights acknowledged.