‘Death Crossing’ The Most Dangerous Spot on America’s First Cross Country Highway Was at the Michigan State Line

Before drivers got their kicks on Route 66, there was an older, more historic and longer road that crossed the United States. The Lincoln Highway stretched from New York City to San Francisco - today roughly the same path as Interstate 80.

The most dangerous patch on the entire 3389 miles of the Lincoln Highway occurred at as spot called the 'Death Crossing' just 3 miles from the Michigan state line.

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Death Crossing is at New Carlisle, Indiana, and is so named due to the highway crossing the tracks of three different railroads at a single point.

The New York Central, the Northern Indiana and the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroads all had tracks intersecting the highway at the very same spot.

The historic association for the Lincoln Highway notes:

The “Death Crossing” of New Carlisle—heralded as the most dangerous railroad crossing on the Lincoln Highway, and with the largest number of victims to its credit of any crossing on the coast-to-coast route

In the mid 1920s, a viaduct was built to send all traffic underneath the railroad crossings. Those old bridges remain in service today and are met with a tight, blind curve heading into them.

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The highway is also still in active use. While the Lincoln Highway name is somewhat forgotten, the roadway continues at US 20.

And it's a direct connection to Michigan. At the point of Death Crossing Timothy Road intersects with the Lincoln Highway. A beeline north on that road brings you to the Michigan state line and quickly into the village of Galien as Cleveland Road where it continues north to St Joseph.

So while the state of Michigan can't claim the Lincoln Highway directly, as the Grand Army of the Republic highway just misses the state as well, a key historic spot on the road is on the state's doorstep.