Lima Road / Mongoquinon Trail - Laotto, IN
Posted by: 
DnRseekers
N 41° 18.477 W 085° 12.295
16T E 650268 N 4574497
State Road 3 was an old Indian trail, find the history!
Waymark Code: WMG79Z
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 01/23/2013
Views: 3
Most people in Northeastern Indiana think Ohio when they hear the name Lima. So how did a road get the name Lima road if it only runs through Indiana? Well the road ran from Fort Wayne to a town called Howe but back then Howe was called Lima Indiana. The trail was a well-established Indian path with names that even predated "Lima" Indiana. The area that contains Howe in northern LaGrange County Indiana was first called Mongoquinon, then Lima before being renamed Howe, its present name. For many years Mongoquinon along the Pigeon River had been a major Potawatomi Indian village with a population estimated at 3,000. Originally called the Mongoquinon ("Big Squaw") Trail, this pathway through forests was the main transportation route used by Indian traders and land hunters.
In 1833 pursuant to a special act of the Indiana General Assembly "Lima Road" was finally surveyed. The path was opened as a state by 1837. By 1847 a group of wealthy Fort Wayne men decided to turn the Lima Road into a plank road. The men formed an association and with $70,000 of capital the construction of the plank road got underway. Saw mills sprung up along the route to furnish 3-inch-thick oak planks that were laid down to form the "modern" road way.
This plank road was 60 miles long with toll gates six to 10 miles apart. This was the location of one of those toll gates. Although superintendents were employed to keep sections of the road in repair the road failed to repay the stockholders and by 1858 ownership had collapsed. Today the road is known as State Road 3. It has become a four lane super highway running north out of Fort Wayne.
Feature Discription: This was the location of the 16 mile toll gate for the road
Web address for the route: [Web Link]
Secondary Web Address: [Web Link]
Beginning of the road: Ft. Wayne Indiana
End of the road: Howe Indiana
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