U.S. Route 12 in Indiana

In the U.S. state of Indiana, U.S. Route 12 is a historical east–west arterial highway that runs along the Lake Michigan shoreline. In the early 1920s, it was the most important route between Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan. Most of the route has since been supplanted by Interstate 94 and the Indiana Toll Road.

The total length of U.S. 12 in Indiana is approximately .

In Indiana, the highway has been designated as the Iron Brigade Memorial Highway to honor the Civil War Union Army unit; a designation it also has in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Route description

U.S. Route 12 can be characterized in the following sections:

Whiting to Gary

This portion of U.S. 12 largely consists of industrialized sections of Whiting. It begins concurrent with U.S. Route 20 and U.S. Route 41. In Whiting, U.S. 41 branches south, following the eastern side of Wolf Lake. U.S. 12/20 continues southeast through a field of Amoco oil storage tanks. South of the storage tanks, U.S. 20 continues south and turns east south of Interstate 90 (Indiana Toll Road), while U.S. 12 runs east, and...
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