Plan and Profile of Proposed State highway “AD” Project No. 3 [Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana]

Mid-century plans for road improvements near the Jefferson Proving Grounds.

This detailed set of plans was compiled and published by the Indiana State Highway Department in 1954 in preparation for forthcoming road construction near Madison. A cover letter authored by J.T. Hallett, Engineer of Roads and addressed to C.C. Grove, Chief Engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad, provides further details on the proposed construction.

“The State Highway Department will, in the near future, receive bids for the improvement of two county highways in the vicinity of the Jefferson Proving Grounds in Jefferson County…According to state law, it will be necessary for your company to widen the present crossings to meet our proposed widths and to adjust your track to meet our proposed grades.”

The letter is accompanied by five fold-out sheets that present different aspects of the project. An overall area plan is accompanied by a cross-section of the road composition and three large-scale maps/elevation profiles covering the route and affected crossings.

The Jefferson Proving Ground was a large US Army munitions testing facility first established in southern Indiana in 1914. Spanning over 55,000 acres, it served as a crucial site for testing various types of ammunition and weapons systems until its closure in 1995. Today, a significant portion of the former proving ground is managed as the Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, while a smaller area continues to be used by the Indiana Air National Guard as a training facility.