Day 055 - Harmony to Seelyville IN

Temps were in the 50's. The sky was overcast. There was light rain for the last two miles of the walk.

The US 40 picture was titled "Victorian Elegance". It was of an old brick house built in 1872 one mile east of Harmony. The building looks to be in much better shape than it did in the 1953 or 1983 pictures. There was a large red wreath on the main entrance.

The original owner was George Mckinley. He came to the area via a cattle drive from Kentucky in the 1840's. He acquired the large tract of land that the house is on as part of a land grant. He is buried in a corn field a couple miles down the road. His grave has a tall obelisk monument.

The first non family member to own the property was Stan Rollings who purchased it in 1962 after it had been empty for a large number of years while the estate was settled. When he took ownership it was fully furnished to the point that the cabinets were stocked with canned goods.

Tom and Julie Kinley (no relation to the original owners) currently are using it as a B&B and have it up for sale. Years ago there was an identical building a few miles down the road but it was demolished. This information was provided by Marc Workman who is the nephew of Stan Rollings.

For the last six miles of the walk I chose to walk from Brazil to Cloverland on Indiana Route 340 which was the original National Road. The land around Brazil is rich in natural resources. In 1908 there were 24 mines each producing well over 1000 tons of coal per day. Brazil's clay works produced most of the bricks used to pave the original National Road across Indiana. The Mansfield Stone Quarry was the source of the stone for many of the brownstones in New York City and Chicago.

1 % of this years Indiana corn crop has been planted compared with 56 % at this time last year. The heavy rains that occurred just after I finished walking and are forecast to occur later tonight will not help the situation. Farming is a very difficult yet rewarding occupation.

Trivia questions:

When I was planning my walking route I called AAA and asked for a "walking Trip Kit" from Atlantic City to San Francisco to use as a reference. I was amazed when it appeared in the mail two days later.

I have used Google Maps extensively for years. I did not know there were icons to specify a route specifically for walking or biking. The route was totally unusable for a number of reasons. There were two things that puzzled me.

1 - How did it come up with 39 days and 20 hours for the duration of the trip?

2 - How did the route pass through Ohio and make it to Wisconsin without passing through Indiana?