From a searchable list of Newspaper Columns by Jim Blount published in the
Hamilton Journal-News from 1988 to the present and available for search at
http://www.lanepl.org/Blount/JBCOLS/ , there is this column that mentions the roads
you asked about:
Aug. 10, 2005 -- Highway associations first to encourage auto travel:
Journal-News, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005
Highway associations first to encourage auto travel
(Highway improvements have always been a priority in Butler County. This is
the third in a series on road developments in the area between the 1890s and
the 1950s.)
By Jim Blount
In the early 1900s, roads were built and maintained within each county with
little or no coordination with adjoining counties. That system worked then
because people weren't interested in long-distance auto travel over unpaved roads
between major cities. Instead, the emphasis was on improving farm-to-market
roads that benefited both rural and urban economies.
In the 1910-25 period, only a brave motorist risked the roads for a long
trip. Serious tourists, seeking comfort, took advantage of the extensive passenger
train schedules on the steam railroads serving Butler County. For shorter
trips, especially within Ohio, there was the electric-powered interurban system.
When federal and state governments ignored accommodating and encouraging
long-distance auto travel, private interests formed associations to promote
tourism.
The road or trail associations -- including dues-paying tourism groups,
chambers of commerce, hotels and related businesses -- produced route maps,
guidebooks and newsletters to nurture travel and trade along a series of highways
given a common name. Some of the first highway markers were erected by the
associations.
The associations didn’t build or maintain roads. Instead, they lobbied local
and state governments and sought private contributions for such purposes.
Hamilton and Middletown were on the original Dixie Highway, a network of
roads stretching from the top of Michigan to the bottom of Florida. The
highly-promoted Dixie Highway Association, uniting 10 states, was formed in 1915.
Another named road passing through the county was the Wayne Highway
connecting Cincinnati and Jackson, Mich. Ohio cities along the route, from north to
south, included Bryan, Van Wert, Celina, Greenville, Eaton, Hamilton and
Cincinnati. This route -- later U. S. 127 in western Ohio -- honored Gen. Anthony
Wayne, who had defeated Indians in the region in the 1790s.
Cincinnati was on or at the end of at least seven other named systems with
the Atlantic Pacific Highway the longest. It ran between New York City and Los
Angeles. Intermediate points were Trenton, N. J.; Philadelphia; Baltimore;
Washington, D. C.; Staunton, Va.; Charleston and Huntington, W. Va.; Portsmouth,
Ohio; French Lick, Ind.; Mount Vernon, Ill.; St Louis; Wichita; Phoenix; and
Bythe and San Bernardino, Calif.
Three C Highway, or 3 C Highway, acquired its name from the three major Ohio
cities it served, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Other cities, from the
north, included Wooster, Mount Vernon, Washington Courthouse and Wilmington.
The Cincinnati-Lookout Mountain Air Line extended south through Covington,
Georgetown, Lexington, Nicholasville, Stanford and Somerset in Kentucky; and
Harriman and Dayton, Tenn., before ending in Chattanooga. U.S. 25 and U.S. 27 later
followed a similar route.
The Cincinnati-Parkersburg Way connected the Ohio and West Virginia cities in
its name.
The Wonderland Way linked Cincinnati and Mount Vernon, Ill. Indiana cities,
from east to west, included Aurora, Vevay, Madison, Jeffersonville, New Albany,
Corydon, Gentryville, Rockport and Evansville.
The Queen City also was on the Terre Haute-Columbus-Cincinnati Trail through
Lawrenceburg, Greensburg, Columbus and Bloomington (later Indiana 46) and the
French Lick Route from Cincinnati through Aurora, North Vernon, Seymour,
Bedford, Paoli, French Lick, Jasper, Boonville and Evansville.
"By the mid 1920s, trail associations had named over 250 routes," according
to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). "In the early days of the
automobile era, the named trail associations provided a valuable service. But as the
number of named trails increased, and as the number of automobiles increased,
so did the problems caused by the routes."
"Rivalries among trail boosters left motorists uncertain of which route to
take," notes the FHWA history. Some named trails "were routed through dues
paying cities rather than the shortest, best route for motorists." As traffic
increased, drivers needed more than names or numbers on roads. Uniform information
and warning signs were required, including stop signs and notices of railroad
crossings, curves and hills.
The increase in motor vehicles compounded the problem. The FHWA reports
500,000 registrations in 1910. The total jumped to about 10 million in 1920 and to
more than 26 million six years later.
The U. S. Bureau of Public Roads decided in 1925 that it would be simpler to
number roads. The government "opted for efficiency before imagination,
bureaucracy before romance," said Pete Davies in his 2001 book, American Road.
"The
intriguing named highways began to disappear in the later 1920s as route
numbers appeared along roads and on maps."
**************
Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car
listings at AOL Autos.
(
http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)