Union County

Corporate named road, example 1. Between Dublin and Marysville, along US 33, is Scottslawn Rd. With a name like that, you can guess where the road heads towards. Scotts Lawncare HQ would be to the left (out of the picture), several miles away from US 33. (photo from June, 2003)

Corporate named road, example 2. ODOT built a continuation of the US 33 expressway connecting the Bellefontaine bypass and the Marysville Spur in the late 80s in effort to keep Honda motors happy (there are several Honda plants between Marysville and Bellefontaine, built in the 1980s). When it was completed, old US 33 was renamed Honda Parkway (though it's a two lane road). (Photo taken in June, 2003)

Speaking of Honda Parkway, this sign has two different sized shields. What up wid dat? Both routes are of equal value and both end/begin at this interchange. (Photo from April, 2003)

With the new roadway for US 33, between Marysville and Bellefontaine, those routes connecting to US 33 between said towns had to be rerouted. Thus Oh 739 and Oh 287 meet and end at US 33 near the Union-Logan County line. (Photo from April, 2003)

Logan County

The official name for US 33 through Ohio. This sign is located in Logan Co, SE of Bellefontaine. (Photo from April, 2003)

Photo on left - Memorial Hall, built in 1894, street name plate to the right of the enterance. (photo from June, 2003)
Photo on right - historic (1930s?), historic placard about Blue Jacket Town, an Indian town that Bellefontaine eventually replaced (photo from June, 2003)

Photo on left - Statue of George Barthalamew, man responsible for the first concrete paving of roadways...here in Bellefontaine, Ohio
Photo on right - Ohio Historical Society placard about the first concrete street(s) in America. (both photos from June, 2003)

Another memorial towards concrete paving that started in Bellfountaine. This memorial was built/paided for by the Bellefontaine Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1941. The wagon wheel vs the rubber tire was to symbolize the "better roads" movement. And that chunk in the middle might have been an original chunk of concrete used to pave the street. (photo from June, 2003)

Just in case you had any doubts about where the first concrete paved street is, The city of Bellefontaine wants to make sure you where they stand on the issue.
(photo from June, 2003)

This is Court St. The first concrete paved street in America. Does it look like it's still concrete paved? (photo from June, 2003)

Jason Fauley e-mailed me in January, 2005 with the actual reason for the abandoned road, on the right. Seems that ODOT needed to rebuild US 33 through here due to flooding problems from Indian Lake. The old road, on the right, is slightly lower and closer to the lake. This particular section (in the photo) was rebuilt in 1994 or 95.
I still believe the follow: NW of Bellefontaine, approaching Indian Lake, US 33 reduces from a controlled access divided 4 lane highway to a two lane roadway. However, ODOT kept enough Right-of-way to allow the widening of US 33 to the shore of Indian Lake. Why not keep US 33 four lanes as far as possible (in light of the traffic generated via the Honda manufacturing plants all around)?
Both the top and bottom pictures were taken in June, 2003.

Page created on September 21, 2003/last updated on February 5, 2005

Questions, comments, and submissions can be sent to Sandor Gulyas

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