End of US highway 68

View a map showing this route.

Research and/or photo credits: H.B. Elkins; Dan Garnell; Don Hargraves; Dwayne Stice; me

Approx. time period East terminus West terminus
1926-1933 Maysville, KY Paducah, KY
1933-1957 East terminus West terminus
Maysville, KY Paducah, KY
North terminus South terminus
Toledo, OH Aberdeen, OH
1957-1970s East terminus West terminus
Maysville, KY Paducah, KY
North terminus South terminus
Findlay, OH Aberdeen, OH
1970s-present East terminus West terminus
Maysville, KY Reidland, KY
North terminus South terminus
Findlay, OH Aberdeen, OH

US 68 was an original 1926 route. At its east end, it joined with US 62 at Washington KY, and the two routes were co-signed to a common terminus in Maysville. That's right, they didn't quite make it to US 52 at Aberdeen OH: apparently there was no span over the Ohio then. But perhaps a bridge was already planned (or was under construction), and maybe that's why these highways were signed into Maysville in the first place: because they would soon be able to continue across the river.

That happened about five years later: US 62 and US 68 were both extended into Ohio. But Maysville was (and is) still the "east" end of US 68, because the route is signed north-south on the Ohio side. For the most part, anyway... it's somewhat complicated, so I've got a separate page with several photos from the Maysville area.

It was in 1933 that US 68 was extended north to Toledo OH; you can view photos from there on this page.

At its west end, US 68 junctioned with US 60 on the outskirts of Paducah KY, and was duplexed with US 60 into downtown. US 62 was routed through the area beginning in 1930, so after that the three routes were triplexed into downtown. US 60 and 62 continued west, but US 68 ended in Paducah. It came in on 6th Street, and ended at its junction with US 45 at Kentucky Avenue (which later became Business 45):

Google Maps Street View, 2008

That's looking northwest on 6th, where US 68 ended at Kentucky. Dwayne says he distinctly recalls an "End US 68" assembly posted at that location. That was the case until the early 1970s, when I-24 was built through the area. At that time, the alignment of US 68 was changed to run through interchange 16, and that was when the designation was truncated to its current terminus at Reidland (which is about 10 miles east of Paducah). The photo below was taken looking east on US 62:

Elkins, 2000

The west beginning of US 68 is to the right. That assembly had been changed by 2007:

me, July 2007

I didn't check the westbound signage, but here's what it used to look like:

Elkins, 2000

To the left is the west beginning of US 68. I-24 (exit 16) is about a mile that direction. The cars in the photo below have just reached the west end of US 68, although they're heading essentially due north at this point:

Elkins, 2000

That sign was unchanged at the time of my 2007 visit.

In 1957, the US 68 designation was truncated back to Findlay. Although this was before I-75 was complete in Ohio, by then US 25 was already following the route of today's I-75 west of Findlay, and US 68 traffic was routed along its current bypass south and west of the city. Here's where it ends, at what is now I-75's interchange 156:

me, Oct. 2002

Here's the beginning of US 68 as seen from southbound I-75:

Garnell, Oct. 2003

There's a tight loop around to the right; the road passes back under I-75 and then you see the first southbound US 68 sign:

me, Oct. 2002