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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
US route endpoints in
1927-1987
When the US routes were first commissioned in 1926, the south terminus of US 127 was in Toledo. From Somerset MI, US 127 followed what is now US 223 through Adrian to Riga. From there, it followed a diagonal route to Sylvania OH (a suburb of Toledo) and continued down into the city itself:
c. 1927, ODoT
But just four years later, US 127 was rerouted to go south from Somerset (as it does today), so its former route between Somerset and Toledo was given the US 223 designation. Here are those items from the minutes of AASHO's May 1930 meeting:
Subsequent issues of Ohio's official state highway maps reflected the change:
c. 1932, ODoT
Then in 1933, US 68 was extended north to Toledo:
c. 1940, ODoT
All three of these routes ended at the same intersection: Monroe Street and Summit Street. This first photo was looking southeast on Monroe at Summit:
Hargraves, 2002
Summit has served as both US 24 and US 25. Monroe was formerly US 20, as well as US 127 (and later US 223), but both of those designations ended at this intersection. After 1933, the north beginning of US 68 was to the right. Here we are looking the opposite direction (up Monroe from Summit):
Hargraves, 2002
That was looking at the historic south beginning of US 127 and US 223. Next we are looking northeast on Summit at Monroe:
Hargraves, 2002
That was the north end of US 68; the south beginning of US 127 and 223 was to the left. The view here was from the opposite direction on Summit:
Hargraves, 2002
US 127 and 223 began to the right on Monroe, and straight ahead was the historic north beginning of US 68. There was a period during which Monroe was changed to one-way northwestbound. Washington Street (one block ahead in the photo above) was its southeastbound counterpart. This photo was from Washington at Summit:
Hargraves, 2002
That would have been the south end of US 223 when these streets were one-ways. (Incidentally, the trees in the distance mark the location of the Maumee River.) US 223 and US 68 shared that terminus right up until 1957 (when US 68 was truncated to its current endpoint):
c. 1956, Gousha
Shortly after that, around 1962 the US 223 designation was extended northeast on Summit, ending at its junction with I-280 (exit 10, which no longer exists):
c. 1964, Ohio DOT
That remained the case until US 223 was changed to its current configuration in 1987. At that time, Summit was renumbered as an extension of OH hwy. 65. The "End" sign shown here was formerly posted on northbound Summit at its interchange with I-280:
Lyons, July 2002
That same post may have once said "End US 223". This shot was taken from northbound I-280:
Field/Nitzman, Nov. 2004
At the time of that photo, the new I-280 bridge was still under construction. Now that it is complete, this interchange (which provided direct access to Summit) no longer exists. But for a period of about 25 years, traffic exited there to the east beginning of US 223. US 223 still serves the Toledo area, although now it ends shy of the downtown area.
Research and/or image credits: Chris Elbert; Andy Field; Don Hargraves; Sean Lyons; Alex Nitzman; Mike Roberson; Dale Sanderson
Page originally created 2002;last updated May 29, 2025.
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