Description: This image shows the Oldest Concrete Street in America in Bellefontaine, Ohio. In 1891, Bellefontaine city engineer J.C. Wonders decided to pave the street surrounding the courthouse square with Portland cement concrete. As a result of this innovation, Wonders became known as the father of concrete paving. Concrete was a smooth surface that was very durable. An automobile ride on concrete was much less bumpy than previous rides on dirt roads or even on brick. Wonders' idea led the state of Ohio to appoint him as State Highway Commissioner in 1907. He was only the second commissioner in Ohio's history. In the years that followed, the state began to pave a number of its roads. It would still be a long time before the majority of roads were paved, as the process took time and was expensive. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06512
Subjects: Roads--United States--History; Ohio State Highway Patrol; Transportation--Canal--Railroad--Roads
Places: Bellefontaine (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a photograph of men working on road construction in Eaton, Ohio. This construction was most likely a part of the Works Progress Administration project, a government office that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. In the first six months that the WPA existed, more than 173, 000 Ohioans, including both men and women, found employment through this program. More than 1, 500 unemployed teachers in Ohio found work through the WPA teaching illiterate adults how to read. In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the WPA during the late 1930s. By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12, 300 miles of roads and streets and constructed 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. WPA employees made improvements to thousands of more buildings, roads, and parks within Ohio. WPA artists also painted a number of murals in Ohio post offices. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F03_003_001
Subjects: Streets--Ohio; Dirt roads--Ohio; Road construction workers; Road construction; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Eaton (Ohio); Preble County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a photo of a short span concrete bridge with a concrete road going through a small town in Ohio, ca. 1935-1943. This construction was most likely a part of the Works Progress Administration project, a government office that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. In the first six months that the WPA existed, more than 173, 000 Ohioans, including both men and women, found employment through this program. More than 1, 500 unemployed teachers in Ohio found work through the WPA teaching illiterate adults how to read. In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the WPA during the late 1930s. By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12, 300 miles of roads and streets and constructed 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. WPA employees made improvements to thousands of more buildings, roads, and parks within Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F18_008
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio; Transportation--Ohio; Roads--Ohio; Concrete bridges; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ohio
 

Description: This map shows the number of automobiles per day that traveled Ohio's roadways. 1932-1933. More heavily-traveled roads are represented as thicker lines and less-traveled roads as thinner lines. This traffic volume is an indicator of the growing urbanization of Ohio, and also shows how Ohioans were beginning to turn to the automobile as their primary form of transportation. The full title of the map is "Map of Ohio Showing the Volume and Character of Motor Traffic on the State Highway System, 1932-1933." Insets are provided showing the cities of Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield, Columbus, Toledo, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown, Akron and their vicinities. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MAPVFM0107_2
Subjects: Transportation--Ohio--History; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Roads--United States--History; Express highways; Traffic
Places: Ohio
 

Description: A road construction near a stream in Ohio. More information needed. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F03_029_001
Subjects: Roads--Ohio; Dirt roads--Ohio; Roads--Ohio--Design and construction; Road construction; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Situated along the National Road in Zanesville, the Y-bridge was first constructed in 1814 and was made of wooden trestles and stone, with a toll house in the center. It is the only three-way bridge in the United States. Five different constructions of the Y-bridge have crossed the Licking and Muskingum rivers over the years, with the most recent built in 1984. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F17_012
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio--Muskingum River; Bridges--Ohio; Ohio River--History; Roads--Ohio; Bridges--Pictorial works; Transportation--Ohio; Roads--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Zanesville (Ohio); Muskingum County (Ohio)
 

Description: Small bridge adjacent to farm land, over a small creek. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F18_010
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio; Ohio River--History; Roads--Ohio; Bridges--Pictorial works; Transportation--Ohio; Roads--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Caption reads "US Route 50, W. of Chillicothe. William 'Billy' Ireland's favorite picture." Billy Ireland worked as a cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch for 37 years, from 1898 to 1935. He created editorial cartoons and a Sunday feature entitled "The Passing Show." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F10_008_1
Subjects: Roads--Ohio--Ross County--Maps; Roads--Ohio--Ross County--Maps; Historic sites--Ohio--Ross County--Maps
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image is a photograph of an illustration showing a work crew spreading a macadam surface on the National Road. A caption under the image reads: "1906-Bituminous macadam experiments." A macadam surface consists of a layer or layers of crushed rock of a fairly uniform size laid over a leveled road bed. The rock layer is bound together by a crust that forms a driving surface and that also sheds water. In this image the driving surface is made of bitumin (also called asphalt). The National Road (also called the Cumberland Road or the U.S. Road) was the first federally sponsored roadway. The U.S. Congress commissioned the National Road in 1806 as a conduit to the West, linking the Potomac River and Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Mississippi River. The road opened Ohio and the Northwest Territory to settlement and trade with the eastern U.S. By 1838 the Cumberland Road had reached Springfield, Ohio; three years later it reached Vandalia, Illiinois, where construction stopped due to a funding shortfall. By this time the railroads had attracted travelers and business shipping away from the National Road, and the project was abandoned. The National Road crossed the state of Ohio along what is now U.S. 40. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05822
Subjects: Cumberland Road--History; National Road; Transportation--Ohio--History; Roads; Macadam; Roads--Design and construction; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development
 

Description: Caption reads: "McMillan St. bridge over Reading Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio, June 6 - 1941." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F17_038_001
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio; Ohio River--History; Roads--Ohio; Bridges--Pictorial works; Transportation--Ohio; Roads--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "Southern Bridge at Cin. 1937." The railroad-only Southern Bridge, built by the Cincinnati Southern Railroad in 1877, connects western Cincinnati with Ludlow, Kentucky. Built as a a single track bridge on masonry pier with a swing span at the southern end, the bridge was rebuilt in 1922 with modifications to widen the upper half of the original piers with concrete and build a double truss around the original truss. Although the circular pivot pier of the original bridge's swing span was left intact, the reconstructed bridge no longer has a swing or draw span. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F17_027_001
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio; Ohio River--History; Roads--Ohio; Bridges--Pictorial works; Transportation--Ohio; Roads--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: This map of Marion County, Ohio, shows city and township lines; state, county, and township roads; railroads and electric railroads; centralized school districts; and quarries and sandpits. Marion County's 15 townships are labeled. On February 12, 1820, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Marion County, located in the north central portion of Ohio. Residents named the county in honor of Francis Marion, a hero of the American Revolution. The county seat is Marion, which is the largest population center. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MAPVFM0197_4
Subjects: Maps; Cities and towns--Ohio; Roads; Marion County (Ohio);
Places: Marion County (Ohio)