Note: locations of endpoints given on this page (as well as dates
in the table above) are based on my interpretation of historic ODOT highway
maps, which were not always clear with respect to these kinds of details.
If you have contradictory information, please let me know.
Around the beginning of the 20th century, Cincinnati was one
of the largest interior cities in the nation. This fact was not lost on
the planners of the US highway system, who designated three routes through
the city (US 25, US 50, and US 52), plus two others that terminated in the
city (US 27 and US 42):
ODOT, c. 1927
Historic maps show US 27 coming into downtown via Central
Avenue, meeting US 50 at 8th Street. US 27 could've ended there (if so,
you can view photos on my main
US 27 page), but to me it seems just as likely that it would've been
duplexed with US 50 to a central junction where one could connect to all
other routes. Maps seem to indicate the nexus of the city back then was
3rd Street and Broadway, and it appears that's where US 42 initially ended.
The photo below is from eastbound 3rd:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
That's possibly where US 27 ended for two years. To the left
on Broadway was the beginning of US 42 from 1926-1932, and then the beginning
of US 22 from 1932-1952. Below we're looking south on Broadway:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
Great American Ball Park (home of the Reds) can be seen in
the background. This was the endpoint of US 42, and later US 22. It's possible
that US 27 began to the right on 3rd. US 27 was extended through Cincinnati
in 1928, and US 42 was extended to go through the city in 1932. Meanwhile,
in 1930 US 127 was extended into Cincinnati. Maps show it coming in on Central
Parkway, then south on Eggleston Avenue, possibly ending at Broadway (which
carried US 25-27-42):
Google Maps Street View, 2008
That's looking southeast on Eggleston, at what was probably
a former endpoint of US 127. Below we're looking north on Broadway:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
That was US 25-27-42, and to the left on Eggleston was probably
the south beginning of US 127. That was the case until 1952, and apparently
US 22 continued to end at 3rd and Broadway until that time as well. After
then, maps seem to indicate that both routes were changed to terminate at
the other side (west side) of downtown. This gets a little complicated,
because by then all routes involved had been split into one-way pairs. US
127 came south on Central Pkwy, which at 9th split into Plum Street (sb)
and Elm Street (nb). So the endpoint was probably on Plum at 7th (which
carried eastbound US 50):
Google Maps Street View, 2008
To the left on 7th was also the west beginning of US 22 at
the time. If we make that left turn, the next block we come to is Elm:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
This was US 22 and US 50, and the south beginning of US 127
was to the left on Elm. Westbound US 22 was on 9th (as it is today), but
it ended at Plum:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
US 127 was extended through the city in 1958. US 22 still
ends in Cincinnati, but its endpoint is now one block to the west, at Central
Avenue. You can see photos and get more info on my main
US 22 page. US 25 was truncated to Cincinnati in 1974; you can get more
info on this
page. Or you can use the chart at the top of this page to link to other
endpoints of each route that once had a terminus in Cincinnati.