West of Fairview sits
another old US 40 community, the village of Middlebourne. The village sits on the old
highway west of OH 513. If you continue along the old highway past Middlebourne,
you will come to a paved section of the original National Trail that includes
an 'S' Bridge that until recently you were able to drive over. The bridge was approximately built
in 1828, and vehicles along Blend Road in Guernsey County were able to cross the S bridge until October 2013 when it was closed to vehicular traffic. It was the last S bridge in Ohio to allow vehicular traffic.
 |
Looking East on Old
US 40. Old US 40
is on the right.
The old National Road and 'S' Bridge is on the
left. (Mike Austing) |
 |
A wet snow cleared
'S' Bridge. Vehicles under three tons could cross the bridge until it was closed for good in October 2013. (Mike
Austing) |
 |
Looking west from the
'S' Bridge.
Old US 40 runs close
by.
(Mike Austing) |
Modern US 40
leaves the Interstate and returns to the old alignment in Old
Washington. You can still follow old US 40 through Old Washington. The old alignment disappears at the Guernsey
County Fairgrounds.
 |
Old
US 40 East of Old Washington looking West. (Mike Austing) |
 |
The Old Washington Split - Main Street and the original National Road through town is on the right / A bypass of the town connecting to current day US 40 towards Cambridge runs to the the left. (Mike Austing) |
 |
View
of Main St. heading West. (Mike Austing) |
 |
Main Street - Old Washington, Ohio (Mike Austing) |
 |
The Old National Road at Ohio 285. (Mike Austing) |
In
March of 1995, a sink hole opened up on Interstate 70 near Old Washington closing the Interstate in both directions for four months. As a result a temporary ramp was built just east of the existing Old Washington interchange allowing Interstate 70 traffic to detour onto US 40. Coming home from a college visit to the University of Dayton, I got caught up in the traffic that was forced to use US 40 from Old Washington to Interstate 77. The detour did not put traffic along the old road through the village, but on the small bypass to the south. The grading for the temporary ramp can still be seen today.
As you head
west from Old Washington and towards I-77, be on the lookout for Peacock
Road. Peacock Road is an old alignment of the National Road that
still uses brick pavement. Signed as Guernsey County
Rte 450, this
alignment is complete with a narrow roadway, twisty curves, and is an easy
drive for those searching remains of the old road. US 40 then heads to
Cambridge,
county seat of Guernsey County, where it meets up with US 22. Both
routes share the same highway to Zanesville. Another great old road,
US 21, ran through Cambridge,
but was decommissioned in the 1960s.
 |
Peacock Road (Mike Kentner) |
Site Navigation:
Sources & Links:
- Mike Austing
- Mike Kentner
Comments