Ohio State Route 309

Within the city of Lima, SR 309 is officially designated along SR 81 (North Street) from Jameson Avenue to Union Street, south along Union Street (concurrent with SR 65, and east along Elm Street (SR 117).[1][2] The eastbound direction of SR 309 is signed south along Jameson Street to SR 117, then east along it while the westbound direction is signed along Central Avenue and Front Street.[3][4]

SR 309's current route was the route of U.S. Route 30S, a divided U.S. route of US 30 until November 1973 when what was US 30N became the mainline of US 30.[5][6] US 30S was so numbered in the 1920s to avoid conflict from local business owners worried about the diversion of traffic from their shops along the southern route.[7]

The only significant change of the route since this certification is its western terminus, which originally was with U.S. 30 in Delphos. When U.S. 30's bypass around Delphos was completed in 1981, Ohio 309's western terminus was made the easternmost interchange of the bypass.

Route 309 between Marion and Kenton

Before being used as its current route, the route number 309 was used as the route number of what is now State Route 541. It was replaced with the now defunct State Route 271 in 1935.[8][9][10]

Harding Highway

Ohio 309 was U.S. 30S until 1973.

The Lincoln Highway left the present State Route 309, a better-quality road at the time, in favor of the direct Delphos-Mansfield route now generally followed by US 30. Only two weeks after the official route was announced in September 1913, it had already been redefined to a straighter path between Lima and Galion; the rest of the straightening came later. The towns along the route got together and formed the Harding Highway, named after President Warren G. Harding, who had grown up in the area.

This Harding Highway continued east via the Lincoln Highway to Canton, turning southeast from there to Steubenville via State Route 43. To the west, it was marked along the Lincoln Highway to Van Wert, heading west along the present U.S. Route 224, roughly State Road 114, State Road 10, State Road 8, and State Road 2 through Indiana to the Illinois state line.[11]

• IN SEARCH OF... THE SEPTEMBER 1913 LINCOLN HIGHWAY IN OHIO Galion to Lima