JHibb
8 posts
May 02, 2013
12:01 AM
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Was Dayton-Xenia Rd/Linden Ave ever part of 35 or was it just a surface road that people used before U.S. 35 was built?
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tlturbo
514 posts
May 02, 2013
4:43 AM
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Dayton Xenia Rd and Linden were one and the same UNTIL US 35 went in. There was a light and intersection on 35 where D-X crossed over and became Linden. That was a local drag strip for many of us. We'd make the turn at that light heading West toward Smithville and race that direction. Just in case the local Po Po saw us from the East bound lane and tried to get into the West bound to catch us, we would take the exit ramp at Smithville and disappear. I for one NEVER did this. (smile) Not sure if it was designated 35 before the highway went it or not. 35 was already there when I moved to Beavercreek in 1960 but it stopped about a mile West of Smithville. I remember when they extended it into Dayton in 1968-69
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FAITH
93 posts
May 02, 2013
8:05 AM
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I remember my dad often referring to Dayton-Xenia Rd as 'old 35' when I was a kid in the late 60s. That section he was talking about was from Stedman Lane through Knollwood all the way to Xenia. My folks used to frequent many businesses on old 35- the beauty shop, Dairy Queen, Lofinos, Farmers & Merchants Bank, and the doctor's office.
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Syxpack
101 posts
May 02, 2013
11:12 AM
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We lived in Dayton and we used to visit my husband's relatives in Chauncey Athens County, Ohio in the '50's and '60's on the weekends. We would go by way of the "old 35" that was only a two-lane road and went through Xenia, Jamestown, Washington Court House, Circleville, etc. What I remember most was the traffic being bumper to bumper and no passing all the way from Xenia to Dayton, on late Sunday afternoons when we returned. It took about an hour to travel that 12 miles. I don't remember what the speed limit was.
Last Edited by Syxpack on May 02, 2013 11:15 AM
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rdebross
65 posts
May 02, 2013
7:07 PM
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Most of Old US 35 is intact. If you drive out Linden Avenue and Dayton-Xenia Road - Xenia Pike - you'll eventually get to Xenia on the original US 35 route. Replacing old US 35 with a limited access freeway from Interstate 75 in downtown Dayton to Interstate 71 near Washington CH took about half a century and was done in 4 distinct sections. The freeway through east Dayton was built in the late 60's. The part through Beavercreek and onto Xenia was originally built as a 4 lane divided highway with several grade intersections in the late 1950's. This section was upgraded to limited access sometime in the last 20 years. The Xenia bypass section probably opened in the 1980's. The last section to be finished was from the Xenia bypass to Interstate 71 and I believe it came on line around the year 2000. My dates might not be fully accurate. Perhaps someone with a better memory can confirm or correct.
Last Edited by rdebross on May 02, 2013 7:14 PM
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KennyE11
110 posts
May 02, 2013
9:54 PM
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Syx / Turbo - You guys are confusing me. Are you saying that at one time, US-35 went through Athens?
I went to OU in the early-80's, and tried various routes until I settled on the safest route (I-70 East to Columbus, then US-33 South). I would occasionally take US-35 to Chillicothe, where I would pick up US-50 East to Athens. The shortest return route was taking OH-56 West through Circleville and London, to pick up I-70 West.
The alternate routes were a lot more scenic through SE Ohio, however being a kid driving a late-60's muscle car, I took more chances driving than I should have. That is until I nearly drove off a cliff - after that, I stuck with the safer route.
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Syxpack
102 posts
May 03, 2013
7:58 AM
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Kenny, I'm sorry to have confused you. I didn't mean that old Rte. 35 went through all those towns. They were just some of the towns we passed through on our way to Athens County. I only remember Xenia to Dayton on old '35 coming home on late Sunday afternoons. I don't know where '35 ended and we came to another route (or what they were) on our way down to Chauncey. I think old '35 may have gone as far as Jamestown or maybe Washington Court House. I really don't know how far it went.
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rdebross
66 posts
May 03, 2013
4:32 PM
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donw - Thanks for your post. You described the 1950's and 60's mindset about pushing freeways through urban areas very well. US 35's path through east Dayton is an example of ill-considered urban renewal from that era. The general path of the freeway was announced a decade or more in advance of construction and fostered premature urban decay. Richard Streert became almost exclusively rental property by the late 50's and the lack of property maintenance was widespread in the area as residents who still owned waited to be contacted by the state. The freeway right-of-way was excessively wide and the height of foolishness was the construction of a highspeed interchange for a never-to-be-completed Stanley Ave, extension. Acres upon acres of east Dayton were leveled to build sweeping entrance and exit ramps for this highway that never went any further than Hamilton Ave. to Wyoming St. (now called Steve Whalen Blvd.). The exit from eastbound US 35 to Wyoming street was deconstructed in favor of a traffic light intersection. Acres of empty land on this abandoned right-of-way are now fenced in and seeded with grass near Xenia Ave. and Parrot St. This was my boyhood neighborhood - wasted for nothing.
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rdebross
67 posts
May 03, 2013
4:47 PM
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KenneyE11 - I went to OU in the second half of the 60's and like you experienced the fact that there just was no easy route to Athens from Dayton. If you took US 35 you had dangerous two-lane road east of Xenia and twisty US 50 east of Chillicothe. Columbus was a bottleneck trying to get to US 33 down through Lancaster, Logan and Nelsonville. Things are much better today. Most of US 33 is limited access highway from Columbus to Athens. Lancaster, Logan and finally Nelsonville have been bypassed with freeway.
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rdebross
68 posts
May 03, 2013
5:02 PM
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JHibb - Woodman Drive from Linden Avenue to Burkhardt Road (previously Kemp Road) was one of the last sections completed. I remember barriers at the intersection of Woodman and Kemp in the late 50's. The land south of the barriers was mostly vacant woodland. The section of the US 35 freeway between the Greene County line and Pritz Ave. in east Dayton was built in the early 60's and I think that about that time the Linden Ave. to Burkhardt (Kemp) Road section of Woodman Drive was built.
Last Edited by rdebross on May 03, 2013 5:04 PM
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JHibb
10 posts
May 03, 2013
11:08 PM
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So was all of Burkhardt called Kemp previously, or was it just the section that's in what is now Riverside? I've often wondered why the road is Burkhardt Ave in Dayton but then becomes Burkhardt Rd in Riverside. It seems odd to change the name that little. It reminds me of our street. We live on the "circle" part of Ewalt. The signs all say Ewalt Ave though and someone I spoke to that works for the city says our section hasn't been called Ewalt Circle since the late 50's. Apparently not everyone got that message. We still have utility bills that say Circle and I have current maps also still calling it Ewalt Circle. And the city's trash schedule page also still calls it Ewalt Circle...Sorry, I digressed there a little!
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rdebross
69 posts
May 04, 2013
1:01 PM
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Inside the corp limit of Dayton city, the street was called Burkhardt Avenue. The Dayton city limit was just a little beyond Cosler Ave. Beyond that it was called Kemp Road moving east through Mad River Township (now City of Riverside)and on into Beavercreek Township in Greene County. Sometime in the 1960's the section of the road from Dayton city limit to the Greene County line was renamed Burkhardt Road. It is stilled called Kemp Road beyond Montgomery County.
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Perry401
158 posts
May 07, 2013
12:44 AM
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What you need to remember about the exit that now is called Steve Whalen Blvd. is that it was originally planned to be Interstate 675. To the south, 675 would have crossed Wyoming street and headed "up the hill" towards a crossing of Wayne Ave just west of the Wayne and Watervliet Ave intersection. At the time this would haved taken a two or three block wide strip of land. South of Wayne, the highway was to cross the (then) fields of the Dayton State Hospital, just West of the old Belmont High School Building, and proceeded up just East of the watertower, destroying the highschool's track and much of Nordale park. Then the highway was to proceed to cross the open area where the lake is behind the retirement tower, and then head again through residential areas, this time parts of Paterson Park just West of Wilmington, until it got to about the Fourer Blvd. area, where it would have gone back onto public lands (DESC). From there, it would have followed the old railroad right-of-way south.
Notice that every effort was made to route the highway first through un-developed public lands, and secondly through residential areas. The last place they wanted to run the highway was through business property.
There were many objections to this route for 675 even before the extravagant intersection at US 35 was built, but the highway planners insisted on building that huge intersection, assuming that it would be the 675 interchange with US 35. It wasn't until the mid 1970's that 675 was re-routed about two miles east to it's approximate current alignment.
However, many people in Belmont, Paterson Park, and parts of Kettering moved for fear that their houses would be torn down or that they would wind up living with a major interstate highway in their back yard.
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rdebross
70 posts
May 07, 2013
10:05 AM
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Perry401 - I really appreciate your post. It fills in some missing understandings about the original "plan" for the Steve Whalen Blvd. interchange.
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dcreep
21 posts
Apr 10, 2014
6:43 AM
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Does anyone remember the Ohio State Patrol post at the NW corner of Spinning Road and Linden Ave? It was a 2-story frame house. Linden Ave and US 35 were one of the same there at the end of 1954.
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historybuff
122 posts
Apr 15, 2014
4:56 PM
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Just an added comment: Route 35 was very much in my childhood. I was born in Chilicothe and all of my family was from Chillicothe in Ross County. I still have many relatives in that area. I lived there until 1943 when my dad became employed as an electrician at WPAFB during World War II. We moved to Xenia in 1943 and spent many trips visiting relatives in Chillicothe every weekend. Route 35 was two lane all the way through Jamestown, Washington Courthouse, Frankfort, Pleasant Valley and then Chillicothe. Route 35 continues on South of Chillicothe to Richmondale, Jackson, Ohio and then Portsmouth before it crosses into West Virginia. I still have relatives in Richmondale on several hundred acres of wooded hills. The trip to Chillicothe in my childhood as I remember, there were no limited access or 4-lane highways. Route 35 went through the middle of each small town and the trip from Xenia to Chillicothe took at least two hours. Pleasant memories of a much slower time in life…………...
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