The Dixie Highway was a United States automobile highway, first planned in 1914 to connect the US Midwest with the Southern United States. It was part of the National Auto Trail system, and grew out of an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final result is better understood as a network of connected paved roads, rather than one single highway. It was constructed and expanded from 1915 to 1927.
Franklin to Cincinnati, Original Western Route
Driving the Dixie Highway from Franklin to Cincinnati via Hamilton
From the intersection of Hamilton-Middletown Road and Dixie Highway in Franklin, bear west with Hamilton-Middletown Road, passing the Wood Hill Cemetery at right;
Upon entering Butler County, Hamilton-Middletown Road becomes Riviera Drive;
At the short access road bearing right, turn right toward State Route 73/Verity Parkway, and then turn left with same, continuing to the other side of a railroad underpass;
At another access road opposite the Miami River County Park, turn left then right onto Tytus Avenue, which was part of the original Dixie Highway route through Middletown;
In Middletown, Tytus Avenue angles left to become Main Street;
Continue southerly through Middletown on Main Street, which becomes Hamilton-Middletown Road beyond the city limits;
Continue southerly with Hamilton-Middletown Road to its end, then turn right onto State Route 4, which is marked on one map as the Wright Brothers Memorial Highway, but marked on another as Hamilton-Middletown Road;
Continue southerly and southwesterly with State Route 4, which eventually becomes Fairgrove Avenue within the city limits of Hamilton;
At the Greenwood Cemetery in Hamilton, diverge from State Route 4 by angling right onto Heaton Street, which was part of the original Dixie Highway through Hamilton;
After a slight angle right near Eleventh Street, continue with Heaton Street, which then jogs at a railroad crossing to become Village Street;
Turn left (south) from Village Street onto Second Street/U.S. 127 and follow same through downtown Hamilton, a surprisingly photogenic city that now calls itself “The City of Sculpture”;
Continue southerly with Second Street/U.S. 127, and at several blocks past the Butler County Courhouse (or just after a railroad crossing), angle left (southeasterly) onto Central Avenue, diverging from Second Street, but continuing with U.S. 127;
Where U.S. 127 diverges south, continue southeasterly with Central Avenue, crossing the railroad tracks and eventually joining similar diagonal alignments marked as Dixie Highway and State Route 4;
Continue southeasterly with Dixie Highway and State Route 4 into Hamilton County;[note: Hamilton is the seat of Butler County; Cincinnati is the seat of Hamilton County; don’t ask me to explain that potential source of confusion]
In Hamilton County, the Dixie Highway name is dropped, but State Route 4 continues as either Springfield Road or Springfield Pike;
Continue southerly with State Route 4/Springfield Road through the Cincinnati suburbs of Springdale and Wyoming, after which the named road will become Vine Street for about one mile;
Just after passing the Hamilton County Fairgrounds, and just before an I-75 interchange (Exit 9), diverge from Vine Street, but continue southerly with State Route 4, which now becomes Paddock Road;
Continue southerly with State Route 4/Paddock Road to a junction with U.S. 42/Reading Road;
Turn right (southwesterly) onto U.S. 42/Reading Road and follow same into downtown Cincinnati.
Source: IN SEARCH OF . . . THE DIXIE HIGHWAY IN OHIO
