Friday, March 20, 2026

Get Your Kicks on Route 555 – March 20, 1926


Did you know that North Ridge Road was once planned to be known as State Highway 555?

I didn't either, until I saw the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal back on March 20, 1926.

As noted in the article, the announcement of the road being taken over by the state was welcomed. The State of Ohio would then be financially responsible for 30 to 50 percent of all improvements made to the highway.

I'm not sure, however, if North Ridge Road between Rocky River and Lorain was ever officially designated as State Highway 555. I've checked several maps in my collection and even the ones from the early 1930s show the road as State Highway 254. 
Yet there is an article in the April 10, 1930 Lorain Journal noting that State Highway 555 extends from Avon to the Cuyahoga County line. And another article from July 26, 1939 mentions a proposed new viaduct on State Highway 555, that would open up a new route between Cleveland and Lorain.
If I ever find a map with Highway 555 on it, I'll post it here.
And I guess we should be glad it wasn't designated Highway 666.

Today State Route 555 is a north-south route in southeastern Ohio. It's official Wiki history doesn't even mention its northern route roots!
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And here's the whole front page of the March 20, 1926 newspaper.





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2 comments:

  1. BusterMarch 20, 2026 at 11:12 AM

    There's an article in the paper that says "the grippe" is spreading, "grippe" being an old term for the flu. I wonder when that word fell out of use. It's more picturesque than flu.

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    1. Don HiltonMarch 20, 2026 at 1:27 PM

      Hey, Bruce... I actually did some looking into this for my last mystery (plug incoming, "Miss Kuper and the Pigtown Sticker). It's set in 1920, right after the Spanish Influenza, which had a huge impact on the title character's life.

      "Grippe" started slipping from our collective vocabulary with the catastrophically deadly U.S. influenza epidemics of 1918 and 1919. Health officials used "influenza" and news sources quoting them began using the word to distinguish it from "the grippe" or "la grippe" which was more a of a nuisance than a killer.

      I was surprised to grippe in a 1926 newspaper, unless they're referring to a minor illness. The word was rapidly tending toward old-fashioned at the time.

      As an aside, I first saw the word reading "Catcher in the Rye" in which Holden's old history professor is suffering from it.

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