State Route 144 (SR 144) is a north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the southern portion of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, a

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

. The southern terminus of State Route 144 is at is a T-interchange with State Route 124 in Hockingport. Its northern terminus is at another T-intersection, this time with State Route 329 in the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Stewart.

Route description

State Route 144 exists entirely within the southeastern portion of Athens County. There are no portions of this highway that are included within the National Highway System, a network of highways identified as most imperative for the economy, mobility and defense of the country.

History

1923 marked the year in which State Route 144 was established. Its original routing was composed of the current stretch of

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

from

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

to its current junction with State Route 144 near Coolville, the current stretch of State Route 144 from that point to its current southern terminus at State Route 124 in Hockingport, and State Route 124 from there to its eastern terminus southwest of Belpre. In 1926, with the coming of the

U.S. Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

, the U.S. Route 50 designation replaced what was the section of State Route 144 between Athens and the current junction of the two routes near Coolville. Another shortening of State Route 144 took place in 1934, when State Route 124 was extended north to Hockingport. From there, State Route 124 replaced the State Route 144 designation heading northeast to that route's eastern terminus southwest of Belpre. However, in 1937, State Route 144 would see an extension. Coinciding with a northward extension of State Route 329, State Route 144 was extended to the northwest from near Coolville to its current northern terminus at State Route 329 in Stewart. SR 144 was rerouted around Coolville in 2006 as a result of

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s that occurred on the banks of the

Hocking Hocking may refer to: Places * Hocking County, Ohio, United States * Hocking Township, Fairfield County, Ohio * Hocking Hills, Ohio * Hocking River, Ohio * Hocking Canal, a former canal that ran parallel to the Hocking River * Hocking, Western Aus ...

and

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

s in 2005 and 2006. SR 144 exited Coolville on a bridge just south of the US 50 / SR 7 / SR 32 bridges until that bridge was damaged as a result of the landslides. Because of the damaged bridge and nearby damaged roadway along the east side of the Hocking River, SR 144 was rerouted south of Coolville on County Road 59 to a new bridge over the river. The

Ohio Department of Transportation The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT; ) is the administrative department of the Ohio state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and U.S. roadways outside of municipalities and all Interstates except the Ohio T ...

(ODOT) formerly maintained this old alignment as SR 144-J, but no longer maintains it as of 2013.

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist

144 144 may refer to: * 144 (number), the natural number following 143 and preceding 145 * AD 144, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD * 144 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 144 (film), ''144'' (film), a 2015 Indian com ...

Transportation in Athens County, Ohio