State Route 550 (SR 550) is an east–west

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 southeastern portion of the

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 ...

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 ...

. The western terminus of SR 550 is at an interchange with

U.S. Route 33 U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs northwest–southeast for from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S. routes are north– ...

(US 33) just north of the

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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 ...

, immediately south of the southern terminus of SR 13. The eastern terminus of SR 550 is at an intersection with SR 7 just west of

Marietta Marietta may refer to: Places in the United States *Marietta, Jacksonville, Florida *Marietta, Georgia, the largest US city named Marietta *Marietta, Illinois *Marietta, Indiana *Marietta, Kansas *Marietta, Minnesota *Marietta, Mississippi *Mar ...

Route description

Along its way, SR 550 passes through the counties of

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. There is no section of the highway that is incorporated within the National Highway System.

History

The route connecting Athens and Marietta has been a state highway since the system's creation in Ohio in the 1910s. Prior to 1922, the route was known as SR 157. Between 1923 and 1929, the route became the southernmost part of SR 26. In 1929, the SR 26 designation was removed and replaced by a part of U.S. Route 50N, a divided route from

US 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 Atlantic ...

. This route ran from Athens at US 50 east to Marietta. It then continued west along the

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 ...

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with SR 7 to Newport where it crossed into St. Marys,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

on the Clarksburg-Columbus Short Route Bridge, later renamed the Hi Carpenter Bridge in 1967, an

eyebar In structural engineering and construction, an eyebar is a straight bar, usually of metal, with a hole ("eye") at each end for fixing to other components. Eyebars are used in structures such as bridges, in settings in which only tension, and ne ...

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

. In West Virginia, it traveled along

WV 16 West Virginia Route 16 (WV 16) is a north–south route located in the U.S. State of West Virginia. The southern terminus of the route is at the Virginia state line in Bishop, McDowell County, where the route continues south as Virginia S ...

until it joined US 50S in Ellenboro. By 1935, the mainline of US 50 was signed along US 50S between Athens and

Pike, West Virginia Pike is an unincorporated community in Ritchie County, West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers clas ...

and the former US 50N became U.S. Route 50 Alternate (US 50 Alt.). The routing of US 50 Alt. would remain unchanged throughout its history except when the Hi Carpenter Bridge was closed in 1968 due to similarities in design to the

Silver Bridge The Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge carried U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio. On Dece ...

which collapsed in 1967. A temporary ferry between Newport and St. Marys was utilized until the new

Hi Carpenter Memorial Bridge The Hi Carpenter Memorial Bridge is a cantilever bridge over the Ohio River between Newport, Ohio and St. Marys, West Virginia. It carries Ohio State Route 807 (SR 807) and West Virginia Route 807 (WV 807) and serves to connect WV 2 with OH 7. ...

opened in 1977. Also, when US 50 was moved onto a freeway in West Virginia in 1973, US 50 Alt.'s eastern terminus was moved back to Ellenboro, albeit at an interchange with the US 50 freeway. The designation of SR 550 took place in 1976. Since the route became SR 550, no major changes have taken place to the routing. At least part of the route of 550 is based on the original Marietta-Chillicothe Stagecoach Road.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist, 30em

550 __NOTOC__ Year 550 ( DL) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

Transportation in Athens County, Ohio Transportation in Washington County, Ohio U.S. Route 50