TRAVELING ACROSS OHIO--
On the Lincoln Highway

We launched our Lincoln Highway (LH) excursion on the square in Mansfield.  Long before the expressway was built, US 30 (and the LH) passed through Mansfield on Park Ave., so we headed east from there on what is now SR 430 through Mifflin.

In fact, the Lincoln Highway had several alignments on Ohio roads through its history.  The original LH left US 30 in Wooster and followed what we now know as US 250 to Ashland then US 42 to Mansfield where it regained route 30.  US 30 also split into a north and a south version between Mansfield and Delphos.  The original LH followed the south version which we now know as OH 309.

Notice the "30" in the different route's numbers.  That numbering protocol is used throughout Ohio when a state or federal highway changes it's status like in the next sentence.

From Mifflin route 430 changes to County Road 30 in Ashland County and continues east through Hayesville and Jeromesville and on into Wooster where it passes through that town on Liberty St.

We arrived in Hayesville about the same time as lunch so we stopped for some tasty munching at the Olde 30 Inn near the town's square.  There, we had the good fortune of a maturing waitress who told us about the town's watering trough which used to be located in the middle of the road but had to be moved when the increasing auto traffic and the town's vandals became perilous.

It now resides in a dedicated, protected location near the town's ball field just northeast of the LH intersection with SR 60.  She also told us about the Vermilion Institute that used to be located in town.  It was a private college chartered in the 1840s and one of its buildings remains standing on the east side of town.

Hayesville also has an Opera House which was opened in 1866 and remains in operation to this day; featuring mostly movies.  The institute and the opera house are on our agenda for future blog stories.

As townsfolk finished their lunches and cleared the counter area its unique seating was revealed:

Antique tractor seats welded to milk storage cans seemed like some dandy, home-spun practicality in small town USA!
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Saturday we will continue with our romp through eastern Ohio then we will follow with pieces on Smucker's nifty retail outlet near Riceland and another piece on the Pine Tree Barn south of Wooster; not on the LH but a treat to see also.