Few highways in America carry as much history beneath their pavement as U.S. Route 40, and this short drive across northern Montgomery County offers a fascinating glimpse into how the National Road has evolved from a vital cross-country route into a thriving suburban corridor. Over the course of nine miles, we travel east from Clayton to Vandalia, passing through established neighborhoods, busy commercial districts, and communities that have grown alongside one of the nation’s oldest federally funded highways.
Our journey begins near Crestway Road on the eastern side of Clayton, where National Road still passes through a landscape that feels surprisingly rural for the edge of a major metropolitan area. Fields and open ground remain common, punctuated by scattered homes, churches, and a few newer commercial developments that hint at the suburban growth gradually moving westward from Englewood. As we continue east, the corridor steadily becomes more developed, illustrating the transition from Montgomery County’s remaining countryside into Dayton’s northern suburbs.
Continuing east, we enter Englewood, where the commercial activity becomes even more concentrated approaching the intersection with Ohio State Route 48 (Main Street). This crossroads serves as the heart of Englewood’s transportation network, linking National Road with communities stretching north toward Union and south into Dayton. Businesses, restaurants, medical offices, and neighborhood shopping centers cluster around the intersection, illustrating how highways like U.S. Route 40 have shaped suburban development for decades. Even today, much of the city’s commercial identity remains centered along this historic roadway, blending newer construction with businesses that have served local residents for many years.
East of Main Street, U.S. Route 40 leaves Englewood’s primary commercial district behind as National Road bends eastward to cross the Englewood Dam. Crossing the top of the dam, we travel over one of five major flood-control dams constructed throughout the Miami Valley following the devastating Flood of 1913. The broad earthen embankment provides a subtle change in scenery, with open floodplain landscapes replacing the commercial corridor before the highway enters Butler Township.
Beyond the dam, National Road enters Butler Township, where the character of the drive becomes noticeably less urban. Open fields, scattered homes, light commercial development, and a handful of newer businesses line the roadway, while residential subdivisions appear intermittently along the corridor. Although suburban growth has gradually extended westward from Vandalia over the years, this stretch still retains much of the rural character that once defined the National Road outside Dayton. As we continue east, development slowly becomes more frequent approaching Vandalia and the crossroads with Dixie Drive.
Commercial properties alternate with apartment complexes, neighborhoods, light industrial businesses, hotels, and occasional open parcels that hint at the area’s suburban expansion over the past several decades. The proximity of both Interstate 70 and Dayton International Airport has made this corridor an important location for transportation-related businesses, warehouses, and services supporting regional commerce. Despite this modern growth, the roadway itself still follows the alignment that has connected communities across Ohio for more than two centuries.
As we approach Vandalia, the surroundings become increasingly urban while maintaining the familiar character of an older suburban highway. Traffic volumes rise, signalized intersections become more frequent, and the roadside businesses reflect Vandalia’s longstanding position as a gateway to the Dayton metropolitan area. Our drive concludes at Dixie Drive, another highway with deep historical roots. Long before the interstate era, Dixie Drive formed part of the celebrated Dixie Highway, creating an intersection where two of America’s most significant early automobile routes crossed paths. That meeting of the National Road and Dixie Highway helped earn Vandalia its long-held nickname as the “Crossroads of America,” a title that still resonates today. Though modern travelers may simply see another suburban intersection, it represents the convergence of two highways that played remarkable roles in shaping travel, commerce, and settlement throughout the Midwest. Even on a relatively short drive like this one, U.S. Route 40 reminds us that history often survives not only in preserved landmarks, but in the roads we continue to use every day.
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