State Route 21 is a relic of an old U.S. Route 21

U.S. Route 21

U.S. Route 21 is a north–south United States highway of , from Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina to Wytheville, Virginia.-South Carolina:...

, a major north–south highway that connected greater Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, to southern South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

. South of Strasburg, Ohio

Strasburg, Ohio

Strasburg is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,310 at the 2000 census.Strasburg is the location of the Lynn Auto Theatre.-Geography:Strasburg is located at , along Sugar Creek....

, near the current southern terminus of State Route 21, the designation of U.S. Route 21 was moved to the new Interstate 77 freeway in east-central and southeastern Ohio by the early 1970s and then decommissioned. North of Strasburg, what remained of U.S. Route 21 as a route separate from Interstate 77 became State Route 21.

State Route 21 survives in Greater Cleveland

Greater Cleveland

Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...

 as a divided surface road between its current northern terminus at Interstate 77 and Interstate 480

Interstate 480 (Ohio)

Interstate 480 is a loop highway that connects the Ohio Turnpike with suburban Cleveland, Ohio. The highway is officially designated the Outerbelt South Freeway, but it is rarely referred to by that name....

 and Interstate 77 just south of the Ohio Turnpike

Ohio Turnpike

The Ohio Turnpike, officially the James W. Shocknessy Ohio Turnpike, is a -long, limited-access toll highway in the U.S. state of Ohio, serving as a primary corridor to Chicago and Pittsburgh...

, serving some of the suburbs of Cleveland as a local through route. It coincides with Interstate 77 between two junctions at mileposts 146 and 135 (from north to south) and again splits, State Route 21 passing through Barberton

Barberton, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,899 people, 11,523 households, and 7,443 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,095.2 people per square mile . There were 12,163 housing units at an average density of 1,349.4 per square mile...

 and Massillon

Massillon, Ohio

Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....

, Interstate 77 passing through the much larger cities of Akron

Akron, Ohio

Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...

 and Canton

Canton, Ohio

Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. State Route 21 has its southern terminus south of Strasburg at U.S. 250 near Interstate 77's Exit 87.

Very heavily traveled before the Interstate era, much of State Route 21 is divided highway or even freeway due to the needs of the time.