 When it was first established in 1924, State Route 218 consisted of the entirety of the current routing of State Route 553 from State Route 7 in Crown City northwesterly to its junction with State Route 218, and the current alignment of State Route 218 from the State Route 553 intersection northeasterly to its current northern terminus at State Route 7 south of Gallipolis.Two years later, the southern end of the highway was re-aligned.From its current junction with State Route 553, State Route 218 was routed southwesterly along a previously un-numbered roadway to what is now State Route 218's southern terminus at State Route 217.