State Route 741's routing takes it through Warren and Montgomery Counties. No portion of the state route is included within the National Highway System, a system of routes deemed most important for the nation's economy, mobility and defense.^[2]

When it was formed in 1938, State Route 741 was originally routed from its junction with U.S. Route 42 near Mason to its intersection with the former U.S. Route 25 (now Dixie Drive) near West Carrollton.^[3][4] By 1971, State Route 741 was extended north along Springboro Pike from Dixie Drive up to its current northern terminus at Interstate 75 in Moraine.^[5][6] In 1985, the highway would be lengthened again, this time on the south end. From U.S. Route 42, State Route 741 was extended south and east to Exit 25 off of I-71 near Kings Mills, which marks the route's present-day southern terminus.^[7][8]

On June 4, 2010, a continuous-flow intersection (CFI), the first of its kind in Ohio, was built at SR 741 and Austin Boulevard (the former Miamisburg-Springboro Pike/Austin Pike) in southern Montgomery County. The intersection was built in conjunction with the addition of a nearby interchange between I-75 and Austin Boulevard. By 2012, congestion at the new intersection had led to calls for improvements. It is a matter of dispute whether the problems were caused by faulty traffic projections, too much development around the interchange or the fact that a "two leg" CFI was built, rather than a full "four leg" CFI. There are some suggestions that a full CFI was not built in order to allow land which would have been used for right-of-way to instead be retained by developers. As of early 2012, the solution to the traffic problems was also a matter of debate.^[9]