History
What is now DE 71 originally existed as a county road by 1920, with the portion south of Townsend proposed as a state highway at this time. By 1924, the entire length of the present route was paved, with the portion from the Summit Bridge to Kirkwood proposed as a state highway and the portion from Kirkwood to Tybouts Corner improved to a state highway. A year later, the state highway had been completed south of Townsend and between Mt. Pleasant and Kirkwood. By 1931, the remainder became a state highway. When Delaware started numbering state highways by 1936, this road remained unnumbered. By 1938, DE 71 was designated to run from US 13 south of Townsend north to US 13 in Tybouts Corner, following roughly the same alignment it does today.
By 1957, DE 71 was rerouted to follow DE 299 southwest from Middletown before splitting from that route and reaching the Maryland border, where it connected to MD 71. Also, DE 896 was extended south from Summit Bridge to follow DE 71 to Middletown and then continue along the former DE 71 through Townsend to US 13. By 1959, US 301 was designated along DE 71/DE 299 between the Maryland border and Middletown and US 301S was designated along DE 71 from Middletown to Tybouts Corner. The route was realigned to a new Summit Bridge a short distance to the west in 1960, following new roads that led to the bridge. As a result of this, US 301S/DE 71 was designated onto a former piece of DE 896 between the new alignment and Red Lion Road to the east, with the rest of the former alignment becoming a dead end road south to the canal and the former alignment south of the canal becoming a local road serving the community of Summit. By 1971, US 301 was shifted to follow what had been US 301S between Middletown and Summit Bridge, with US 301S remaining along DE 71 between Summit Bridge and Tybouts Corner. By 1984, DE 896 was rerouted to run from Mount Pleasant to Boyds Corner, with the route being removed from DE 71 from Mt. Pleasant to Middletown and the segment from Middletown to south of Townsend, which was the original routing of DE 71, becoming unnumbered. A year later, US 301N was rerouted onto the newly aligned DE 896 and US 13 between Mt. Pleasant and Tybouts Corner and US 301S was extended south along DE 71/DE 896 from Summit Bridge to Mt. Pleasant. DE 71 was truncated to Summit Bridge by 1987, also at which time US 301S was removed from DE 71. By 1990, DE 71 was extended back south along its original alignment to again end at US 13 south of Townsend. US 301 was realigned to follow the route between Mt. Pleasant and Summit Bridge by 1994.
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