Maryland Route 224 - History

History

Livingston Road follows much of the course of a road that has connected Charles County and the District of Columbia parallel to the eastern shore of the Potomac River through Prince George's County since the late 18th century. The road became more important as the highway connecting Washington with both Fort Washington and Fort Foote and later the Indian Head Naval Proving Ground, a gunpowder factory and testing area started by the federal government in the late 19th century. At its southern end at Mason Springs, Livingston Road was connected to Indian Head by the La Plata–Indian Head road that later became MD 225. At the District of Columbia boundary in what is now Forest Heights, Livingston Road continued north to Atlantic Avenue, which connected with Nichols Avenue (now Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue), which headed north to a crossing of the Anacostia River at the site of the 11th Street Bridges. The first segment of Livingston Road in Maryland to be paved as a modern highway was from the District of Columbia boundary south to Oxon Hill Road in Oxon Hill, which was paved by Prince George's County with state aid as a macadam road by 1910.

The next section of what is now MD 224 to be improved was the short stretch across Mattawoman Creek on the La Plata–Indian Head road, which was built as a gravel road between 1916 and 1919 and later became MD 225. Livingston Road was improved as a gravel road from Oxon Hill south to Carey Branch south of Oxon Hill by 1921. By 1923, the highway extended south to Fort Washington Road at what was then the village of Silesia. That same year, another section of Livingston Road was graveled from the Charles–Prince George's county line southwest through Pomonkey to Mason Springs. The northern section of Livingston Road was extended south from Silesia to Old Fort Road between 1924 and 1926. The gravel road was extended from there to Piscataway between 1926 and 1928. MD 224 was extended south to Accokeek by 1930. The final piece of Livingston Road from Accokeek to the Charles–Prince George's county line was graveled starting in 1930 and completed by 1933.

Chicamuxen Road was constructed as a gravel road from Mason Springs to Rison in 1923. That road was extended to Chicamuxen between 1924 and 1926. MD 224 was completed to its original southern terminus at MD 6 at Doncaster in 1929 and 1930. The first piece of MD 563 was constructed as a gravel road from MD 224 south to Sandy Point Road in 1934. The next portion of Riverside Road was a disjoint segment from Liverpool Point Road south to Smith Point Road in 1935. The two sections of MD 563 were united in 1936. The fourth segment of Riverside Road, from MD 6 at Riverside west to Maryland Point Road, was built by 1946. MD 563 was completed in 1947 and 1948 with the section of the highway between Maryland Point Road and Smith Point Road.

MD 224 was marked from Doncaster to the District of Columbia by 1933. By 1934, MD 224 was proposed to be widened from 16 to 20 feet (4.9 to 6.1 m) from Oxon Hill to Piscataway. The need for upgrades to Livingston Road became acute by 1940 with the greatly increased activity at Fort Washington and the Indian Head Naval Powder Factory in the years before the United States entered World War II. Relief finally came in 1945 and 1946 when the mostly straight Indian Head Highway (now MD 210) was constructed between Washington and Indian Head, replacing the circuitous Livingston Road as the primary highway through the corridor. MD 224 throughout Prince George's County was transferred to county maintenance in 1954 except for the portion of Livingston Road in Accokeek that became part of MD 373.

MD 224 was truncated again at its northern end in 1956 when the remaining Livingston Road portion of the state highway between Mason Springs and Pomonkey was transferred to Charles County maintenance; MD 227 took over the portion of Livingston Road from Pomonkey to Bryans Road as part of its extension north to Marshall Hall along what had been MD 226. At the same time, MD 224 was extended south along what had been MD 563 from Chicamuxen south to Riverside. The Chicamuxen–Doncaster portion of MD 224 was renumbered MD 344 by 1957. The present alignment of the MD 224–MD 225 concurrency and the bridge across Mattawoman Creek were constructed in 1956 and 1957. MD 224 was reconstructed and widened from Mason Springs through Marbury to Rison starting in 1956. The highway's reconstruction from Mason Springs to Rison and on to Chicamuxen was completed in 1959. Sections of the old highway at Mason Springs, Marbury, and Rison became segments of MD 865. The portion of Livingston Road between MD 225 and MD 227 was returned to the state highway system in 1963; MD 224 then assumed its current northern terminus at Pomonkey.