Maryland Route 235 - History

History

MD 235 follows the path of what was the first major long-distance highway in St. Mary's County, the Patuxent Main Road. The road, established by 1692, connected Point Lookout and northern St. Mary's County along the drainage divide between the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. The Patuxent Main Road later became known as the Three Notch Road based on a 1704 law that stated "three notches of equal distance marked on the trees indicated a road leading to a ferry." The whereabouts of the ferry to which this road led are unknown. After 200 years of little improvement, reconstruction of the Three Notch Road by the Maryland State Roads Commission began in 1923 when the highway was rebuilt as a 15-foot (4.6 m) wide gravel road from MD 5 near Mechanicsville south to MD 472 in Oakville. The gravel road was extended south from Oakville 1 mile (1.6 km) to Friendship School Road in 1924.

Construction on Three Notch Road resumed in 1926 when two sections were placed under construction. A 1-mile (1.6 km) segment of gravel highway was constructed south from MD 246 in Jarboesville (now Lexington Park) toward Hermanville in 1926 and 1927. The northern segment of MD 235 was extended to Hillville in 1928 and to Hollywood in 1929. The southern gravel section of the highway was extended 1 mile (1.6 km) south to Hermanville in 1930. Also in 1930, construction on the 6.5-mile (10.5 km) gap between Hollywood and Jarboesville began and a new segment of MD 235 was started from Ridge north 3 miles (4.8 km) to Dameron. The Ridge–Dameron segment was completed in 1932 and the gravel highway from Hollywood to Jarboesville was finished in 1933. The gravel section constructed from Ridge reached Bay Forest Road by 1935 and Hermanville in 1938, completing MD 235.

Immediately after the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II, the U.S. Navy made plans to construct a naval air station on the Cedar Point peninsula near Jarboesville. MD 235 was marked for an upgrade from MD 5 to Jarboesville both to connect the new military installation with Washington and to allow the road to handle the heavy military traffic that would travel the highway during the military base's construction and operations. The highway was under construction by the end of 1942. The highway's gravel surface was widened as a first layer and surface treated in autumn 1943 to help heavy traffic during the winter. In spring 1944 the first layer was scarified and the top 4 inches (10 cm) were mixed with asphalt to form a base. This base was covered with a 2-inch (5.1 cm) wearing surface of bituminous concrete. MD 235 was also reconstructed in this manner from Jarboesville to Hermanville in 1944 and 1945; included in that project was the construction of MD 712 to provide a modern highway to the naval air station's South Gate. During the reconstruction of MD 235, the highway was relocated in many places between Mechanicsville and Hollywood to remove substandard curves and avoid grade crossings with the southern extension of the Washington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad that the U.S. Navy constructed contemporaneously to provide a rail link to the military base. Many of the bypassed stretches of highway—which included Harpers Corner Road in Oraville, Mount Zion Church Road in Laurel Grove, Oakville Road in Oakville, Clover Hill Road in Hillville, Old Three Notch Road in Hollywood, and the southernmost portion of Mervell Dean Road—were designated as sections of MD 722.

The next major project along MD 235 was the reconstruction of the 1930s gravel highway between Ridge and Hermanville. Construction began in 1957 from Hermanville and was completed south to Park Hall in 1959, with the remainder of the highway completed around 1960. MD 235 was relocated between Park Hall and Hermanville, leaving behind Poplar Ridge Road as an old alignment. Also in 1960, the state highway was expanded to a divided highway from Hermanville to Lexington Park. MD 235 was widened to a divided highway from Hollywood to Hillville in 1968, from Mechanicsville to Oakville in 1969, and from MD 246 in Lexington Park to Town Creek Drive in California in 1973. Two sections of divided highway were completed in 1982: from Town Creek Drive to just north of the newly-constructed MD 4 intersection in California; and from Oakville to Hillville. The final segment of MD 235 between Hermanville and Mechanicsville to be expanded to a divided highway was completed from California to Hollywood in 1985. The portion of the state highway from just north of St. Mary's County Regional Airport to just south of MD 245 in Hollywood was relocated to the west along the right-of-way of the Washington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad, which had earlier been abandoned. The bypassed highway was renamed as a northward extension of Mervell Dean Road and designated MD 944.

MD 235 was widened in Lexington Park and California between 2000 and 2004 due to increased activity at the military base and its supporting industries. The state highway was widened to six lanes from north of Pegg Road to Town Creek Drive in 2000 and from Town Creek Drive to just north of MD 4 in 2001. Expansion to six lanes occurred from FDR Boulevard to north of Pegg Road in 2003. The final section of widening occurred in 2004 when the six-lane section was extended south from FDR Boulevard to MD 246. MD 235 between MD 712 and MD 246 was transformed from a four-lane divided highway to a five-lane road with center turn lane in 2004 as well.