Maryland Route 17 - History

History

The first two sections of MD 17 to be constructed were Petersville Road from downtown Brunswick to what is now Rosemont Drive in Rosemont and Burkittsville Road from what is now MD 180 to Coatsville, which were completed as 14-foot (4.3 m) wide macadam roads in 1916. By 1921, sections of concrete road were completed from the National Pike in Middletown to Valley View Road and from Myersville south to Catoctin Creek. Another section of the highway was planned to followed the alignment of Old Hagerstown Road south from the Myersville segment to the National Pike west of Middletown. By 1923, the gap between Middletown and Myersville was completed in concrete following the present alignment instead of Old Hagerstown Road. Other segments completed that year included a macadam stretch from Coatsville to Burkittsville and a concrete road from Arnoldtown to the National Pike in Middletown.

In 1927, what is now MD 17 became one of the original state-numbered highways when it was marked as MD 33. By that year, the gap between Burkittsville and Arnoldtown, Main Street in Myersville, and Wolfsville Road from Ellerton to Grossnickel had been paved with concrete. In addition, a macadam road was constructed from Main Street in Myersville to the first crossing of Middle Creek north of the town. The gap between that crossing of Middle Creek and Ellerton was filled by a concrete road in 1928. Wolfsville Road from Grossnickel to Middlepoint was started in 1930. That segment and the portion from Middlepoint to Wolfsville were completed in 1933. MD 33's through truss bridge over Catoctin Creek between Burkittsville and Middletown was replaced with the modern through truss bridge on a new alignment in 1934. All of MD 33 between Brunswick and Wolfsville was redesignated MD 17 in 1940, swapping numbers with modern MD 33 in Talbot County.

The portion of Wolfsville Road from Wolfsville north to the Washington County line was brought into the state highway system in 1956. That same year, the portion of MD 17 between US 40 Alternate in Middletown and US 40 in Myersville was transferred to county maintenance. MD 17 north of Myersville was renumbered MD 153. MD 17 was placed on its present alignment in Rosemont from MD 79 to Rosemont Drive in 1968; MD 79 was extended south to the new four-way intersection with MD 17 and MD 464 and the old alignment of MD 17 along Rosemont Drive became MD 871G. MD 153 was extended south of US 40 through Myersville to the I-70 interchange in 1979. MD 17 achieved its present course in 1985 when the highway between Middletown and I-70 was returned to the state highway system; MD 17 was extended along what had been MD 153 to the Washington County line. MD 17's roundabouts at the northern end of the Brunswick Bridge and at the MD 180 intersection were installed in 1999 and 2000, respectively.

The first ferry at the German Crossing of the Potomac River, named for the German settlement at Lovettsville, began at the site of Brunswick in 1731. The first fixed crossing of the river was a covered bridge constructed between 1854 and 1857 by the Loudoun and Berlin Bridge Company; this bridge was burned by Confederate forces in June 1861. In 1893, the Loudoun Berlin Bridge Company constructed an iron through truss bridge across the river on the abutments of the covered bridge. Both the covered bridge and the iron bridge were located in line with Virginia Avenue, immediately to the east of the modern bridge. Later, the access road to the bridge would follow Maple Avenue south from Petersville Road, cross the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, turn west onto what is now the access road for the C&O Canal Historical Park, then turn south to cross the river. Construction on the modern Brunswick Bridge began in 1952 with preliminary engineering work and construction of the bridge's substructure and superstructure, which were completed in 1953. Work on the bridge's deck and the Maryland approaches began in 1953 and continued through 1954. The Brunswick Bridge was dedicated July 30, 1955.