History
In 1909, the Maryland State Roads Commission targeted the pre-existing road from the Northwestern Turnpike at Red House to the National Turnpike at Keyser's Ridge for upgrade to an all-weather road as part of the original state road system. The existing road followed roughly the same alignment as the present US 219, with four major deviations: south of Oakland, where the road followed Monte Vista Road, Underwood Road, and Third Street north to Oak Street; at Deep Creek, where the road crossed Deep Creek to the east of the present Deep Creek Bridge; Hoyes, where the road followed Friendsville Road north to Hoyes, then Hoyes Road east to the present alignment; and north of Accident, where the road turned northeast and used a very curvy alignment to cross Bear Creek and climb the lower slopes of Keyser's Ridge to meet the present road near Northern Garrett High School. The new highway, known as the State Road, was completed from Oakland to Thayerville in 1910. The segment from Thayerville to McHenry, which followed the pre-existing alignment, was under construction by 1911 and completed in 1913. The highway from McHenry to Accident, which bypassed Hoyes, was completed in 1914. Finally, the section from Accident to Keyser's Ridge, which bypassed the crooked road around Bear Creek, was completed in 1915.
Once the highway from Oakland to Keyser's Ridge was completed, attention turned to the south of Oakland. The new road, constructed from Oakland to Gortner in 1915 and 1916, met the road to Mountain Lake Park, now Oakland Drive, next to Southern Garrett High School, then followed Oak Street west into the county seat. The road from Gortner to Red House was constructed between 1924 and 1927. The highway was paved south to the West Virginia state line in 1928. The Chestnut Ridge Road was completed in 1923. The Deep Creek Dam was constructed starting in 1923 and Deep Creek Lake began to fill in January 1925. The State Road was relocated around Deep Creek Lake and the first Deep Creek Bridge was built in 1924. Chestnut Ridge Road was designated the southern end of US 219 in the U.S. Highway System designated in 1926. The road south from Keyser's Ridge was marked as MD 37 in 1927. In 1935, US 219 was extended west along US 40 and then south toward West Virginia, replacing the MD 37 designation for its entire length.
After World War II, US 219 was reconstructed into its modern form for most of its length. The segment between Oakland and Thayerville was reconstructed between 1948 and 1950. The stretch from Keyser's Ridge to Accident was relocated around 1950. The section of US 219 between Gortner and Red House was widened between 1950 and 1952. The stretch between Thayerville and the Deep Creek Bridge was rebuilt from 1952 to 1955. The McHenry to Accident part of US 219 was reconstructed starting in 1952. Chestnut Ridge Road was relocated around 1956. Finally, US 219 between Gortner and Oakland was rebuilt between 1957 and 1959, including a relocation at the northern end that included its present intersection with MD 135 and a bridge over the B&O Railroad. In the late 1960s, US 219 was relocated from the Deep Creek Bridge through McHenry, leaving behind Deep Creek Drive as an old alignment. After the construction of I-68 in the mid-1970s, US 219 was moved to the new freeway between Keyser's Ridge and Chestnut Ridge Road in 1978. The present Deep Creek Bridge was completed in 1987, replacing the 1924 structure.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Route 219 In Maryland
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A poet’s object is not to tell what actually happened but what could or would happen either probably or inevitably.... For this reason poetry is something more scientific and serious than history, because poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)
“Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history; such is the history of civilization for thousands of years.”
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
“The principle that human nature, in its psychological aspects, is nothing more than a product of history and given social relations removes all barriers to coercion and manipulation by the powerful.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)