Maryland Route 178 (MD 178) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in the U.S. state of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. Known as Generals Highway, the highway runs from
MD 450
Maryland Route 450 (MD 450) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 1 Alternate (US 1 Alternate) in Bladensburg east to US 50, US 301, and MD 2 near Arnold. MD 450 forms a local complement t ...
in
Parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
north to Veterans Highway near
Millersville. MD 178 connects
Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
with
Crownsville
Crownsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,757 at the 2010 census. It hosts the Anne Arundel County Fair each September, as well as the annual Maryland Renaissance Festival ...
in central
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...
. The highway is indirectly named for
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, who traveled the highway in 1783 on his way to Annapolis to resign his commission in the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
at the conclusion of the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. MD 178 was planned as early as 1910 as part of a western route between
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
and Annapolis. However, most of the highway south of
MD 3 was not built until the early 1930s. The portion south of MD 3 served as a primary segment in the western corridor connecting Baltimore–Annapolis, until the construction of
Interstate 97
Interstate 97 (I-97) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs entirely within Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The Interstate runs from U.S. Route 50 (US 50)/US 301 in Parole near Annapolis north to I-695 and I-895 in Brookly ...
(I-97) in the late 1980s.
Route description
MD 178 begins at a four-way intersection featuring MD 450 in Parole. MD 450 heads west as Defense Highway and southeast as West Street toward an interchange with
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...
(US 50)/
US 301
U.S. Route 301 (US 301) is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It runs from Biddles Corner, Delaware at Delaware Route 1 to Sarasota, Florida at U.S. Route 41. It passes through the states of Delaware, Mar ...
(John Hanson Highway) and Annapolis; the east leg of the intersection is an entrance to the
Westfield Annapolis
Westfield Annapolis is a shopping mall, owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and is located near the junction of U.S. Route 50 and Interstate 97 in Parole, near Annapolis, Maryland. As of 2022, the mall features the traditional tenants Macy's and ...
shopping mall. MD 178 heads north as a four-lane road with a
center left-turn lane
A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...
. North of Bestgate Road, the highway leaves the commercial area, curves to the northwest, and reduces to two lanes. MD 178 passes the historic home
Iglehart
Iglehart is a historic home at Iglehart, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a -story Greek Revival-style frame house with a gable roof, built about 1830. Its owner, Leonard Iglehart, served as a commissioner for the primary sch ...
in the
eponymous hamlet, where the highway passes Old Generals Highway. A portion of the loop of old alignment is
MD 798. MD 178 continues northwest and passes the historic home
Belvoir before heading northeast of the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds and entering the center of Crownsville. In the village, the highway passes
St. Paul's Chapel at the corner of Crownsville Road, which leads south to the grounds of the seasonal
Maryland Renaissance Festival
The Maryland Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair located in Crownsville, Maryland. Set in a fictional 16th-century English village named ''Revel Grove'', the festival is spread over . It is open from the last weekend of August and runs f ...
.
At the north end of Crownsville, MD 178 intersects Herald Harbor Road, which leads to the community of
Herald Harbor on the
Severn River. The state highway meets the eastern end of interchange ramps from I-97; the ramps allow access from southbound I-97 to MD 178 and from MD 178 to northbound I-97,
MD 32, and MD 3. MD 178 continues northwest past the
Rising Sun Inn
The Rising Sun Inn is a historic home in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a mid- and late-18th-century -story frame house. The earlier section dates to about 1753 and is covered with a gable roof and features a brick gable end ...
and Sunrise Beach Road, which leads to another riverside community,
Arden-on-the-Severn. At the
Cross Roads Church
Baldwin Hall, also known as the Cross Roads Church, was built as the Severn Crossroads Methodist Episcopal Church and is currently a historic church at Millersville, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It is a one-story gable-front frame structure ...
, the highway intersects Millersville Road, which provides access to the historic home
Bunker Hill and the village of Millersville on the west side of I-97. MD 178 curves north and reaches its northern terminus at Veterans Highway, a county highway that parallels I-97 between Millersville and
Glen Burnie
Glen Burnie is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population of Glen Burnie was 67,639 at ...
.
History
Generals Highway follows the path of an Annapolis–
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
post road
A post road is a road designated for the transportation of postal mail. In past centuries, only major towns had a post house and the roads used by post riders or mail coaches to carry mail among them were particularly important ones or, due ...
established by 1733.
The highway is so named because it was traveled by George Washington on his journey from
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
to Annapolis, then acting as the
capital of the United States
This is a list of capital cities of the United States, including places that serve or have served as federal, state, insular area, territorial, colonial and Native American capitals.
Washington has been the federal capital of the United Stat ...
, to resign his commission as
Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in December 1783.
George Washington was greeted and escorted the remaining distance to Annapolis by a group of prominent citizens from the
Three Mile Oak
Three Mile Oak got its name because it was three miles from the Maryland State House. Prominent visitors were met at the tree, on the outskirts of Annapolis, and escorted into the city.
History
The Three Mile Oak was last a tree stump from the 18 ...
, a prominent tree located from the
Maryland State House
The Maryland State House is located in Annapolis, Maryland. It is the oldest U.S. state capitol in continuous legislative use, dating to 1772 and houses the Maryland General Assembly, plus the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. In ...
. The Three Mile Oak was located at what is today the southern terminus of MD 178.
When the
Maryland State Roads Commission
The Maryland State Highway Administration (abbreviated MDOT SHA or simply SHA) is the state transportation business unit responsible for maintaining Maryland's numbered highways outside Baltimore City. Formed originally under authority of the G ...
designated a system of roads to improve in 1909, much of the Generals Highway was included as part of a second highway between Baltimore and Annapolis, after the Baltimore–Annapolis Boulevard that later became
MD 2. The proposed highway headed south along Generals Highway from Glen Burnie to Crownsville, along what are now
MD 3 Business, I-97, and MD 178, then south on Crownsville Road to the proposed highway that later became US 50 (now MD 450).
The proposed highway south and east of Dorrs Corner, the site of MD 178's northern terminus, was not shifted from Crownsville Road to Generals Highway until 1930, by which time only short portions of the highway had been paved.
The first portion of MD 178 to be constructed was a small segment of concrete road south from the southern end of Old Generals Highway at Iglehart by 1923.
This section was connected to US 50 by another section of concrete road in 1928.
The portion of MD 178 from Dorrs Corner to Crownsville was placed under construction in 1930.
The state highway was complete as a concrete road from MD 3 to Sherwood Forest Road just north of Iglehart (on what is now MD 798) in 1933.
MD 178 was marked as such in 1935, despite a gap in the state highway remaining at Iglehart.
Within a year of the highway's completion, the Maryland State Roads Commission recommended the highway be widened from to along its entire length.
The state highway was widened from Dorrs Corner to Sherwood Forest Road in 1940.
The gap in the state highway at Iglehart remained until the old road was bypassed in 1956, leaving behind MD 798.
MD 178's interchange ramps with I-97 opened as the easternmost portion of MD 32 in 1972, bypassing the portion of the highway from Dorrs Corner to Crownsville.
The rest of the route from Crownsville to Parole remained part of the primary highway on the western Baltimore–Annapolis highway until I-97 opened from US 50 and US 301 to Dorrs Corner in April 1989.
Junction list
Auxiliary route
MD 178A is the designation for a old section of Generals Highway next to the state highway's northern terminus near Millersville. The highway forms a curve east of the junction of MD 178 and Veterans Highway that intersects both highways on a tangent. MD 178A is two lanes and lined with houses except for a pair of
one-way northbound segments on both ends.
MD 178A follows what was originally the northernmost portion of MD 178 to meet what is now Veterans Highway at an acute intersection at Dorrs Corner.
MD 178 was relocated to its present perpendicular intersection with Veterans Highway by 1978.
See also
*
References
External links
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MDRoads: MD 178Maryland Roads - MD 178
178
Maryland Route 178
Maryland Route 178 (MD 178) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Generals Highway, the highway runs from MD 450 in Parole north to Veterans Highway near Millersville. MD 178 connects Annapolis with Crownsville in centra ...