Maryland Route 381 (MD 381) 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 Brandywine Road, the highway runs from MD 231 at Patuxent north to U.S. Route 301 (US 301) in

Brandywine Brandywine may refer to: Food and drink *Brandy, a spirit produced by distilling wine *Brandywine tomato, a variety of heirloom tomato Geographic locations Canada * Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, British Columbia * Brandywine Mountain, British ...

. MD 381 connects Brandywine with the southeastern corner of

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

and the northeastern corner of

Charles County Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata, Maryland, La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Charle ...

. The highway was constructed from MD 5 through Brandywine in the 1910s. MD 381 was extended southeast to MD 231 in the late 1920s and early 1930s. When MD 5 was relocated between Camp Springs and Brandywine in the mid-1950s, MD 381 was extended north along the old road to Camp Springs. The highway was rolled back to its present terminus at US 301 in the mid-1960s. The route can serve as an alternate route to the more heavily traveled MD 5 for those wanting to go from St. Mary's, Calvert, and eastern Charles counties to Brandywine.

Route description

MD 381 begins at an intersection with MD 231 (Prince Frederick Road) at the hamlet of Patuxent between Hughesville and the

Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast ...

. The highway heads north as a two-lane undivided road to the Charles–Prince George's county line at Swanson Creek. Just north of Swanson Creek, MD 381 crosses the Herbert Subdivision of

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

Pope's Creek Subdivision The Pope's Creek Subdivision is a CSX Transportation railroad line in Maryland, running from Bowie to Morgantown where the Morgantown Generating Station is located and the Chalk Point Generating Station. History The Pope's Creek Subdivision ...

railroad line, which connects the Pope's Creek Subdivision with the

Chalk Point Generating Station The Chalk Point Generating Station is an electricity-generating plant, comprising oil and natural gas fired units, owned by NRG Energy, located near the town of Eagle Harbor, Maryland, United States, on the Patuxent River. Plant operator GenOn E ...

to the east. Road access to the power plant is provided by Eagle Harbor Road, which also serves the tiny town of Eagle Harbor. MD 381 continues through the village of Aquasco, which contains the historic homes Sunnyside and Villa DeSales and St. Mary's Rectory. The highway gradually curves northwest and meets MD 382 (Croom Road) at Poplar Hill. MD 381 passes through the village of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

, which contains St. Paul's Parish Church, and to the east of Cedarville, which sits north of Cedarville State Forest. MD 381 completes its westward curve before entering the village of Brandywine. MD 381 has a pair of at-grade railroad crosses at two of the three corners of the wye junction of the Herbert Subdivision and the Pope's Creek Subdivision. West of the latter railroad, the highway passes the historic William W. Early House. MD 381 veers northwest just before reaching its northern terminus at US 301 (Robert Crain Highway) adjacent to

Gwynn Park High School Gwynn Park High School (GPHS) is in Brandywine census-designated place, Prince George's County, Maryland,MD 373 (Accokeek Road), the northern end of short,

unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the c ...

MD 631 (Old Brandywine Road), and intersects MD 5. Brandywine Road serves the missing movements of the US 301–MD 5 interchange, allowing access from southbound MD 5 to northbound US 301 and from southbound US 301 to northbound MD 5.

History

The first section of Brandywine Road to be improved was from the Pope's Creek Branch railroad crossing east to North Keys Road, which was built by Prince George's County with state aid as a gravel road in 1911. By 1921, a segment of gravel road connected the Brandywine section with the Southern Maryland Road in the hamlet of T.B. at what is today the intersection of Brandywine Road and Old Brandywine Road east of MD 5. Construction on the remainder of MD 381 began in 1929 with the construction of three sections of gravel road between Brandywine to Aquasco. All three segments were completed by the end of 1930. MD 381 was completed as a gravel road from Aquasco to its southern terminus at Patuxent in 1933. When MD 5 was relocated to its present alignment from its junction with US 301 north to north of Camp Springs in 1956, MD 381 was extended north along MD 5's old alignment on Brandywine Road and Old Branch Avenue through Clinton and Camp Springs. The portion of the state highway north of US 301 was transferred to county maintenance in 1965.

Junction list

References

External links

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MDRoads: MD 381

381 __NOTOC__ Year 381 ( CCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Syagrius and Eucherius (or, less frequently, year 1134 ...

Maryland Route 381 Maryland Route 381 (MD 381) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Brandywine Road, the highway runs from Maryland Route 231, MD 231 at Patuxent, Maryland, Patuxent north to U.S. Route 301 in Maryland, U.S. Route 301 (US 301) ...

Route description

History

Junction list

See also

References

External links