Maryland Route 76 (MD 76) 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. Known as Motters Station Road, the state highway runs from
MD 77 in
Rocky Ridge north to
U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Caro ...
(US 15) near
Emmitsburg
Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrima ...
in northern
Frederick County. MD 76 was constructed in two sections in the early 1920s and late 1930s.
Route description
MD 76 begins at an intersection with MD 77 (Rocky Ridge Road) in the village of Rocky Ridge. The roadway continues south as county-maintained Longs Mill Road. The state highway heads north as a two-lane undivided road that passes over the
Maryland Midland Railway
The Maryland Midland Railway is a Class III short-line railroad operating approximately 63 miles of track in central Maryland. It was originally headquartered in the former Western Maryland Railway station in Union Bridge, Maryland: it has sinc ...
and parallels the Monocacy River from a distance. In the hamlet of Motters, MD 76 intersects Four Point Roads, which leads east to the historic
Fourpoints Bridge
The Fourpoints Bridge, near Emmitsburg, Maryland is a wrought iron bridge by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. The bridge crosses Toms Creek and is similar to the Poffenberger Road Bridge
The Poffenberger Road Bridge, near Je ...
over Toms Creek, and makes a turn to the west. The state highway intersects Old Frederick Road and curves to the northwest before reaching its northern terminus at US 15 (Catoctin Mountain Highway) south of Emmitsburg. The roadway continues west as county-maintained Motters Station Road to St. Anthony Road, the old alignment of US 15 that leads to
Mount St. Mary's University
Mount St. Mary's University (The Mount) is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It includes the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. The undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, ...
and the
National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.
History
The first section of MD 76 was completed by 1921 as a concrete road from US 15 to Motters, a station on the Emmitsburg branch of the
Western Maryland Railway.
The highway between Rocky Ridge and Motters was completed in 1938.
Aside from minor improvements, MD 76 has not changed since.
Junction list
See also
*
References
External links
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MDRoads: MD 76
076
Maryland Route 076