My interest in compiling a Maryland route listing predates the (publically available) Internet. It all began in 1992 when out of curiosity I looked at a Hearne Bros. Maryland wall map from the fifties, and noticed the difference in routes between then and now (there were many more back then). I hurried and took some scribbled notes and crude maps. I've been intrigued by highways and maps since childhood, but had never thought of it from a historical persepctive. Yes, new highways are built over the years, but other routes and their numbers disappear over time, many of them obscure routes with an equally obscure or undocumented demise. I saw the Web as the perfect outlet for my knowledge of the subject, as others did for their roadly know-how in their corners of the world.

In late 1997, I ran into the misc.transport.road newsgroup on Usenet, where I found folks interested in the nuances of the highways of our great land and throughout the world. They even had a name for such folks, "roadgeeks" or "roadfans." Many of these road enthusiasts had created websites about their states' highways. Seeing that no site yet existed for Maryland highways, I resumed research in early 1998. Soon thereafter I had a text route listing, which I still update from time to time. This list will remain available until all the details are in the HTML pages. Work on the site continues, although I keep changing my mind on design issues and authoring tools. I have this nasty habit of leaving blank templates up in unfinished areas. If you were looking for a particular route and come upon such a page, be sure to drop me a line and let me know what route(s) you're looking for. Your input decides what routes get done next.

I hope you find this site (what part of it is here) useful and informative. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or ideas you may have.

--Mike