Maryland Route 34

Maryland Route 34
Maryland Route 34 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDSHA
Length:	9.95 mi (16.01 km)
Existed:	1927 – present
Tourist routes:	Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Scenic Byway Antietam Campaign Scenic Byway
Major junctions
West end:	WV 480 near Shepherdstown, WV
	MD 65 in Sharpsburg
East end:	US 40 Alt. in Boonsboro
Location
Counties:	Washington
Highway system
Maryland highway system Interstate US State Scenic Byways ← MD 33 MD 35 →

Maryland Route 34 (MD 34) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Shepherdstown Pike, the state highway begins at the West Virginia state line at the Potomac River, where the highway continues south as West Virginia Route 480 (WV 480) through Shepherdstown. The state highway runs 9.95 miles (16.01 km) east to U.S. Route 40 Alternate (US 40 Alternate) in Boonsboro. MD 34 is the main east–west highway of southern Washington County, connecting Shepherdstown and Boonsboro with Sharpsburg and Keedysville. The state highway, which was preceded by the Boonsboro and Sharpstown Turnpike, was constructed as a modern highway in the late 1910s and early 1920s. MD 34's bypass of Keedysville opened around 1960. The western end of the state highway has had three bridges. A 19th-century bridge was destroyed in a 1936 flood and replaced by the James Rumsey Bridge in 1939. The present bridge, also named for James Rumsey, opened in 2005.

MD 34 begins at the West Virginia State line, where the highway crosses the Potomac River on the James Rumsey Bridge. The highway continues into Shepherdstown as WV 480. MD 34 heads east past an access ramp to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park as Shepherdstown Pike through a mix of farmland and forest. The state highway descends into an underpass of Norfolk Southern Railway's Hagerstown District, which crosses the state highway at an oblique angle then parallels the highway northeast past the historic home Mount Airy. MD 34 splits away from the railroad as the highway enters the town of Sharpsburg. The state highway's name changes to Main Street at its intersection with Mechanic Street. MD 34 passes through the Sharpsburg Historic District, which contains the Jacob Highbarger House, William Chapline House, Good-Reilly House, Joseph C. Hays House, Piper House, and Tolson's Chapel. At the eastern end of the town, the state highway intersects Church Street, which heads north as MD 65 through the main unit of Antietam National Battlefield and south as a county highway toward Burnside's Bridge.