Maryland Route 491
|
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Maryland Route 491 highlighted in red
|
||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by MDSHA | ||||
| Length: | 6.78 mi (10.91 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1957 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: |
 MD 64 in Smithsburg
|
|||
| North end: |
 MD 550 in Fort Ritchie
|
|||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Washington, Frederick | |||
| Highway system | ||||
|
||||
→
Maryland Route 491 (MD 491) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Raven Rock Road, the state highway runs 6.78 miles (10.91 km) from MD 64 in Smithsburg north to MD 550 in Fort Ritchie. The middle portion of MD 491 was constructed in the mid-1950s. The highway was extended south to Smithsburg along a partially new alignment in the early 1960s, replacing a road that had been designed MD 92 from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. MD 491 was extended north toward Fort Ritchie in the late 1960s.
MD 491 begins at an intersection with MD 64 (Smithsburg Pike) in Smithsburg. The state highway heads northeast as two-lane Raven Rock Road, which flanks the western slope of South Mountain and parallels CSX's Hanover Subdivision. MD 491 veers east away from the railroad at Fruit Tree Drive and crosses Little Antietam Creek. The Appalachian Trail then crosses MD 491 approximately 1/2 mile further. The state highway follows the creek into Raven Rock Hollow, a gap in South Mountain between Buzzard Knob to the south and Raven Rock to the north. MD 491 follows the creek east and then northeast to an unnamed gap near Mt. Zion Road where the highway enters Frederick County. The state highway continues north to a four-way intersection next to the historic summer cottage Tipahato. From this intersection on the county line, Fort Ritchie heads east toward Sabillasville and Moyer Road heads north toward the communities of Highfield and Cascade. MD 491 turns west onto Macfee Hill Road into Washington County. The state highways descends to the site of the former U.S. Army installation Fort Ritchie within the community of Fort Ritchie, where the highway reaches its northern terminus at MD 550. MD 550 heads northeast as Military Road and northwest along Macfee Hill Road toward Pen Mar.
...
Wikipedia