Old Harford Road
| Old Harford Road | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Maintained by Baltimore DOT and Baltimore County | |
| Length: | 5.3 mi (8.5 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: |
 MD 147 in Hamilton, Baltimore City
|
| North end: | The Charles Hickey School in Cub Hill, Maryland |
| Location | |
| Counties: | City of Baltimore and Baltimore County |
| Highway system | |
| County Roads in City of Baltimore and Baltimore County | |
Old Harford Road, one of the oldest continuously-used rights-of-way in central Maryland, United States, is a southwest-northeast thoroughfare in northeast Baltimore and eastern Baltimore County.
Present-day Old Harford Road begins in the 6000 block of Harford Road in the Hamilton section of Baltimore City and continues nearly 5½ miles northeast through the Parkville and Carney areas of Baltimore County to near the Big Gunpowder Falls north of Cub Hill. Old Harford Road serves as an alternate route to both Harford Road (Maryland Route 147) and Perring Parkway (Maryland Route 41), and carries between 10,000 and 16,500 vehicles per day. Old Harford Road, like Harford County, was named for Henry Harford (1758–1834), the son of Frederick Calvert, 6th Lord Baltimore, and the last Proprietary of Maryland prior to the American Revolutionary War.
Old Harford Road follows a curving path along relatively high land bordering streams that feed the upper Chesapeake Bay, including Chinquapin Run. This suggests its likely origin as an Indian trail that subsequently was adopted by settlers to convey farm products from northeastern Baltimore County, Harford County, and southern Pennsylvania to the port of Baltimore in the late 18th century.
The name "Old Harford Road" appears on area maps dating to at least 1850 (see, for example, map display in the Meeting Room of the Baltimore County Public Library in Towson, Maryland). In particular, the 1850 J. C. Sidney map indicates that today's Satyr Hill Road, Cromwell Bridge Road north of Satyr Hill, and Glen Arm Roads collectively were known as Old Harford Road. Four sections of the Sidney map, annotated to highlight the location of today's Old Harford Road with respect to area roads of today, and with respect to the Old Harford Road of 1850, are provided below. Nineteenth century deeds to two notable properties in the area, obtained by Baltimore County historian John W. McGrain, substantiate Sidney's depiction of Old Harford Road. The "Shanklin House" (or "Forest Hall"), once located at present-day 8906 Satyr Hill Road, and "Serendipity," on present-day Glen Arm Road, north of Glen View, are both listed as being located on "The Old Harford Road." The Shanklin House once served as a tavern, and its 1845 deed notes that the property was located on "the well-traveled main road."
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Wikipedia