Maryland Route 138

State highway in Maryland, US

Maryland Route 138

MD 138 highlighted in red

Route information
Maintained by MDSHA
Length| 9.24 mi[1] (14.87 km)
Existed| 1927–present
Tourist
routes|  Horses and Hounds Scenic Byway
Major junctions
West end|  MD 45 in Hereford
Major intersections|  MD 562 in Shepperd
East end|  MD 23 near Shawsville
Location
Country| United States
State| Maryland
Counties| Baltimore, Harford
Highway system

* Maryland highway system

* Interstate
* US
* State
* Scenic Byways

| ←  MD 137| | →  MD 139

|
|

Maryland Route 138 (MD 138) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs 9.24 miles (14.87 km) from MD 45 in Hereford east to MD 23 near Shawsville. MD 138 connects northern Baltimore County with northwestern Harford County via the community of Monkton on Gunpowder Falls. The first section of the state highway was built east of Monkton in the 1910s. The remainder of MD 138 was built west of Monkton in the mid-1920s and east of Monkton in the early to mid-1930s. The state highway through Monkton was maintained by Baltimore County from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s, during which the highway was relocated at Gunpowder Falls.

## Route description

[edit]

View east along MD 138 just east of MD 45 in Hereford

MD 138 begins at an intersection with MD 45 (York Road) in Hereford, one block south of MD 45's intersection with the eastern terminus of MD 137 (Mount Carmel Road). The state highway heads east as two-lane undivided Monkton Road to the village of Monkton, where the highway crosses Gunpowder Falls and the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail. On the east edge of the village, Monkton Road splits to the southeast and MD 138 veers east onto Shepperd Road, following Charles Run upstream out of the valley. The state highway passes through the area patented in the 18th century as My Lady's Manor. In the hamlet of Shepperd, Shepperd Road ends at Troyer Road. MD 138 turns north onto Troyer Road and Troyer Road heads south as MD 562. The state highway passes through Troyer and curves along a ridge above the headwaters of Little Gunpowder Falls. MD 138 crosses the Baltimore-Harford county line and reaches its eastern terminus at MD 23 (Norrisville Road) in the hamlet of Blackhorse near Shawsville. Troyer Road continues east on the other side of the intersection as a county highway.[1][2]

## History

[edit]

The first section of pavement along modern MD 138 was built along Shepperd Road from Monkton to J.M. Pearce Road between 1915 and 1921.[3][4] A concrete road was constructed from Hereford to just west of Gunpowder Falls between 1925 and 1927.[5][6] The gap in the improved road through Monkton was filled in 1928 and a bridge for the Northern Central Railroad to cross over MD 138 was built shortly after 1930.[7][8] The state highway from J.M. Pearce Road to Shepperd and along Troyer Road to the Harford County line was constructed between 1930 and 1932.[8][9][10] The short portion of MD 138 in Harford County was completed in 1936.[11][12]

MD 138 from just west of Gunpowder Falls through Monkton to east of Wesley Chapel Road was transferred from state to county maintenance in 1968.[13] The county section of the highway was extended west to near Piney Hill Road in 1972.[14] Baltimore County relocated the highway around and built a new bridge over Gunpowder Falls in 1975.[15] The old highway followed what is now Old Monkton Road on either side of the river; east of the river, the highway had a right-angle turn at its railroad crossing.[16] The gap in MD 138 was reduced to the section from just west of the new bridge to the Monkton Road - Shepperd Road intersection in 1987.[17] MD 138 was united when that section was transferred to state maintenance in 1995.[18]

## Junction list

[edit]

County| Location| mi
[1]| km| Destinations| Notes

|
|
|
|
|

Baltimore| Hereford| 0.00| 0.00|
MD 45 (York Road) to MD 137 (Mount Carmel Road) – Parkton, Cockeysville| Western terminus
Shepperd| 6.12| 9.85|
MD 562 south (Troyer Road)| Northern terminus of MD 562
Harford| Shawsville| 9.24| 14.87|  MD 23 (Norrisville Road) / Troyer Road east – Norrisville, Jarrettsville| Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

## See also

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* Maryland Roads portal

## References

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1. ^ a b c Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2013). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
* Baltimore County (PDF).
* Harford County (PDF).
2. ^ "Maryland Route 138" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
3. ^ Weller, O.E.; Parran, Thomas; Miller, W.B.; Perry, John M.; Ramsay, Andrew; Smith, J. Frank (May 1916). Annual Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1912–1915 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 128. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
4. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1921). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
5. ^ Mackall, John N.; Darnall, R. Bennett; Brown, W.W. (January 1927). Annual Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1924–1926 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 44\. 69. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
6. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1927). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
7. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1928). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
8. ^ a b Uhl, G. Clinton; Bruce, Howard; Shaw, John K. (October 1, 1930). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1927–1930 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 68, 199. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
9. ^ Byron, William D.; Lacy, Robert (December 28, 1934). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1931–1934 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 320. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
10. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1933). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System: State Aid Roads and Improved County Road Connections (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
11. ^ Tabler, H.E.; Wilkinson, C. Nice; Luthardt, Frank F. (December 4, 1936). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1935–1936 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 81. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
12. ^ Maryland State Roads Commission (1936). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
13. ^ Maryland State Roads Commission (1968). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
14. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1972). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
15. ^ "NBI Structure Number: 200000B-0014010". National Bridge Inventory. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
16. ^ Monkton, Maryland, United States (Map). Topo Map. United States Geological Survey. 1974-07-01. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
17. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1987). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
18. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1995). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maryland Route 138.

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Maryland Route 138

KML is from Wikidata

* MDRoads: MD 138

*[mi]: Miles
*[km]: Kilometers