Maryland Route 297

Maryland Route 297 marker

Maryland Route 297
Worton Road

Maryland Route 297 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDSHA
Length: 3.59 mi[1] (5.78 km)
Existed: 1927 – present
Major junctions
South end: MD 213 in Chestertown
North end: MD 298 in Worton
Location
Counties: Kent
Highway system
I-297MD 298

Maryland Route 297 (MD 297) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Worton Road, the state highway runs 3.59 miles (5.78 km) from MD 213 in Chestertown north to MD 298 in Worton in central Kent County. MD 297 was constructed in the late 1920s. The state highway extended northwest to the village of Newtown between the mid-1940s and mid-1990s.

Route description

MD 297 begins at MD 213 (Augustine Herman Highway) at the northern end of a developed area north of Chestertown. The two-lane state highway, which parallels a natural ridge that serves as the boundary for multiple drainage basins, heads north through a mix of farmland and industrial properties, paralleling the Chestertown Branch of the Northern Line of the Maryland and Delaware Railroad.[2][3] MD 297 passes through the unincorporated community of Worton, where the highway crosses the rail line. The state highway continues north, passing Worton Regional Park before reaching its northern terminus at MD 298 (Lambs Meadow Road) just west of Kent County High School in the hamlet of Butlertown.[1][2]

History

Following the completion of the Kent County Rail Road, Worton was settled where Worton Road intersects the modern Maryland and Delaware Railroad.[3] MD 297 was paved starting in 1926.[4] A small piece of highway north of U.S. Route 213 (now MD 213) was completed in 1927; the remainder of the highway to MD 298 was completed in 1928.[5][6] By 1946, MD 297 was extended north along Smithville Road to the village of Newtown.[7] The extension to Newtown was removed from the state highway system around 1995.[8]

Junction list

The entire route is in Kent County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Chestertown0.000.00 MD 213 (Augustine Herman Highway) Church Hill, Kennedyville
Worton3.595.78 MD 298 (Lambs Meadow Road) / Smithville Road north Fairlee, Lynch
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2013). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Google (2010-10-11). "Maryland Route 297" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kent County Commissioners et al. (April 2007). "Worton and Butlertown Village Master Plan" (PDF). Maryland Department of Planning. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
  4. 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. p. 89. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  5. Maryland Geological Survey (1927). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  6. Maryland Geological Survey (1928). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  7. Maryland State Roads Commission (1946). Maryland: Official Highway Map (Map) (1946–47 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
  8. Maryland State Highway Administration (1995). Maryland: Official Highway Map (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.

External links

Route map: Bing