 Maryland Route 23 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Maryland Route 23 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by MDSHA | ||||
| Length | 20.58 mi[1] (33.12 km) | |||
| Existed | 1927–present | |||
| Tourist routes |  Mason and Dixon Scenic Byway | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| East end |  US 1 in Hickory | |||
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| North end |  PA 24 near Norrisville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Maryland | |||
| Counties | Harford | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Maryland Route 23 (MD 23) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs 20.58 miles (33.12 km) from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Hickory north and west to the Pennsylvania state line near Norrisville, where the highway continues as Pennsylvania Route 24 (PA 24). MD 23 is an L-shaped highway in northwestern Harford County that consists of two major sections. Between US 1 and MD 165 in Jarrettsville, MD 23 is marked east–west along a two-lane road with partial control of access named East–West Highway. From MD 165 to the state line, the state highway is marked north–south along Norrisville Road, a rural two-lane highway that passes through the villages of Madonna and Shawsville. The two sections of MD 23 are connected by a short concurrency with MD 165.
MD 23 from Hickory to Jarrettsville was one of the original state highways marked for improvement by the Maryland State Roads Commission in 1909 and one of the original state-numbered highways in 1927. The state road was constructed from Hickory to Jarrettsville and from Norrisville to the state line in the early to mid-1910s. The gaps between Jarrettsville and Shawsville and from Shawsville to Norrisville were filled in the early 1920s. East–West Highway was constructed in the early 1960s to replace the parallel Jarrettsville Road. MD 23's eastern terminus was moved to US 1's new bypass of Hickory in 2000.