The Drive » Get back on
the Pike/US 40 westbound
until you see signs to merge
onto I-70W, which is the main
connecting road between
Baltimore and Central and
Western Maryland. Get on 70,
then take exit 80 to get onto
MD-32 (Sykesville Rd). Follow
for about 5 miles into Sykesville
proper.3 Sykesville
Like many of the towns
in the Central Maryland
hill country between
Baltimore and Frederick,
Sykesville has a historic
center that looks and
feels picture perfect.
Main Street, between
Springfield Ave and
Sandosky Rd, is filled
with structures built
between the 1850s and
1930s, and almost looks
like an advertisement for
small-town America.
The old Baltimore &
Ohio (B&O) train station,
now Baldwin’s restaurant
(7618 Main St), was built
in 1883 in the Queen
Anne style. The station
was the brainchild of
E Francis Baldwin, a
Baltimore architect who
designed many B&O
stations, giving that rail
line a satisfying aesthetic
uniformity along its
extent.
Fun fact: Sykesville
was founded on land
James Sykes bought
from George Patterson.
Patterson was the son
of Elizabeth Patterson
and Jerome Bonaparte,
brother of Napoleon. TheFrench emperor insisted
his brother marry royalty
and never let his sister-
in-law (the daughter of a
merchant) in to France;
her family estate (which
formed the original
parcel of land that the
town grew from) is the
grounds of Sykesville
proper.5 p193
The Drive » Although this trip
is largely based on US 40 – the
actual National Historic Road –
detour up to Liberty Rd (MD-26)
and take that west 8 miles to
Ridge Rd (MD-27). Take Ridge
Rd/27 south for 5.5 miles to
reach Mt Airy.4 Mt Airy
Mt Airy is the next major
(we use that term with a
grain of salt) town along
the B&O railroad and US
40/the National Historic
Road. Like Sykesville,
it’s a handsome town,
with a stately center
that benefited from the
commerce the railway
brought westward from
Baltimore. When the
railway was replaced by
the highway, Mt Airy,
unlike other towns, still
retained much of its
prosperity thanks to the
proximity of jobs in cities
like DC and Baltimore.
Today the town centers
on a historic district of
19th- and early 20th-
century buildings, many
of which can be found
around Main Street. The
posher historical homes
near ‘downtown’ Mt AiryTRIP HIGHLIGHTATLANTIDE PHOTOTRAVEL/CORBIS ©WASHINGTON.DC,.MARYLAND.&.DELAWARE.TRIPS15
(^) MARYLAND’S NATIONAL HISTORIC ROAD