US Route 1: Baltimore to Washington, DC

by Aaron Marcavitch

America's Main Street, US Highway 1, Baltimore Avenue, Washington Boulevard--there are many names for the link between Baltimore City and Washington, DC. Connecting residential communities and commercial crossroads clustered along both sides of this historically important artery of transportation, this road has spanned three centuries of transportation, communication, and community development. From the earliest ships in Elkridge and Bladensburg to modern communities supporting the Washington/Baltimore region, Route 1 has been a vital part of this history.

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

Published March 12, 2018

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, so the title should be the give away. US Route 1: Balt to DC. Right? Well not really. The author takes a lot of time talking about the area to the right or left of where Route 1 is. He focuses a lot in Bladensburg and Ellicott City and a touch of Laurel. I am not sure if that is all the pictures he was able to find or something. But the book just lacked something and I quickly went through the pages and pictures to reach the end. He devoted a lot of time before the road was ever did and had about 5 pages or so for the 1990 to present.

So if you see this book while checking out something else in the library and see it, don't grab it (like those items at Target). Just look away.

[DW Rowlands · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not generally a fan of Arcadia Publishing's local history books: they tend to be heavy on nostalgic photos and short on actual text, historical facts, or any sort of interpretation. However, Aaron Marcavitch seems to have far exceeded the standard here. While the book lacks citations, it at least has a bit of a bibliography, and the photos used are interpreted with an unusual amount of historical context. As a resident of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor, I think that I'll be buying a copy of this book for my reference collection.

[Patricia Daukantas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I studied the photos and drawings -- sometimes comparing them with online maps -- and read all the captions carefully. Learned quite a bit about the area where I now live. I've shared a bit of the author's fascination with roads over the years.

I'm not sure why the author didn't mention the old Aerolab property in the Howard County part of Laurel (https://www.reddit.com/r/AbandonedPor...) -- it's visible from Route 1 and it has a place in the history of wind tunnels, which is related to transportation, after all.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about the evolution of transportation in the Baltimore-Washington DC area with Route 1 covered as a secondary topic. Very little is included about Baltimore or Washington DC specifically, the main focus being trains, trolleys, and planes in the Ellicott City, Elkridge, Laurel, and Greenbelt locations. A title change and different goal for the book might save this thing. As it is, it just doesn't work and I was disappointed.