Maryland Route 218
highway in Suitland, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States
Maryland Route 218 (MD 218) is a state highway located in Prince George's County in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Suitland Road, the highway runs 1.64 miles (2.64 km) from near Southern Avenue at the District of Columbia boundary east to MD 458 in Suitland. MD 218 provides access to the Suitland Federal Center, which is home to the U.S. Census Bureau. The state highway was constructed in the late 1920s and widened in the early 1940s and again in the late 1940s. The county portion of Suitland Road was reconstructed by the state in the mid-1950s.
Route description
MD 218 begins at Southern Avenue at the District of Columbia boundary. Suitland Road continues west into Washington to an intersection with Alabama Avenue in the Fairfax Village neighborhood. MD 218 heads southeast as a two-lane undivided road between apartment complexes and crosses Oxon Run. The highway passes between Cedar Hill Cemetery to the north and Lincoln Memorial and Washington Memorial cemeteries to the south. East of the cemeteries, MD 218 gains a center left-turn lane and passes between Suitland Manor neighborhood on the north and Suitland Federal Center on the south; the federal center's main tenant is the U.S. Census Bureau.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Maryland Route 218” is highway in Suitland, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Maryland, Route and highway, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “highway in Suitland, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2480216. Authority coordinates are 38.849, -76.925. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Maryland Route 218”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Maryland Route 218 primary sources, Maryland Route 218 archive and Maryland research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Maryland Route 218”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Maryland Route 218” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.