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.