While the southern part of the state highway is a two-lane undivided rural road, the northern part of MD 235 is a four- to six-lane divided highway connecting Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Patuxent River) and the Washington, D.C., metro area in conjunction with MD 5.

The state highway was then completely rebuilt during World War II to serve the recently established NAS Patuxent River.

In the face of increasing activity at the base, the highway adjacent to NAS Patuxent River was expanded to six lanes in the early 2000s.

The state highway heads north as a two-lane undivided road that passes through the community of Dameron and to the west of The Elms Wildlife Management Area.

MD 235 expands to a four-lane road with a center left-turn lane and the highway runs along the western edge of the military base.

The state highway intersects MD 246 (Great Mills Road), which serves the main gate of NAS Patuxent River, in the center of Lexington Park.

Beyond Pegg Road, which heads east to another entrance to the military base, the highway leaves the vicinity of the naval air station.

The road, established by 1692, connected Point Lookout and northern St. Mary's County along the drainage divide between the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.

[14][15] Immediately after the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II, the U.S. Navy made plans to construct a naval air station on the Cedar Point peninsula near Jarboesville.

[17][18][19] During the reconstruction of MD 235, the highway was relocated in many places between Mechanicsville and Hollywood to remove substandard curves and avoid grade crossings with the southern extension of the Washington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad that the U.S. Navy constructed contemporaneously to provide a rail link to the military base.

[24][25][26] Two sections of divided highway were completed in 1982: from Town Creek Drive to just north of the newly constructed MD 4 intersection in California; and from Oakville to Hillville.

[28] The portion of the state highway from just north of St. Mary's County Regional Airport to just south of MD 245 in Hollywood was relocated to the west along the right-of-way of the Washington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad, which had earlier been abandoned.

MD 235 was widened in Lexington Park and California between 2000 and 2004 due to increased activity at the military base and its supporting industries.