These seven highways are sections of old alignments of MD 26, most of which are named Old Liberty Road, in the communities of Taylorsville, Winfield, and Eldersburg in southern Carroll County.

That highway was extensively relocated and reconstructed across southern Carroll County in the late 1950s and early 1960s; many of the segments of Old Liberty Road became portions of MD 850.

The state highway curves north and ends at MD 26's intersection with Klee Mill Road.

The highway begins at a dead end a short distance west of Salem Bottom Road.

MD 850J starts to closely parallel MD 26; the two highways are connected by spurs on either side of South Carroll High School, east of which the state highway reaches its eastern terminus at a dead end.

[12][13] The final section of MD 26 between Baltimore and Frederick was completed from Taylorsville to west of the Carroll–Frederick county line in 1933.

[16] In 1957, work began on relocating, widening, and resurfacing MD 26 through Eldersburg and between Taylorsville and Winfield, leading to the designation of MD 850E to the old section of the main highway west of Winfield.

The 0.19-mile (0.31 km) section of Old Liberty Road between the now-disjoint segments of MD 850D was transferred from state to private maintenance in 2001.

The state highway started as Emerald Lane, then turned east parallel to MD 26 and became Old Liberty Road.

[1][28] The second is a spur on the westbound side of MD 26 at Oakland Mill Road between two arms of Liberty Reservoir just west of the Carroll–Baltimore county line.