Laurel is a town in

Sussex County, Delaware Sussex County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 237,378, making it the state's second most populated county behind New Castle and ahead of Ke ...

, United States. The population was 3,865 at the time of the 2020 census. Laurel is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. It once hosted the Laurel Blue Hens of the

Eastern Shore Baseball League The Eastern Shore Baseball League was a class D minor league baseball league that operated on the Delmarva Peninsula for parts of three different decades. The league's first season was in 1922 and the last was in 1949, although the years were not ...

History

The site of the town of Laurel was a Nanticoke Indian settlement known as Broad Creek Town during most of the eighteenth century. Its Nanticoke name is unknown. The Indian settlement was created on tracts known as Bachelor's Delight and Greenland in 1711 when the government of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, who originally claimed this part of Delaware, set aside land for the Nanticoke Indians. Nearly all the Indian settlers left within 50 years, relocating to western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The present town was laid out along the Broad Creek in the 1790s and was named for the laurel bushes that grew alongside the creek. On March 29, 1929, the town was merged with the neighboring town of North Laurel which comprised most of the current town north of Broad Creek (then known as Laurel River). This merger was not properly reported to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, which resulted in the North Laurel's population not being included with the population of Laurel in the

1930 United States Census The 1930 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during t ...

. As such, the US Census Bureau did not immediately make a change to the 1930 population statistics once the error was discovered, however it acknowledged in 1940 that the correct population for Laurel in 1930 was 2,542. West Laurel is one of Delaware's oldest free black communities. According to the Delaware Historical Society, West Laurel dates back to the 1790s. At some point in the 1870s Captain Theodore Marsh settled in West Laurel, brought property, broke the property down into plots and sold them to his shipmates. The graveyard for New Zion United Methodist church in West Laurel, which has been around since the early 1800s is the resting place of Marsh and his shipmates.

Geography

Laurel is located on the

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

in southwestern Delaware at (38.5565041, −75.5713141). According to the

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (4.07%) is water.

Demographics

957 families, 1,389 households, 3,668 people reside in the town. The population density was . There were 1,561 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 55.56%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 39.42%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.35% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.20% from other races, and 2.48% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.32% of the population. There were 1,389 households, out of which 37.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% were married couples living together, 26.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.19. In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 33.2% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,321, and the median income for a family was $30,329. Males had a median income of $28,006 versus $18,550 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,594. About 18.7% of families and 21.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.6% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Sites listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

include: * Chipman Potato House * Chipman's Mill * Collins Potato House * Hearn Potato House * E. L. Hitch Potato House * Laurel Historic District * Moore Potato House * Old Christ Church * Phillips Potato House * Ralph Potato House * Rider Potato House * Ross Point School * Spring Garden * Stanley Potato House * Wright Potato House

Library

Laurel Public Library was established in 1909. A new library opened in 2006.

Sports

The District 3 All-Stars from Laurel won the senior

Little League Softball World Series The Little League Softball World Series is a softball tournament for girls aged 10 to 12 years old. It was first held in 1974 and is held every August at Stallings Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina in the United States. Little League expanded ...

in 2011. The Laurel Blue Hens were a member of the minor league Eastern Shore League in 1922 and 1923, playing at League Park.

Education

It is within the Laurel School District. Laurel High School is the local high school.

Media

* ''Laurel Star'', a weekly local newspaper. * ''Leader and State Register'', a weekly local newspaper. *

WBOC-TV WBOC-TV (channel 16) is a television station in Salisbury, Maryland, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. It is the flagship television property of the Milton, Delaware–based Draper Holdings Business Trust, and is co-owned with low ...

(Channel 16, CBS Affiliate) has its broadcast tower in Laurel. * FOX 21 (Channel 21, FOX Affiliate) has its broadcast tower in Laurel. * WKDB (95.3FM known as "Studio 95.3")

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads are the primary means of travel to and from Laurel. U.S. Route 13 (Sussex Highway) is the most significant highway serving the town, connecting northwards towards

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

and southward to

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

. U.S. Route 9 also serves Laurel, heading northeastward from its terminus at US 13 toward Georgetown along County Seat Highway. Delaware Route 24 is the third numbered route to serve the town, traversing the region on an east–west alignment through the center of the town.

DART First State The Delaware Transit Corporation, operating as DART First State, is the only public transportation system that operates throughout the U.S. state of Delaware. DART First State provides local and inter-county bus service throughout the state and al ...

operates the Route 212 bus that connects Laurel with Delmar and Georgetown. The

Delmarva Central Railroad The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Ha ...

's Delmarva Subdivision line passes north–south through Laurel.

Notable people

* Richard H. Ellis, General, United States Air Force * Mark Briscoe,

Professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

Jay Briscoe Jamin Dale Pugh (January 25, 1984 – January 17, 2023), known by his ring name Jay Briscoe, was an American professional wrestler. He was known for his time with his brother Mark Briscoe as the Briscoe Brothers in Ring of Honor, where he was ...

* Bert Carvel, former Governor of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

* John Collins, former governor of Delaware (1821–1825) * William B. Cooper, former governor of

* Timothy Dukes, Republican member of the

Delaware House of Representatives The Delaware State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal number of constituencies, each of whom is ...

* Carlton Elliott, former NFL player * Alex Ellis, current NFL player * Dallas Marvil, All-American football player, 1931 * Joshua H. Marvil, former governor of

* Nathaniel Mitchell, former governor of

(1805–1808), Member of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

* Ron Waller, former NFL player and coach

References

External links

*
Laurel Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Towns in Sussex County, Delaware Towns in Delaware Salisbury metropolitan area