Laurel is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 ...

, United States, located midway between

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

on the banks of the

Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeas ...

, in northern

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

. Its population was 30,060 at the 2020 census. Founded as a

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe ...

in the early 19th century, Laurel expanded local industry and was later able to become an early

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for Washington and Baltimore workers following the arrival of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1835. Largely residential today, the city maintains a historic district centered on its Main Street. The

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

has a prominent presence in the Laurel area today, with the

Fort Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States military bands#Army Field Band, United States Army Field Band, and the head ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

base, the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

and Johns Hopkins'

Applied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (or simply Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL) is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center (UARC) in Howard County, Maryland. It is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University ...

all located nearby. Laurel Park, a thoroughbred horse racetrack, is located just outside the city limits.

History

Natural history

Many dinosaur fossils from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

Era are preserved in a park in Laurel. The site, which among other finds has yielded fossilized teeth from

Astrodon ''Astrodon'' is a genus of large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, measuring in length, in height and in body mass. It lived in what is now the eastern United States during the Early Cretaceous period, and fossils have been found in the Arundel ...

and

Priconodon ''Priconodon'' (meaning "saw cone tooth") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur (perhaps nodosaurid), mainly known from its large teeth. Its remains have been found in the Aptian-Albian age Lower Cretaceous Arundel Formation of Muir ...

species, has been called the most prolific in the eastern United States. From the Late Glacial age in 10,700 B.C. to 8,500 B.C., Laurel's climate warmed and changed from a spruce forest to a hardwood forest. In the

Late Archaic Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Groh ...

period from 4,000 to 1,000 B.C., Laurel would have been covered primarily with an oak and hickory forest.

Pre-20th century

Laurel was formed from land on the

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

of the

patented by the Snowden family in 1658 as part of the 12,250-acre New Birmingham plantation, which included the later Montpelier. The Washington Turnpike Road Company built Route 1 between 1796 and 1812, creating a major north–south land route. Milstead's Hotel halfway house was built in town to serve four stage lines a day in 1816. Nicholas Snowden built a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

on the site circa 1811 which grew to a small

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

by the 1820s. In 1828, a detailed survey was conducted to build a canal from Baltimore to Georgetown to connect to the proposed

C&O canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the Grand Old Ditch, operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Patowmack Canal, ...

. The route from

Elkridge Landing Elkridge Landing was a Patapsco River seaport in Maryland, and is now part of Elkridge, Maryland. The historic Elkridge Furnace Complex, Elkridge Furnace Inn site is in Patapsco Valley State Park. Geography Elkridge is located in present-day Howa ...

to Bladensburg would have built a waterway roughly aligning with modern

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

and Kenilworth Avenue, with special consideration not to harm the water power for Savage Mill. The project did not go forward; the preference was to build a railroad, the B&O. Nicholas Snowden died in 1831, and the mill properties transferred to Louisa Snowden and her husband Horace Capon in 1834. In 1835, coinciding with the opening of the

Capital Subdivision The Capital Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. The line runs from near Baltimore, Maryland, southwest to Washington, D.C., along the former Baltimo ...

rail line from Baltimore to Washington, the Patuxent Manufacturing Company was chartered by Horace Capon, Edward Snowden, Theodore Jenkins, W.C. Shaw, A.E. Hall, and O.C. Tiffany and the mill expanded greatly with the addition of the Avondale Mill building in 1844. Mill president

Horace Capron Horace Capron (August 31, 1804 – February 22, 1885) was an American businessman and agriculturalist, a founder of Laurel, Maryland, a Union (American Civil War), Union officer in the American Civil War, the United States secretary of agri ...

with his partners built housing for close to 300 workers, and a bigger cotton mill.

Cotton duck Cotton duck (from , meaning "cloth"), also simply duck, sometimes duck cloth or duck canvas, is a heavy, plain weave, plain woven cotton Textile, fabric. Duck canvas is more tightly woven than canvas, plain canvas. There is also linen duck, whi ...

from the mill was shipped down what would become Laurel's Main Street, then by rail to Baltimore. A substantial dam was built in 1850. As a mill town, Laurel was somewhat unusual in Prince George's County and was surrounded by agricultural endeavors. The community was originally known as "Laurel Factory", named for its laurel trees, when Edward Snowden became the first postmaster in 1837 and was a true company town, with a school and shops, and many of the mill workers' homes owned until the 1860s by the company. During the 1840s, three historic churches in the community—the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

est. 1842, St. Mary of the Mills (Roman Catholic) est. 1845, and St. Philip's (Episcopal) est. 1839—established what are still vigorous congregations. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Laurel Factory, like much of Maryland, was a divided community, but with many Southern sympathizers. Union soldiers patrolled the railroad, and for a time there was also a Union hospital. During the latter half of the 19th century, while it still operated its factories, manufacturing played a less important role in the community. Laurel evolved into an early suburban town. Many of its residents commuted by rail to jobs in Washington or Baltimore. The town was incorporated in 1870 and reincorporated in 1890 to coincide with a new electric power plant and paved streets and boarded sidewalks. By this time, the town had grown to a population of 2,080, and the city banned livestock from the streets. In 1870, the Patuxent Bank of Laurel was founded on the corner of Main Street and Washington Avenue. In 1874 a delegation was sent to Annapolis to introduce legislation to make Laurel its own county of 10,000 residents with land from Prince George's, Howard, and Anne Arundel counties. In 1879 Laurel Academy of Music was built along Route 1. The building was converted to a movie theatre in 1915, with a parking garage on the lower floor of the wood structure; it burned in 1917, and Academy Ford built on the same site in the late 20th century. In 1888 inventor David J. Weems tested an unmanned electric train on a two-mile banked circular track near Laurel Station. The three-ton vehicle reached speeds of up to 120 mph for twenty minutes. In 1890, Citizens National Bank opened its doors on Main Street, as Prince George's County's first nationally chartered bank. Charles H. Stanley was the bank's first president, and it remained independently managed and with the same name until acquired by

PNC Financial Services The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of Columbia, with 2,629 ...

in 2007.

Branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

services are still provided from the original building. Along with those branch services being provided, there have been an additional 5 branches that were implemented. At the turn of the century, Louis Barret operated a hotel called the "Half Way House", later called the Milstead Hotel, which served as a stop for the four stage lines operating between Baltimore and Washington. In 1898, a stable fire spread to the 100-year-old hotel and burned adjacent buildings along Main Street. With only bucket brigades, Mayor Phelps telegraphed Baltimore to send a special train with fireman, horses, and engine number 10. One fireman was crushed by the rolling fire engine, and returned in a casket saved from the burning mortuary. The resulting losses inspired efforts to bring water and fire apparatus to the town. The town was struck again by the great Laurel fire of December 14, 1899, when a twelve-building fire destroyed the Laurel Presbyterian Church (known then as Presbyterian Church at Laurel). Proposed in 1897, Laurel's seven-term mayor Edward Phelps succeeded in constructing the first

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in 1899, despite several financial obstacles, by personally assuming the financial risks in doing so. The original building built for $5,000, now known as the Phelps Community Center, still stands at the northeast corner of Montgomery and Eighth Streets. It was 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 ...

in 1979.

20th century

In 1902, the City and Suburban Railway with the City and Suburban and Washington, Berwyn, and Laurel railway started single line electric trolley service. The

Laurel Sanitarium The Laurel Sanitarium for Nervous and Mental Diseases was a prominent Sanatorium, sanitarium, and later a women's nursing home, and landmark building along U.S. Route 1 in Maryland, U.S. Route 1 in Laurel, Maryland. The sanitarium was founded in ...

was built in 1905 on a farm that comprised what is now Laurel Lakes. The facility's purpose was to care for people with nervous diseases, alcohol, and drug addiction. Five buildings that were joined to a central administration building included 8-, 14-, 30-, and 36-room facilities for men and women.

Laurel Park Racecourse Laurel Park, formerly Laurel Race Course, is an American thoroughbred racetrack located just outside Laurel, Maryland which opened in 1911. The track is miles in circumference. Its name was changed to "Laurel Race Course" for several decades un ...

, a

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racetrack, opened in 1911 and remains in operation. In the book, '' Seabiscuit: An American Legend'', Laurel is mentioned several times as an important horse racing venue. Laurel also hosted a horse trotter (

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

) track named Freestate Raceway from 1948 to 1990; it was located in Howard County on the west side of US Route 1, south of

Savage Savage may refer to: * Savage (pejorative term), a derogatory term to describe a member of a people the speaker regards as primitive and uncivilized Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Bill Savage, in the 2000 AD ''Invasion!'' ...

in an area that now includes a

CarMax CarMax, Inc. is a used vehicle retailer based in the United States. It operates two business segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The company began as a side business of Circuit City Corporation, Inc., opening its first loc ...

dealership, Weis supermarket, and a

strip mall A strip mall, strip center, strip plaza or simply plaza is a type of shopping mall, shopping center common in North America and Australia where the stores are arranged in a row, with a footpath in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a ...

. In March 1912, the city agreed to take out $35,000 in loans to build its first sewer system with twelve miles of line that terminated by dumping into the

. In February 1913, Laurel was a stopping point in the

Suffrage hike The Suffrage Hikes of 1912 to 1914 brought attention to the issue of women's suffrage. Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque organised the first from Edinburgh to London. Within months Rosalie Gardiner Jones had organized the first American one whic ...

led by Rosalie Gardiner Jones. She was joined by a Laurel-based colored women's suffrage group and sent a parcel with a flag and message ahead to President-elect Wilson.

Board track racing Board track racing was a type of motorsport popular in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s. Competition was conducted on circular or oval race courses with surfaces composed of wooden planks. This type of track was first used for moto ...

came to Laurel in 1925 when a wood oval track was built by Jack Prince and featured 48-degree banked turns. The Washington-Baltimore automobile speedway was short-lived, with featured races of 16 drivers at a time. Despite crowds of up to 30,000, receipts did not cover the $400,000 cost of building the track on the 364-acre Avondale property which fell into receivership in 1926.

Natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

service was extended to the community in 1929. In 1931, "Angy Gerrin" built a 7,000-seat amphitheater next to the

Duvall Farm The Duvall Farm was a historic farm located in North Laurel, Howard County, Maryland, United States, now the site of Coastal Sunbelt Produce. History The Duvall Farm was a historic farm worked by descendants of one of Maryland's earliest settler ...

between Laurel Park and Route One for an outdoor boxing venue. His company, Mid City Boxing Club Inc, held several events with low turnouts and receipts confiscated by local police. It was sold the same year to C.E. Cornell, who called it "Twin Cities Arena" or "Mid City Arena". The arena was active through 1932 with the entire delegation of the

National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded i ...

attending a fight with Governor Ritchie in attendance. After watching the match and calling a fight to be halted in five rounds, the delegation announced efforts to drop junior lightweight and junior welterweight classes to discourage matches between young opponents. Operations ceased by the end of the 1933 season in the peak of the depression.

Prohibition in the United States The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

was repealed in 1934. Wasting little time, the Prince Georges Brewing Company planned a $500,000 brewery on 100 acres next to Laurel Park, but did not follow through. In 1954, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory built its campus west of Laurel in Howard County, using a Laurel address. By 1960, Laurel anticipated massive growth from Fort Meade and NSA. The town still used the Patuxent River to drain sewage, and filed urban grants for water and sewage infrastructure. 5,000 houses were planned in the adjacent 1,200-acre Maryland City development. City Planner Harry Susini anticipated the National Capitol Planning Commission would use clustered development to prevent tightly massed population in Laurel by the year 2000. In the late 1960s, the county was at the peak of racial tensions. The situation peaked in Laurel in July 1967 when four men and a juvenile, affiliated with the KKK, attempted to burn St. Mark's United Methodist Church and then a private residence in the predominantly

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...

of the Grove, prompting protests and police blockades. Due to cross-burning incidents, a Ku Klux Klan march, and several arsons and suspected arsons, temporary police barricades were erected throughout late July to prevent white residents from entering the Grove. In August 1967, it was announced that the city would re-purchase a privately owned swimming pool, which had been sold to a private club in 1949. The pool, which had only been available to white residents, was to be operated as an integrated public facility open to all. On May 15, 1972, Governor

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, running for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, was campaigning at a rally in the parking lot of Laurel Shopping Center, near what is today a

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

branch, when he was shot and paralyzed by Arthur Bremer, a disturbed, out-of-work janitor (see ''

An Assassin's Diary ''An Assassin's Diary'' () is a book written by Arthur Bremer and Harding Lemay and released in 1973. It was based on part of the diary of Bremer, the would-be assassin of Alabama governor George Wallace. Bremer shot Wallace on May 15, 1972, at ...

''). On June 22, 1972, Laurel was impacted severely by

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, ...

, which caused the greatest flooding ever recorded in Maryland. Several bridges were destroyed and the nearby T. Howard Duckett

Dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

Rocky Gorge Reservoir Rocky Gorge Reservoir is located on the Patuxent River in Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties in Maryland, between Laurel and Burtonsville. The reservoir was created in 1952 by the construction of the T. Howard Duckett Dam on th ...

was at capacity and posed a huge threat. In 1975, the city council passed ordinances to create a historic district around Main Street. In 1982, developer

Kingdon Gould III Kingdon Gould III (born June 16, 1948) is an American real estate developer, active in the Washington, D.C.-area. He is part of the fifth generation of the Gould family of financiers, philanthropists and diplomats, which includes his father Kingd ...

bought 3,539 acres of Laurel property (539 in North Laurel) in two deals for $15 million. The largest parcel lies between Laurel and Beltsville and is being developed under the name Konterra, buoyed by access to major highways via the construction of

Maryland Route 200 Maryland Route 200 (MD 200), also known as the Intercounty Connector or ICC, is an controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Maryland. It connects Gaithersburg, Maryland, Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, Ma ...

. The Elizabeth House, a nonprofit food pantry and soup kitchen, was founded in 1988 to serve low-income residents of the Laurel area. This later grew to include emergency financial aid and transportation. A former 1840s mill workers' home on the northeast corner of 9th and Main Streets was renovated and opened as the Laurel Museum on May 1, 1996. The museum features exhibits that highlight the history of Laurel and its citizens. A gift shop is available, and museum admission is free. The museum's John Calder Brennan Library is open to researchers by appointment.

21st century

On September 24, 2001, a tornado passed through Laurel and left F3 property damage, including significant roof damage to the Laurel High School and the historic Harrison-Beard building. On August 29, 2005, Laurel adopted

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...

, as a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

to help with

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

relief and recovery. In the two years following adoption, "the government, businesses and residents of Laurel, Md. ... raised more than $20,000 for Laurel, Miss."

Historic sites

The following is a list of historic sites in Laurel and vicinity identified by the

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is a bi-county agency that administers parks and planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland. History The commission was formed in 1927 by the Maryland G ...

and / or

Geography

Laurel is located at . The city is situated on the bank of the

, which was the power source for the cotton mills that were the early industry of the town. The zip codes for the incorporated city of Laurel are 20707, 20708, 20709, 20723, 20724 and 20756. Although served by the Laurel post office, Montpelier is not within the city limits; the same is true of the unincorporated communities of Scaggsville and Whiskey Bottom in Howard County, and Maryland City and Russett in Anne Arundel County. A small section of ZIP Code 20707 is located in

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Montg ...

. According 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 ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

As is typical of central Maryland, Laurel lies within the

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

zone, featuring hot humid summers and cool to mild winters with high annual precipitation. Laurel lies within USDA plant hardiness zones 7 and 8.

Demographics

For

statistical Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

reporting, the Census Bureau identifies four adjacent unincorporated

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

s: * West Laurel (upper west) * North Laurel * Maryland City (to the east) * South Laurel

2020 census

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 25,115 people, 10,498 households, and 5,695 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 11,397 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 30.1%

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 ...

, 48.9%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 9.2% Asian, 0.1%

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 ...

, 7.6% from other races, and 3.8% 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 people of any race were 15.5% of the population. There were 10,498 households, of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45.8% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.19. The median age in the city was 33.7 years. 22.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 37.2% were from 25 to 44; 23.8% were from 45 to 64; and 7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,960 people, 8,931

households A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is impo ...

, and 4,635

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

residing in the city. The population density was . There were 9,506 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 52.24%

, 34.50%

, 0.38% Native American, 6.89% Asian, 0.21%

, 2.30% from other races, and 3.47% from two or more races.

or Latino people of any race were 6.24% of the population. There were 8,931 households, of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18, 33.9% were

living together, 13.3% had a

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

householder with no husband present, and 48.1% were non-families. 37.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.97. In the city, the

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

was spread out, with 22.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 42.9% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

s. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the city was $49,415, and the median income for a family was $58,552. Males had a median income of $37,966 versus $35,614 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $26,717. About 4.3% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Roads and highways

The most prominent highway serving Laurel is

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

, which skims the western edge of the city. Access from I-95 to Laurel is provided by

Maryland Route 198 Maryland Route 198 (MD 198) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs from Maryland Route 650, MD 650 near Spencerville, Maryland, Spencerville east to the entrance of Fort George G. Meade beyond its junction with Mary ...

, which also intersects

in the center of the city,

Maryland Route 197 Maryland Route 197 (MD 197) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Laurel Bowie Road, the state highway runs from U.S. Route 301 in Maryland, U.S. Route 301 (US 301) in Bowie, Maryland, Bowie north to ...

just east of downtown, and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway just east of the city limits. Other major state roads in Laurel are MD 216, which connects the city with southern Howard County, and MD 206. The eastern terminus of MD 200 (the Intercounty Connector) lies just south of the city limits along U.S. Route 1 and connects Laurel with

Gaithersburg Gaithersburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the third-largest incorporated city and the ninth-most populous communit ...

Public transport

Two MARC train stations on the

Camden Line The Camden Line is a MARC commuter rail line that runs for between Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Camden Station in Baltimore, Maryland, over the CSX Capital Subdivision and Baltimore Terminal Subdivision. The Baltimor ...

to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. are located in Laurel: Laurel Station and Laurel Racetrack Station, the latter with minimal service. Laurel Station is a particularly notable example of the stations designed by E. Francis Baldwin for the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

. The

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

(WMATA)

Metrobus Metrobus may refer to: Transport services Bus Rapid Transit *MetroBus (Bristol), a bus rapid transit system in Bristol, England, United Kingdom *Metrobus (Buenos Aires), a bus rapid transit system in Buenos Aires, Argentina *Metrobus (Istanbul), a ...

service provides four routes (87, 89, 89M, and Z7) into Laurel, and local

RTA RTA may refer to: Media * Radio and Television Arts, program at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada * Radio Television Afghanistan ** RTA TV, an Afghan channel * Radiodiffusion Télévision Algérienne * Real time attack, a game speedrun Sci ...

bus service is available. Several taxicab and shuttle services also support the region.

Air transportation

Suburban Airport Suburban Airport was a public-use airport located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, two miles (3 km) southeast of the central business district of Laurel, Maryland, Laurel. This airport was priv ...

was located on Brock Bridge Road, just over the Anne Arundel County border. For decades the airport provided

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

access for medivac helicopters, flight training, business travelers, and served as a relief airport for light traffic into and out of the two major regional airports. This airport closed in 2017. The major airports currently serving the Laurel area are

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport – also known as Thurgood Marshall Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Airport, and simply as BWI Airport – is an international airport in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, ...

in adjacent

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...

, and

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, from Washington, D.C. The closest airport to the nation's capital, it is one of two airports owned by the federal government and ope ...

Crystal City, Virginia Crystal City is an urban neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, approximately south of Downtown (Washington, D.C.), Downtown Washington, D.C. Due to its extensive integration of office buildings and residential h ...

near downtown

Emergency services

The Laurel Police Department and the

Prince George's County Police Department The Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) is the primary law enforcement agency in Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland in the United States, servicing a population of over 900,000 residents and visitors ...

are the principal providers of the region's police officers. The

Maryland State Police The Maryland State Police (MSP), officially the Maryland Department of State Police (MDSP), is the official state police force of the U.S. state of Maryland. The Maryland State Police is headquartered at 1201 Reisterstown Road in the Pikesville, ...

patrol US 1, MD 198, and

, which pass through the area, and the

United States Park Police The United States Park Police (USPP) is the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It functions as a full-service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas ...

patrol the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and its connectors. PG County Police Department District 6 Station in Beltsville CDP serves unincorporated areas near Laurel, and the City of Laurel itself is within the station's beat map. The primary emergency services providers for the City of Laurel and surrounding parts of Prince George's County are the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department (Company 10) and the Laurel Volunteer Rescue Squad (Company 49). Both companies are part of the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department. The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1902. Today the department is located at 7411 Cherry Lane. Volunteer staffing is supplemented by four career personnel from 7:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Friday excluding holidays. The company operates three fire engines (Engine 101, Engine 103, and Engine 104); and an aerial tower (Tower 10). Ambulance service began December 11, 2006. A

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

unit staffed by two career personnel is also assigned to Company 10. The Laurel Volunteer

Rescue Squad A rescue squad is an emergency service that provides technical rescue services, and may additionally provide emergency medical services and firefighting services. Rescue squads may be standalone organizations or an integrated part of fire dep ...

was formed in 1952. Today the department is located at 14910 Bowie Road. Volunteer staffing is supplemented by four career personnel from 7:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Friday excluding holidays. The company operates one heavy rescue squad, one rescue-engine, three basic life support ambulances, and a

swiftwater rescue Swift water rescue (also called "white water rescue") is a subset of technical rescue dealing in white water river conditions. Due to the added pressure of moving water, swift water rescue involves the use of specially trained personnel, ropes an ...

team. The University of Maryland Laurel Medical Center, built in 1978 as the Greater Laurel-Beltsville Hospital, and now managed by the

University of Maryland Medical System The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is a private, not-for-profit corporation founded in 1984 and based in Baltimore, Maryland. , it owns and operates 11 hospitals in Maryland, 4 free-standing emergency rooms and over 150 care locati ...

, is located on Van Dusen Road. While it transitions to a full medical center to be built on the same campus, this facility currently provides emergency and outpatient services, wound care, hyperbaric medicine, primary care, and pain management, among other services.

Government

Municipal

Laurel is governed by a five-member city council and a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. There are two political

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s in the city. The first ward is generally the area north of Maryland Route 198 and the second ward is to the south. Two council members are elected from each ward, and a council member is elected at large by residents of both wards. City Council candidates must reside in Laurel a year before their election and during their full term of office. Similarly, mayoral candidates must reside in the city for at least two years prior to their election. Nonpartisan citywide elections are held every two years on the first Tuesday in November of each odd year. Phelps Senior Center on the corner of Montgomery Street and 8th Street/St. Mary's Place is the polling place for Ward 1, and the Robert J. DiPietro Community Center on Cypress Road is the polling place for Ward 2 voters. The next election, to select city council members, will be held in November 2025 with elected individuals to take office at the second regular City Council meeting that follows. Regular meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. The council elects one of its members to serve as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. The president of the city council presides over council meetings and can act in a limited capacity as mayor if the mayor is unavailable. Council members serve for two years each term; the mayor serves for four years.

Federal

The

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the following post offices in the city limits: Laurel, Laurel Carrier Annex, and Laurel Commons (at

Towne Centre at Laurel Towne Centre at Laurel is a shopping center in Laurel, Maryland. It was built on the former site of Laurel Mall. History On August 14, 2012, the city of Laurel hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to begin destruction of the former Laurel Mall. A ...

). Montpelier Post Office is in nearby South Laurel CDP.

Media and culture

Media

Television arrived in Laurel with the establishment of the first TV broadcast stations in Washington in 1946. For decades, Laurel has been served by the VHF TV channels 4 (

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A television service, Class A Telemundo outlet W ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

), 5 (

WTTG WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station WDCA (cha ...

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

), 7 (

WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

), and 9 ( WUSA /

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

) from Washington; channels 2 (

WMAR-TV WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( Maryland Route 45) in Towson north o ...

), 11 (

WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole ra ...

), 13 (

WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Woodberry, B ...

), and 45 (

WBFF WBFF (channel 45) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (based in nearby Hunt Valley), alongside ABC affiliate WJLA- ...

) from Baltimore; plus

Maryland Public Television Maryland Public Television (MPT) is the PBS member state network for the U.S. state of Maryland. It operates under the auspices of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission, an agency of the Maryland state government that holds the licens ...

from Annapolis and Baltimore. In addition, there are dozens of

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

TV stations from Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis. From these three cities, scores of AM and FM radio stations reach Laurel. Laurel has one local newspaper, the '' Laurel Leader'', and one

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting, AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. Duri ...

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmi ...

station, WACA 900, with an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format. With its location between Washington and Baltimore, Laurel is also served by their daily newspapers ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'' and ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

''. Many Laurel residents also read a free

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

, the ''

Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative news magazine based in Washington, D.C., consisting of a website and a weekly printed magazine. It is owned by Philip Anschutz through MediaDC, a subsidiar ...

''.

Arts

Local performing arts outlets include the

Venus Theatre Venus Theatre is the longest-running regional theater producing only plays written by women. The theatre was founded as a nonprofit in Laurel by Deborah Randall in 2001. Deborah Randall is the founding Artistic Director. The musical director i ...

, Laurel Mill Playhouse, Central Maryland Chorale (formerly Laurel Oratorio Society) and Montpelier Arts Center, which also features an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

. Another local exhibitor is the WSSC Art Gallery.

Events

The city government supports an annual LakeFest in May and

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

celebration each July. Since 1981, the Laurel

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

has sponsored a Main Street Festival (held on Saturday of

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

weekend) each May, and since 1995 a RiverFest each October. The Montpelier Mansion grounds have hosted an annual festival the first weekend in May since 1971, updated in 2007 to focus on an "herb, tea and arts" theme.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools within and serving the city limits

Prince George's County Public Schools Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) is a public school district that serves Prince George's County, Maryland. During the 2023–24 academic year, the district enrolled around 133,000 students and operated over 200 schools. PGCPS is t ...

serves residents within Laurel's city limits. Many city residents are zoned to Laurel Elementary School or Scotchtown Hills Elementary School, both within the city limits. There are also residential portions of the city zoned to schools outside the city limits: Bond Mill Elementary School in West Laurel CDP, Deerfield Run Elementary School in South Laurel CDP, Oaklands Elementary School in South Laurel, and Vansville Elementary School in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

near Beltsville. Two public middle schools, Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School in South Laurel CDP and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Beltsville CDP serve the actual city of Laurel. Laurel High School in the city limits serves the city of Laurel. During the era of legally-required racial segregation of schools, black students from Laurel attended Lakeland High School in College Park in the period 1928–1950,
African-American Historic and Cultural Resources in Prince George's County, Maryland
'.

, February 2012. p. 63 (document page 67). Retrieved on September 6, 2018.Lakeland Community Heritage Project Inc. ''Lakeland: African Americans in College Park''.

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American Publishing, publisher of neighborhood, local history, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs th ...

, September 18, 2012. , 9781439622742.

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

br>PT37
and

Fairmont Heights High School Fairmont Heights High School (est.1950) is an American public comprehensive secondary school located in Landover, Maryland,Fairmount Heights, from 1950 to 1964; around 1964, legally-required racial segregation of schools ended.

Public schools nearby

Nearby elementary schools serving areas outside of the Laurel city limits include Bond Mill, Deerfield Run, James H. Harrison, Montpelier, Oaklands, and Scotchtown Hills Elementary Schools in Prince George's County; Brock Bridge and Maryland City Elementary Schools in Anne Arundel County; Burtonsville Elementary School in Montgomery County, and Forest Ridge, Gorman Crossing,

Hammond Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in Sout ...

, and Laurel Woods Elementary Schools in Howard County. Areas near Laurel in adjacent counties are served by MacArthur and Meade Middle Schools in Anne Arundel County, Benjamin Banneker Middle School in Montgomery County, and Hammond, Patuxent Valley, and Murray Hill Middle Schools in Howard County. Other public high schools which serve the adjacent areas outside Prince George's County include

Meade High School Meade Senior High School is a public high school for grades 9 through 12 located at Fort Meade, Maryland, United States and is administered by Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Since its opening in 1977, the school has been accredited by the ...

in Anne Arundel County,

Paint Branch High School Paint Branch High School is a public high school located in the Fairland census-designated place in unincorporated Montgomery County, Maryland, with a Burtonsville postal address. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. The ...

in Montgomery County, and Atholton, Guilford Park,

, and Reservoir High Schools in Howard County. A notable

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. Normally, a student will attend an elementary school, and this also determines the middle school and high school they attend unless they mo ...

in Prince George's County is Eleanor Roosevelt High School.

District of Columbia alternative school

District of Columbia Public Schools The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for Washington, D.C. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter schools in the city. Compositi ...

operates an alternative middle and high school near Laurel named

Maya Angelou Academy The Maya Angelou Academy at New Beginnings, renamed from Oak Hill Academy in May 2009, is an alternative school operated by the non-profit See Forever Foundation which manages Maya Angelou Schools. Named after American poet and civil rights acti ...

Private schools

* Augsburg Academy – Christian Day School; age 4 through grade 9 * Faith Baptist Christian School –

Pre-K Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through grade 8 * First Baptist School of Laurel – Pre-K through grade 8 * Julia Brown Montesorri School – Pre-K through grade 3 * Kiddie Academy of Laurel – for ages 6 weeks through 12 years * Kiddies Kollege Christian Center – for ages 2 years through 5 years * Laurel Baptist Academy –

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through grade 12 * Pallotti Day Care Center –

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

kindergarten * St. Mary of the Mills School – Catholic kindergarten through grade 8 * St. Vincent Pallotti High School – Catholic high school

Colleges, universities, and trade schools

Prince George's Community College Prince George's Community College (PGCC) is a Public college, public community college in Largo, Maryland, Largo in Prince George's County, Maryland. The college serves Prince George's County and surrounding areas, including Washington, D.C. H ...

and

Howard Community College Howard Community College (HCC or Howard CC) is a Public college, public community college in Columbia, Maryland. It offers classes for credit in more than 100 programs, non-credit classes, and workforce development programs. In addition to the ...

share a campus in Laurel called the Laurel College Center.

Capitol Technology University Capitol Technology University (formerly Capitol College) is a private university in South Laurel, Maryland, near Washington, DC. The university was founded in 1927 as the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute by a former US Navy Radioman. CREI c ...

is located south of Laurel. The Anne Arundel County section of Laurel hosts the Woodland

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young people ages 16 to 24.

Center.

Public libraries

Prince George's County Memorial Library System operates the Laurel Branch Library at the intersection of Seventh Street and Talbott Avenue. The "Maryland City at Russett" branch of the Anne Arundel County Public Library and the Savage branch of the Howard County Public Library System are also available to Laurel area residents.

Sports and recreation

Laurel's Department of Parks & Recreation sponsors seasonal sports leagues for adults, with youth leagues in the area offered by Laurel Little League, Greater Laurel United Soccer Club (GLUSC), Laurel Soccer Club (LSC), and the Laurel

Boys and Girls Club Boys & Girls Club may refer to: * Boys & Girls Clubs of America * Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada * Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs, Bronx, United States * Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, in Essex and East London, England * The Boys' and Girls' Clubs ...

. Events are held among eleven city parks, three athletic fields, and three community centers. The city also operates a municipal swimming pool and tennis courts. Four indoor facilities and seven outdoor facilities are available for private rental. The Fairland Sports and Athletic Complex on the grounds of the Fairland Regional Park, southwest of the city limits, is operated by the

. These facilities offer a broad variety of activities including swimming, gymnastics, tennis, racquetball, weight training, child sitting, and massage therapy. Also located within Fairland Regional Park,

The Gardens Ice House The Gardens Ice House is a privately operated skating and fitness facility in Laurel, Maryland. Built on Fairland Regional Park land, the venue features an Olympic ice rink, two NHL rinks (the third of these added on January 1, 1999), and since No ...

skating facility offers three ice rinks for ice skating lessons, public skating, figure skating, hockey, speed skating, and curling. Recent additional activities include basketball and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. The Gardens Ice House is also home to the Washington Jr. Nationals Tier III Junior A ice hockey team, playing in the

Atlantic Junior Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League (EHL) is an American Tier II junior ice hockey league with teams in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The EHL was officially announced on June 6, 2013, after the Atlantic Junior Hockey League (AtJHL) we ...

and the Tri-City Eagles that play for the Chesapeake Bay Hockey League as well as the Maryland Reapers, an indoor football franchise of the

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the ...

League. The Laurel Roller Skating Center, just north of the city limits, provides a location for public roller skating.

Notable people

* Simon Cho – Olympic short track speed skater * Jim Clash – participatory adventure journalist * R. Orin Cornett – physicist, university professor, and administrator; inventor of a literacy system for the deaf known as

Cued speech Cued speech is a visual system of communication used with and among deaf or hard-of-hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of handshapes, known as cues (represe ...

* Edith DeVoe – first black nurse admitted to the regular U.S. Navy; died from lung cancer at the Cherry Lane Nursing Center in Laurel *Future president

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

and his wife

Mamie Eisenhower Mary Geneva "Mamie" Eisenhower (; November 14, 1896 – November 1, 1979) was First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 as the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Born in Boone, Iowa, she was raised in a wealthy household in Colo ...

– lived at Mrs. Ray's Boarding House at 327 Montgomery Street in June 1919 during the couple's third year of marriage * Christopher Emery – Chief Enterprise Architect of the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

and former

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Usher *

Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...

– former

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

lead guitarist; attended Laurel High School in the 1970s *

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. She is the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill and fronted the electropunk band Le Tigre ...

– former

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pio ...

and current

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...

band member; attended O.W. Phair Elementary School in Laurel *

Ernest Lyon Ernest A. Lyon (October 22, 1860 – July 17, 1938) was an African-American minister, educator and diplomat. Early life and education Lyon was born on October 22, 1860, in on the coast of Belize, British Honduras to Emmanuel Lyon and Ann ...

– former

United States Ambassador to Liberia This is a record of ambassadors of the United States to Liberia. Liberia, as a nation, had its beginnings in 1821 when groups of free blacks from the United States emigrated from the U.S. and began establishing colonies on the coast under the ...

, professor at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

, and founder of the Maryland Industrial and Agricultural Institute for Colored Youths in Laurel *

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer who gained prominence during hip hop's golden age. He was particularly recognized for ...

–

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

artistMorris, Mary
''Biz Markie''
. Remix. February 1, 2004. ''URL retrieved on January 9, 2007''. * Andrew Maynard – boxer; won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics; born in Laurel * Greg Merson –

2012 World Series of Poker The 2012 World Series of Poker was the 43rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, between May 27 and July 16, 2012, with the final table of the Main Event delayed until late Oct ...

Main Event winner *

Yvonne Orji Yvonne Anuli Orji (born 2 December 1983) is a Nigerian-American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role in the television series ''Insecure'' (2016–2021), for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and three NAACP Imag ...

– actor and comedian * Visanthe Shiancoe – former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

tight end *

Ron Turcotte Ronald Joseph Morel Turcotte (born July 22, 1941) is a retired Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. Career Turcotte began his career in Toronto as a hot walk ...

– Hall of Fame race horse

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

who trained at Laurel Park race course in the late 1960s *

DeWanda Wise DeWanda Wise (née Jackson; born May 30, 1984) is an American actress. She starred in Spike Lee's Netflix comedy-drama series ''She's Gotta Have It'' (2017–19), a contemporary adaptation of his 1986 film. Early life and education Wise was ...

– actor

References

External links

Official website: City of Laurel, Maryland

History of the City of Laurel, Maryland
{{Authority control Cities in Prince George's County, Maryland Washington metropolitan area Populated places established in 1870 1870 establishments in Maryland Cities in Maryland Cities in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area

History

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