Read All About It!

The Afican-American Experience in Laurel

By Sandra Johnson

Horace Capron
By Ken Skrivseth 

Previous exhibits:
Over Here: Life in Laurel During WWII

George Nye & His Diaries

Laurel School Room and Samplers

A Laurel Founder's Life ~ Horace Capron

Laurel History

Laurel's evolution mirrors the growth and evolution of small industrial towns across the Unites States. An 1811 grist mill evolved into an 1840's cotton mill employing more than 700 workers. By the 1870's Laurel was an early commuter town for people working in Baltimore and Washington. Laurel had Prince George County's first public school, its first national bank and first public library. It has the country's oldest continuously operating volunteer fire department.

Always striving for the independence that made it self-sufficient, Laurel once produced its own electricity, boasted its own water works, and uncharacteristic of small towns of the time, its own police force. As larger public utilities grew and replaced such local identities as the water and electrical works, Laurel always kept her small town identity. The Mayor and City Council form of government continues, as does the police department and other city services.

 

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