These short bits of history tend to pile up as I do more research on various topics. Unless otherwise credited, all quotes are from the Laurel Leader.
1873
An ordinance was adopted that prohibited the obstruction of sidewalks by shooting marbles. Fines ranged from $1 to $5.
1877
A complaint was received regarding “persons or boys swimming in the Patuxent River opposite their houses in a nude condition.” The bailiff was instructed to warn them to discontinue the practice and to arrest all who disregarded the warning.
1890
After the Civil War, former slaves and freeborn Blacks began to populate the Grove, Laurel’s historic African American section of the town, which was settled amid a large grove of oak trees. Residents Frank and Sarah Carter started St. Mark’s Methodist Episcopal Church in their home on Church St. (now 8th St.) in 1890 with 28 parishioners. St. Mark’s became, and continues to be, the heart of the Black community in Laurel. When the church outgrew its home, it moved to a donated dance hall, which was placed on greased logs and pulled by horses to the church’s current location on 8th Street. It served as St. Mark’s until 1910, when major renovation increased capacity to 75. But by 1920 the congregation had swelled to overcapacity, so the building was sold. Once again, a team of horses pulled it across the street, where it became the Abraham Lodge. The new church on the site, which still stands today, was completed in 1923.
1905
In June, an advice column that briefly ran in the Leader published this touching exchange:
Dear Sir, Will you please inform me, through the column of your paper, how a young lady can get rid of a persistent and tiresome caller without openly telling him so. (Signed) M.G.E.
Answer—You are in a bad fix, the only suggestions that we could offer are the following—First, plead other engagements. Next is to act natural, so horribly natural that anybody but a born idiot would take the hint. That failing, try palming him off on your family. Then give away his flowers and insist upon your small brother gobbling up his chocolate creams under his very nose. Next, abuse him. Then make appointments with him and take pains not to keep them. Give his dances to someone else. Shut yourself up in your room and refuse to see him and the desired result is generally accomplished, even where all other methods have failed. If he still comes, you can either ask your father to hit him on the head with an ax or you can ask him why he doesn’t get married, so he will have some place to spend his evenings. Then he will either propose or quit. If he proposes, you can refuse him, and he is sure to come no more—at least for a while.
1918
In May, “the first military funeral in this neighborhood” was held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church for “the first of our boys in this vicinity to die in the line of duty.” The deceased was Vincent Beall of Jessup, who was burned to death at Fort Omaha when an observation balloon exploded and set a building on fire. “Arrangements were made to inter the remains at Laurel in order to give him a military funeral, which was easier, owing to the proximity of Camp Laurel.”
1926
In November, the Leader editorialized:
“Where do we go tonight?” remarks the modern sophisticated girl when the young man comes around to call. The good old days when the girls entertained the boys by sitting in the parlor and turning over the family photograph album or playing duets on the piano are no more.
That was a good cheap way of paying attention, but the modern young woman demands that the young man spend something more than the evening. Which is hard on impecunious youth.
And the expense of showing attention to the girls, particularly in cities of considerable size, constantly increases. Formerly it was considered enough to take a girl to some show, but now she often expects that her hungry voids shall be filled by a late supper afterwards. But if the boys did not spend the money on these girls, they might spend it on themselves in ways not preferable.
1948
In December, a man wanted for a series of holdups led police on an hour-long chase starting in Baltimore and winding through Baltimore, Howard, and Montgomery counties before escaping on foot when his stolen car crashed near Laurel. According to the Baltimore Sun, more than 200 city, state, and county police were deployed in an unsuccessful manhunt after the crash. Maynard Bowman, whose farm was about a mile from the crash site, told police he saw a man walking near his chicken coops around 11:00 pm. When he asked what he was doing, the man said he was on his way home. “That made Mr. Bowman suspicious because there were no houses in the direction in which the man was walking.” The suspect was never found.
1970
The year 1970 marked the 100th anniversary of Laurel’s incorporation as a municipality. Civic leaders, businesses, and hundreds of local citizens took part in the Laurel Centennial celebration. In an extraordinary display of community involvement, Laurel’s eight day centennial celebration kicked off with a parade, was managed by a Who’s Who of the Laurel business community, staged events in every corner of the city, raised tens of thousands of dollars from local businesses who lined up to sign checks and be sponsors, and, most impressively, produced a massive stage play about Laurel’s history at the Laurel Race Course that included a cast of almost 400 residents.
2006
The rickety Knapp’s News Stand, a Main Street icon for decades, was demolished to make way for the Revere Bank building.
Kevin Leonard is a founding member of the Laurel History Boys and a two-time winner of the Maryland Delaware District of Columbia Press Association Journalism Award.