History Crumbs

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.

1870

In April, Laurel’s incorporation as a city established five elected Town Commissioners to run the new government. This system ran things for 20 years until the 1890 Maryland Legislature passed an act that incorporated the city again, but with a new government run by a Mayor and City Council.

1918

In August, “lightning struck the house occupied by Mr. Owens at the corner of Laurel Avenue and Fourth Street during the storm last Wednesday night. The chimney was shattered and a hole was torn in the roof.”

1924

In February, the first amateur radio station in Laurel went on the air. Two employees of the Potomac Electric Power Company, J. Hohman Poist and A. Lamont Burst, set up the station with the call letters 3BML.

1927

In August, a notice appeared that read, “WANTED! TRACT OF LAND SUITABLE FOR A PUBLIC DUMP WITHIN REASONABLE DISTANCE FROM THE CITY LIMITS. MAYOR and CITY COUNCIL OF LAUREL.” The notice appeared every week for over a year.

1938

In May, to celebrate National Air Mail Week, an original drawing by Laurel resident Mrs. Robert Davies was stamped on all airmail letters sent from the Laurel Post Office.

1942

In September, the Leader published a plea on the front page: “Plane Spotters Needed.” Volunteers “willing to contribute to the war effort” were urgently needed to work the midnight to 6 am shifts looking for enemy planes from the cupola on top of the old Laurel High School. The plea from Chief of Observers, W.L. Armstrong, also commended the volunteers “who have served these shifts faithfully: Mr. and Mrs. Harry Arnold, Harry Arnold, Jr., Cissel Grauel, Albert Baker, Benj S. Elliott, J.B. Cowden, Albert V. Pohl, Thomas Coon, Everitt Marton, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Jones, Elhart Baker, Harry Brady, Wm. T. Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. Irving Specht, Philip Knox, A.A.T. Williar.”

1957

In August, Police Chief J.W. O’Brien reported that Laurel Police were on the lookout for a nude prowler, described as a boy about 13 years old. “A half dozen reports of the nude boy have been registered with police by local residents and one man said he actually had hold of him but the boy slipped from his grasp and escaped through the bushes.” His sense of modesty was misplaced, however. “He usually carries a T-shirt or towel with which he covers his face when observed, police said.”

1958

In August, Raymond Whiting escaped from Spring Grove State Mental Hospital, where he was undergoing mental observation. He had been charged with assault with intent to kill after shooting his wife in their Laurel apartment in July 1957. Whiting eluded police for a week until he was “surreptitiously returned” to Spring Grove by his brother. He was placed under maximum security and his bond revoked.

1962

In October, within 48 hours after President Kennedy’s announcement of a “quarantine” of shipping to Cuba to stop further buildup of nuclear missile sites, Laurel Civil Defense directors were in action. Mayor P.G. Melbourne named businessman Fred Frederick Laurel’s Civil Defense Director. Frederick called an emergency meeting at Laurel Junior High School, which saw an overflow crowd from all over the area. Frederick and other officials provided information on family shelters, provisioning, sanitary and medical supplies, radiation detection, and other survival items.

1978

Over 250 Maryland City residents attended the dedication of the Maryland City Library, located in the Maryland City Shopping Plaza. The library had a seating capacity in the reading areas for 60 people, and a circulation of 15,000 volumes.

1984

In June, the Laurel Police Department was involved in its wildest chase ever. Nineteen-year-old Albert Schaab led several dozen officers from six jurisdictions on a 51-minute chase—while driving a Winnebago. Shaab had been arrested by Prince George’s County Police on vehicle and police property theft charges. He escaped from Spring Grove State Hospital, where he was sent for evaluation after he attempted suicide. He stole a Winnebago and headed back to Laurel. The chase started when a PG County officer pulled behind him in the Laurel Sand and Gravel pits on Van Dusen Road. The chase veered between obeying the speed limit through Laurel’s city limits to over 90 miles an hour on Route I-95. From the gravel pit, Schaab led the police to the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, to Route 216, to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and to Route 29. He then went north in the southbound lanes of I-95, forcing dozens of cars out of the way. He was finally stopped when he smashed through two Montgomery County cruisers that had formed a roadblock to stop him. The Winnebago flipped over but Schaab was only slightly injured. He was taken back into custody by PG County Police.

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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.