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.

1918

In March, the Leader reported that “Mayor George W. Waters, Jr., who has been confined to his home with a severe cold for a week, is again able to be out.”

1923

In December, the Laurel Boys’ Fife and Drum Corps was organized under the direction of Walter D. Lanahan. The Corps was composed of boys from every church in Laurel and performed at numerous events in town.

1926

In May, at a meeting of the Laurel Improvement Association, which was formed by concerned citizens to study infrastructure issues and work with the city to resolve them, the following item was discussed, among others: “Particular attention was called to the almost impassable condition of the driveways into the Grove, and it was the consensus of opinion that the colored people are entitled to at least one roadway kept in reasonable condition.”

1936

The first wildlife experiment station in the United States, the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, was established in Laurel. The Center made international headlines with its 51-year effort to breed and train whooping cranes for release. The program was de-funded in 2017.

1952

In March, the Laurel Volunteer Rescue Squad made its first run in an ambulance donated by Laurel’s American Legion Post 60.

1959

In August, the Laurel Junior-Senior Teen Club held a “Beachcomber” party, consisting of a dance at Laurel High School and then a swim party at the Laurel pool. Teens were encouraged to “dress as you would imagine one would look after living on a desert island.”

1962

In July, Major Lawrence R. Bailey of Greenhill Avenue was released after 17 months as a prisoner of war in Laos after being shot down by anti-aircraft fire. He was found by Communist troops who took him to a primitive field hospital. He was the first official American Prisoner of War in the Vietnam Conflict (which was not yet referred to as a war). Major Bailey was held captive and interrogated almost non-stop for two months. His captors threatened his life at gunpoint, subjected him to days of starvation, and in many other brutal ways tried to force him into denouncing the United States and giving them vital information about U.S. military strength and plans in Laos. While Bailey was recuperating at Walter Reed Army Hospital, President John F. Kennedy visited and pinned a Bronze Star for “meritorious Cold War gallantry” on Bailey in his hospital bed. When Bailey returned home to Laurel, Mayor P.G. Melbourne proclaimed a “Major Lawrence R. Bailey Day,” and the city staged a parade and banquet in his honor.

1965

In February, divers working in 30 feet of icy water in the Rocky Gorge Reservoir found the lost boundary marker between Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. Observing the operation was President Merl Myers and Vice President Thomas Burton, Jr., from the Patuxent Old Line Organization. This organization was formed by residents of the Brooklyn Bridge Road area when they were threatened with being shifted from Prince George’s County to Montgomery County. The 8-foot stone boundary marker disappeared in 1954 when the area was flooded to form the Rocky Gorge Reservoir. The discovery of the marker meant that the existing boundary lines were correct.

1970

In April, the Peoples Court re-convened at the Laurel Armory twice a month. The court, which heard traffic and minor criminal cases, but no civil cases, had not met in Laurel for the previous five months. The Peoples Court had been moved to Bowie, which did not sit well with Laurel Police Chief Robert Kaiser, who told the Leader, “when the cases were scheduled for Bowie, it meant that officers would have to be sent out of Laurel to go to court,” incurring more expense.

1974

In February, Laurel Police Officer Warren Frazier saw smoke coming from under a police cruiser at LPD headquarters. He saw an object under the car, which he kicked. Officer Frazier had unknowingly dislodged the fuse, which was a lit cigarette and a book of matches, from a homemade bomb. The next day, LPD arrested three 20-year-old adults and a juvenile, charging them with assault with intent to murder and conspiracy to commit murder with a homemade explosive device. The three adults were from out-of-state and had lived in Laurel (one block from Police Headquarters) for only a few months. Police Chief Robert Kaiser said, “It is the first such incident in the City’s history where a direct attack on Laurel Police by a bomb has been made.”

1981

In September, noted feminist Gloria Steinem participated in a match harness race against Loretta Swit, from the television series M*A*S*H, at Freestate Raceway in Savage. Taking no chances, professional drivers were aboard with the celebrities. As Steinem described the race, “We each sat ourselves next to the driver on a plank no bigger than an ironing board that is attached to a superlight rig. The whole thing is more like a coat hanger than the Ben-Hur chariot I envisioned.” The headline in the Leader claimed, “Swit nipped by a nose.”

2000

In January, as the clock hit midnight on January 1, 2000, the world breathed a sigh of relief when computers didn’t crash. Leading up to “Y2K,” Sunny’s Surplus on Route 1 experienced booming sales in survival gear, such as battery-powered lanterns, heaters, sleeping bags, propane stoves, and, for some reason, mace. Sunny’s Manager Charles Ostrander said some teens wanted full camouflage suits because they were “getting ready for some kind of Y2K revolution.”

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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.