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Laurel is a city about 14 miles northeast of Washington, D.C., in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 19,960 at the 2000 census. Laurel is home to a horse racetrack, Laurel Racecourse, which is actually in Anne Arundel County. Laurel was also the home of an automobile racetrack decades ago. The city is close to Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. Laurel is also home to a historic district, including its Main Street.
Parts of three other counties -- Anne Arundel, Howard, and Montgomery -- are adjacent to the city limits and are commonly called "Laurel" but are not actually within the city limits. The postal code of nearby Montpelier is also referred to as "Laurel," though it is not part of the city; the same is true for Scaggsville and Whiskey Bottom in Howard County.
The ZIP code for the City of Laurel is 20707.
History
Originally called "Laurel Factory" by its 18th- and early 19th-century settlers (due to the presence of an iron works along the local Patuxent River), the town's name was not shortened to "Laurel" until 1875. Laurel was incorporated as a town in 1870, and reincorporated in 1890 to coincide with a new electric power plant and paved streets.
In 1899, Laurel's seven-time mayor Edward Phelps succeeded in constructing the first high school in Prince George's County, despite several financial obstacles. The school building still stands on the corner of Montgomery and Eighth Streets.
On May 15, 1972, Governor George Wallace of Alabama, running for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, was campaigning at a rally in the parking lot of Laurel Shopping Center, near the Equitable Trust Bank. He was shot and paralyzed by Arthur Bremer (An Assassin's Diary), a disturbed, out-of-work janitor. An Alabama state trooper and a Secret Service agent were also wounded, as was a female campaign worker.
In 2001, it was revealed that Laurel had some small involvement in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Quotes are excerpted from:
- STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD FBI DIRECTOR ROBERT S. MUELLER III JOINT INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE INQUIRY
- In the weeks immediately preceding September 11, the suicide hijackers of Flight 77 stayed in various motels in the area of Laurel, Maryland and used publicly available computers to gain Internet access from the local Kinko's. During this time period, numerous interactions occurred in the areas of Laurel and College Park, Maryland, among the Flight 77 hijackers and the hijackers of the other flights.
- That same day in Maryland, Flight 77 hijackers Majed Moqed and Hani Hanjour checked out of the Budget Host Valencia Hotel in Laurel, Maryland. Earlier that week, Hanjour, Moqed, Salem al-Hazmi, and Khalid al-Mihdhar had visited a Gold's Gym in Greenbelt, Maryland on a visitor's pass.
In May 2006, Laurel became a news item in Greece in connection to the Greek telephone tapping case 2004-2005. According to the Chairman of the Hellenic Authority for the Information and Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE), testifying, on May 4, 2006, to the Greek Parliament committee responsible for investigating the case, it seems that one phone number related to the case exchanged SMS messages with a number in Laurel.
Geography
Laurel is located at (39.098258, -76.859093). This positions it on the bank of the Patuxent River, which was the power source for the mills that were the early industry of the town. Laurel proper is at the northern tip of Prince George's County.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.9 km² (3.8 mi²). 9.8 km² (3.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.79%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 19,960 people, 8,931 households, and 4,635 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,038.8/km² (5,280.2/mi²). There were 9,506 housing units at an average density of 971.0/km² (2,514.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.24% White, 34.50% African American, 0.38% Native American, 6.89% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 2.30% from other races, and 3.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.24% of the population.
There are 8,931 households, of which 26.7% have children under the age of 18, 33.9% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female 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 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 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.
The median income 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 for the city was $26,717. About 4.3% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Laurel is traversed from north to south by the major route U.S. Route 1, which links Key West, Florida, with the Canadian border in Maine. The city will also become the eastern terminus of the Intercounty Connector, an as-yet-unbuilt highway between Laurel and Gaithersburg, Maryland.
On the eastern edge of Laurel is the north-south scenic freeway known as the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, which is maintained by the United States Park Service. On the western edge of Laurel is the major north-south freeway Interstate 95. Crossing all of these highways is the east-west artery of Maryland State Highway 198, which crosses U.S. 1 in the heart of Laurel.
Suburban Airport is located off of Route 197, just over the Anne Arundel County border. It is a one-strip general aviation airport.
Two MARC train stations on the Camden Line to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., are located in Laurel: Laurel Station and Laurel Racetrack Station, the latter with minimal train service. Laurel Station is a particularly notable example of the stations designed by E. Francis Baldwin for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
In addition, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metrobus service provides four lines into Laurel, as well as a local bus service, Connect-a-Ride.
Emergency services
The existence of all these major highways leads to good police protection for Laurel. The city of Laurel has its own police force, and is part of the First District of the Prince George's County Police Department. The existence of Route 1, Route 198, and I-95 bring the Maryland State Police into this area. Also, the National Park Service has its own police force, which patrols the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and its connectors.Fire protection service is shared by Company 10, the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department, and Company 49, The Laurel Volunteer Rescue Squad, both of which are part of the Prince George's County Fire Department. Ambulance service is provided by Company 49, one of the busiest ambulance services in America.
Laurel Regional Hospital, managed by Dimensions Health Corporation, is located on Van Dusen Road.
Laurel municipal government
Laurel is governed by a 5-member city council and a mayor. There are two wards in the city. The first ward is the area north of Maryland Route 198 and the second ward is to the south. Two council members are elected from each ward and there is a council member elected at large. Residents vote for all five council members. Council members must reside in the wards which they represent.
The council elects one of its members to serve as president. The president of the city council presides over the council meetings and can act in a limited capacity as mayor if the mayor is unavailable. Council members serve for two years. The mayor serves for four years.
Voter Information
There is a nonpartisan city-wide election every two years held on the third Monday in March. The next city election will be on Monday, March 17th, 2008.Media
With its location between Washington and Baltimore, Laurel is served by the daily newspapers The Washington Post and The Washington Times. Many Laurel residents also read the Baltimore Sun and the free newspaper, the Washington Examiner.
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, 5, 7, and 9 from Washington, and channels 2, 11, and 13 from Baltimore. In addition, there are dozens of UHF TV stations from Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis. From these three cities, scores of AM and FM radio stations reach Laurel.
There are two local newspapers serving Laurel: the Laurel Leader and the Laurel Gazette. In addition, there is one mediumwave AM radio station, WILC, (Radio Novecientos, broadcasting at AM 900) serving the Hispanic community.
There is one movie theater, the Laurel 6, which shows both first-run American movies and Bollywood movies.
The Laurel branch of the Prince George's County Library is located at the intersections of Eighth Road and Gorman Road.
Laurel in popular culture
There is a line in the novel The Dead Zone by Stephen King, consisting of "Laurel, Maryland" repeated over and over. Presumably this represents a psychic allusion to the attempted assassination of George Wallace in 1972.
In addition, in Tom Clancy's novel The Hunt for Red October, an FBI agent pretending to work for DARPA comments to her target, a Soviet mole, "This is so much nicer than living in Laurel!"
External links
Cities in Maryland | Prince George's County, Maryland | Washington, D.C. suburbs
"Laurel, Maryland"