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Friday 12pm - 4pm Saturday 12pm - 4pm Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Laurel Historical Society

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Laurel Historical Society

A small community museum and archives dedicated to 'Preserving Laurel's Past for the Future!'

06/11/2026

The presale for the Laurel Garden Tour ends tomorrow! Purchase tickets by tomorrow, June 12, and save $5 per ticket with advance pricing, so don't wait to purchase yours. LHS members will receive an additional $5 discount and exclusive access to a special members-only "secret garden."

Learn more and purchase tickets here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-garden-tour-5

We've included some cropped sneak peeks from gardens on the tour this year to add even more excitement! What are you looking forward to seeing on the tour?

This Laurel Garden Tour is a fundraiser for the Laurel Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Each and every ticket purchased helps support our mission to deepen the understanding of the past and cultural heritage of Laurel, Maryland, to connect and inspire, for today and the future.

06/10/2026

🎉 GIVEAWAY! 🎉 Win TWO Tickets to the Laurel Garden Tour!

We’re excited to announce a special giveaway! We want to share the beauty of Old Town and West Laurel with you and a friend, so we have two Laurel Garden Tour tickets up for grabs. This year's tour includes TEN private gardens throughout Laurel with select gardens featuring games and giveaways for visitor enjoyment. Have you already been on the tour in the past? Don't worry, this year features all new gardens for you to explore.

How to enter:
To enter, **Like** this post and **Tag** the person you'd love to take with you in the comments below!

The winner will be announced the morning of Friday June 12th, so make sure to keep an eye out. Good luck!

06/09/2026

Our Annual Rube Goldberg Summer Camp returns June 22nd through 26th! Join us at the Laurel Museum for this FREE summer camp aimed at rising 3rd to 5th graders for five days of fun building simple machines with a team, while learning about the connection to 19th century mill life.

Time: 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM daily
Location: Laurel Community Pool Room & Laurel Museum (additional location information will be sent in the confirmation email)
Cost: FREE (advanced registration is required)
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/laurel-historical-society-2026-rube-goldberg-summer-camp-tickets-1988922713376

For more information, contact us at [email protected].

06/04/2026

Laurel Elementary School is celebrating it's 100th Anniversary tommorrow, June 5th! The Laurel Historical Society will have a table set up with historic photos, student written newsletters, and a mascot costume on view. Stop by and take a look to see if you see any familiar faces and share your favorite Laurel Elementary School memory!

Drop by the school at 516 Montgomery Street from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM to connect with old friends, visit your classroom, and show your Leopard Pride.

Image: Laurel Elementary School 3rd Grade class in May of 1951. Laurel Historical Society Collection.

06/02/2026

The 2026 Garden Tour is less than two weeks away! The anticipation is killing us, so we decided it was time for a sneak peak. We don't want to give to much away, so here is a short description of an available garden experience!

Take a walk through a sprawling 1.7 acre lot featuring native, rose, vegetable, moon, and rain gardens, as well as a meadow area and greenhouse. Learn about garden beds designed to provide pollinator, bird, and wildlife habitats by a family with educational backgrounds dedicated to preserving wildlife, and certifications from nonprofit groups such as the Audobon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, the North American Butterfly Association, and the Xerces Society. While here, pick up some free wildflower seeds to enhance your own garden (as long as you're one of the first 25 to visit)!

Get your tickets here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-garden-tour-5

Your participation supports the Laurel Historical Society’s work to preserve and share Laurel, Maryland’s heritage through exhibits, educational programs, and community events.

This event is made possible in part through funding provided by our sponsors, James and Joshua Kole, the Maryland Humanities SHINE Grant, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Department of Parks and Recreation, Prince George's County.

Photo: Wildlife Habitat garden from the 2022 Garden Tour.

05/28/2026

May is Historic Preservation Month, and we are taking a look at a few of the preservation efforts that were contributed to by the Laurel Historical Society!

Both Laurel High School and the Avondale Mill were nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by the Laurel Historical Society on June 28th, 1978 and approved in 1979.

"Old Laurel High School", as it is referred to in the nomination, was built in 1899 and was the first public high school in Prince George's County. The original building housed high school students for 64 years, until the new Laurel High School was built in 1963. The building continued to be used as a place of education and served as overflow for elementary and junior high students. In 1976, the name was changed to the Edward Phelps Community Center to honor the Laurel mayor who championed the construction of the school. The building is currently occupied by the Laurel Boys and Girls Club, who moved in in 1974 and bought the property in 2002.

The National Register form was completed by Betty Compton, Jane Cole, and Stuart Hurtt, all members of the LHS. Read it here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/106777984

At the time the nomination was written in 1974, Avondale Mill was the only mill structure still standing from Laurel's 19th century industrial period. The mill was built from 1884-5 and originally manufactured cloth before transitioning to a gristmill ten years after opening. It was later used as a lace factory from 1915 - 1917, and was eventually bought by the City of Laurel in 1961 to use for city programs, but it was vacated due to structural integrity issues in the late 1970's. Unfortunately, a fire burned down Avondale Mill in 1991.

The National Register form was completed by Betty Compton, Stuart Hurtt, and Edwin Stretch all members of the LHS. Read it here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/106777906

Images: Laurel High School Circa 1905, taken by Bert Sadler. Sadler Collection, Laurel Historical Society.
Avondale Mill Circa 1907, taken by Bert Sadler. Sadler Collection, Laurel Historical Society.

05/27/2026

Last call to sign up for our FREE May Speaker Series event! Join us for Researching Your Historic Property with Christiana Limniatis from Preservation Maryland tomorrow (May 28th) from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm on Zoom.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaker-series-researching-your-historic-property-tickets-1988766804047

Don't worry if you can't make it to the event on May 28th, a recording of this webinar will be made available to attendees after the event.

During this virtual lecture, Christiana Limniatis, Preservation Maryland's Program & Outreach Manager, will focus on how to research historic properties for use in the landmarking process or casual research projects. She'll review the major goals when researching buildings, detail the key types of documents and research sources to consult, and detail how to organize and process completed research for a variety of future uses. While this lecture will focus on resources in Laurel and Prince George’s County, the information will be relevant to preservation projects across Maryland.

Christiana Limniatis is Program and Outreach Manger for Preservation Maryland, working to grow and expand dynamic and wide-ranging preservation services across the state. Originally from New York State, Christiana was previously the Director of Preservation Services at Preservation Buffalo Niagara and has also worked as a preservation consultant in Louisiana and Tennessee. In 2011 she completed her coursework towards a MA in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University and has a BA in History/Political Science from The College of Saint Rose.

If you have any questions, please contact staff at [email protected].

Image: Phelps House, circa 1974, Laurel Historical Society Collection. The Phelps House was built in 1888 by Edward Phelps, who was elected Laurel mayor in 1897 and reelected for six more terms.

Read more about the Phelps House here:https://apps.mht.maryland.gov/Medusa/PDF/PrinceGeorges/PG;LAU-28.pdf

05/25/2026

Today we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in military service to the United States on Memorial Day this Monday, May 25, 2026. We honor these heroes and thank them for giving their lives so that we may be free.

05/22/2026

Last night, we attended the 2026 Annual Prince George's County Historic Preservation Reception. The Laurel Historical Society and Laurel Museum received a St. George's Day Award from the Prince George's County Historical Society in honor of the organizations' 50th and 30th anniversaries. We were honored to celebrate these milestones with the other heritage organizations and preservation advocates in Prince George's County. Congratulations to all of the award winners and participants!

Image: President of the Prince George's County Historical Society Donna Schneider presents Karen Lubieniecki, Chair Emerita, and Kristen Norton, Executive Director, with St. George's Day Awards (from left to right).

05/21/2026

May is Historic Preservation Month, and we are taking a look at a few of the preservation efforts that were contributed to by the Laurel Historical Society!

In 1975, Betty Compton (one of LHS's founders), Richard Brennan, and PGC Historian Michael Dwyer conducted the first modern architectural survey of Laurel. Architectural surveys are the critical first step in identifying historic buildings and rare historic resources. This survey was used as a springboard by the Historic District Commission - which included another LHS founder, Jane Cole - for a detailed evaluation. The Historic District Commission was established in 1976 and worked to outline criteria for site evaluation and determine the buildings eligible as significant sites according to The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Maryland Historic Trust. These buildings included the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station, Citizens National Bank, Laurel High School, and more. The Historic District was identified by the Commission, and later redefined as six smaller historic districts in 1983. Later, a seventh district was added.

Find out more about Laurel's historic districts: https://www.cityoflaurel.org/1537/City-of-Laurel-Historic-District

Image: Postcard of photo taken by Bert Sadler of the Citizen's National Bank, 1917. Laurel Historical Society Collection.

Address

817 Main Street
Laurel, MD
20707

Opening Hours

Friday	12pm - 4pm
Saturday	12pm - 4pm
Sunday	12pm - 4pm

Telephone

(301) 725-7975

Website

http://www.laurelhistoricalsociety.org/, https://linktr.ee/laurelhistoricalsociety

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