Laurel’s post office opened in 1806, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #3 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 701 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Laurel post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Laurel’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Laurel is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #3 of 37 in Delaware. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Laurel’s overall grade.
Delaware towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Delaware town has 29.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Laurel’s 1,703 sits above most of its state (98% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 707 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Laurel’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Laurel, building by building, 1885–1922
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The site of the town of Laurel was a Nanticoke settlement known as Broad Creek Town during most of the eighteenth century. Its Nanticoke name is unknown. The Indian settlement was created on tracts known as Bachelor's Delight and Greenland in 1711 when the government of Maryland, who originally claimed this part of Delaware, set aside land for the Nanticoke tribe. Nearly all the Indian residents left within 50 years, relocating to western Pennsylvania. The present town was laid out along the Broad Creek in the 1790s and was named for the laurel bushes that grew alongside the creek.
The Laurel post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Laurel rank for history?
Laurel is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #3 of 37 in Delaware. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Laurel?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Old Christ Church (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Laurel Historic District, with 701 contributing buildings. 707 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Laurel?
28% of Laurel’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.9 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 1970.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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