Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1910.
The Laurel post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Laurel’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Laurel.
Laurel was platted in 1880 by Conrad Weissenburger, and it was incorporated in 1902. The city was named after Laurel, Ohio, by settler Rufus Archerd.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Laurel, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Timber Creek and Laurel are little hamlets and post stations in Jefferson Township ; Green Mountain is a post station, and Fredonia is a settlement, both in Marion Township. Minerva is a post station in the township of the same name. Bevins Grove and Illinois Grove are post stations on the Minerva Creek, in Liberty Township. Stanford is a post station one and a half miles noi'th of Bangor, in Bangor Township. The Friends' Society have here located a seminary of learning, in which two teachers are employed and some fiftv pupils attend. Vienna is the post station located near the center of the town-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Laurel.
1980Laurel sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Laurel.
Between 179 and 278 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Laurel’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Laurel itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Laurel’s post office has been open since 1868.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Laurel post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1880.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
