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D−History
History · North Laurel

Half of North Laurel’s homes were built after 1994

More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #247 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of North Laurel was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From North Laurel’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About North Laurel’s history

How historic is North Laurel?

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More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives North Laurel’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Laurel is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #247 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of North Laurel’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.4) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 4%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 5%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so North Laurel’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 North Laurel’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s North Laurel, and 12 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1942. Watch North Laurel change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start North Laurel’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how North Laurel’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSign along U.S. 1 a few miles north of …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Highridge, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Beech Crest Mobile EstatesCanterbury RidingEvemar Mobile Home ParkHammonds PromiseHigh RidgeMidway Mobile Home ParkNorth Laurel ParkNorth RidgeNorthgate WoodsPfister Mobile Home ParkRobinsons PromiseSettlers Landing
Gone or out of use
Colesville SchoolschoolSavage Stationlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

North Laurel on the map, 1892 to 1942

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Laurel. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

North Laurel on the 1892 USGS mapNorth Laurel on the 1907 USGS mapNorth Laurel on the 1926 USGS mapNorth Laurel on the 1942 USGS map1892Laurel sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of North Laurel.

The story

How North Laurel came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of North Laurel.

Read it all →

The edge of the Arundel Formation underlies the North Laurel area. The astrodon, a herbivorous sauropod, was present about 112 million years ago. Prior to 10,700 B.C. North Laurel was a spruce forest evolving into a boreal forest occupied by mammals ranging from mastodon to sloth. By 3000 B.C. the vegetation was similar to modern plant life.

Native Americans lived along the Patuxent River since at least 6500 B.C. By the time of European contact, the lands in the region were occupied by various tribes of Algonquin speaking Native Americans.

ChaptersNaturalPrecolonialHistoric

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

North Laurel, 1892 to 1998

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Highridge post office opens
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1899Post officeThe Highridge post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1940In the archiveSign along U.S. 1 a few miles north of Laurel, Maryland
  7. 1998In the archiveNorth Laurel Aug 1998
By decade

North Laurel, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Sign along U.S. 1 a few miles north of Laurel, Maryland1940Sign along U.S. 1 a few miles north of Laurel, Maryla…[Untitled photo]1940[Untitled photo]
1950s–1980snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
North Laurel Aug 19981998North Laurel Aug 1998
Today9 recent
2019-06-05 11 42 17 View south along Interstate 95 at the exit for the Rest Area and Maryland Welcome Center along the …20192019-06-05 11 42 17 View south along Interstate 95 at…2016-09-16 13 55 45 View north along Interstate 95 just north of Exit 35 (Maryland State Route 216, Laurel, Scaggsville…20162016-09-16 13 55 45 View north along Interstate 95 ju…2016-09-16 13 18 09 View west along Maryland State Route 216 between Interstate 95 and Leishear Road in20162016-09-16 13 18 09 View west along Maryland State Ro…2016-09-16 13 11 09 View south along Maryland State Route 983 (Old Scaggsville Road) just south of Oxley Forest Court in20162016-09-16 13 11 09 View south along Maryland State R…2016-09-16 13 06 29 View north along Maryland State Route 983 (Old Scaggsville Road) at Pilgrim Avenue in20162016-09-16 13 06 29 View north along Maryland State R…2016-09-15 14 02 53 View north along U.S. Route 1 (2nd Street) just north of the Patuxent River in20162016-09-15 14 02 53 View north along U.S. Route 1 (2n…North Laurel, Maryland2014North Laurel, MarylandOverlookFarm2013OverlookFarmNorth Laurel Community Center Opening2011North Laurel Community Center Opening
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Sign along U.S. 1 a few miles north of Laurel, Maryland
Retake this viewSign along U.S. 1 a few miles north of Laurel, Maryland, 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on North Laurel’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

North Laurel, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00020002020Peak: 25,379

Between 20,259 and 25,379 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Laurel’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to North Laurel

Nobody well known was born in North Laurel itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Toni BraxtonAmerican singer · b. 1966
Neal StephensonAmerican science fiction writer · b. 1959
Matthew CentrowitzAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1989
T
Tamar BraxtonAmerican singer · b. 1977
Peter DavidAmerican writer of comic books, novels, televis… · b. 1956
Jack DouglassAmerican Internet personality · b. 1988
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Savage4 historic placesA−Laurel3 historic placesC+ScaggsvilleIts storyDColumbia5 historic placesCMaryland CityIts storyD

Questions about North Laurel’s history

How does North Laurel rank for history?

North Laurel is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #247 of 261 in Maryland. 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.

How old are the homes in North Laurel?

0.3% of North Laurel’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1994.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.