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History · Laura

Laura’s post office opened in 1850, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

1850first post office
0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
2famous people
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Quick answers

How Laura began

When was Laura founded?

1850

The Laura post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 398176 years
Founding year: the first Laura post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Laura’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Laura are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Laura’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Laura’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Laura came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Laura.

Read it all →

Laura was laid out around 1840. A post office called Laura has been in operation since 1850. The village was named after Laura, the first postmaster's daughter. Laura was incorporated as a village in 1892.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Laura, 1850 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Laura post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Born herePete Susko is born here
  5. 1922Born hereBob Netzley is born here
By decade

Laura, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Laura-water-tower-oh2019Laura-water-tower-ohLaura-post-office-oh2019Laura-post-office-ohLaura-Municipal-Building-oh2019Laura-Municipal-Building-ohMain south of Fifth2016Main south of FifthLaura municipal building2016Laura municipal buildingLaura Christian Church2016Laura Christian Church
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Laura

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

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Bob NetzleyAmerican politician · b. 1922
P
Pete SuskoAmerican baseball player · b. 1904

Questions about Laura’s history

What year was Laura founded?

The Laura post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.