Most of Laurel Run was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper and old-book passages.
The Laurel Run post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1881. Another post office, Olivers Mills (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 558158 years
Founding year: the first Laurel Run post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1881.The full story ↓
What stands out about Laurel Run’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Laurel Run was incorporated as a borough in 1881. The borough is home to one of the oldest continuing motorsport events in Pennsylvania. Since 1906, the annual Giants Despair Hillclimb has challenged motorists to race uphill on a one-mile stretch of East Northampton Street.
In 1915, a mine fire started in the borough's Red Ash mine. The mine was excavated and, although the fire was declared extinguished in 1973, the fire is still burning.
Approximately 166 homes, two grocery stores, a church, a school, and a lumberyard were razed and relocated through a program administered by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Passages that mention Laurel Run, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1893 · page 615Read the page →
Read the text
Johnson built a gristmill near Laurel Run, below where the carding-mill was built. In 1812 John Holgate built a turning-mill below Johnson's gristmill. They were both on what is now known as the Johnson property; they went to decay many years ago. • In 1832 Hiram McAlpine built a turning-mill on Laurel Run, near Mr. Parson's house, for the manufacture of scythe snaths: in 1839 the machinery was moved to Wilkes Barre. The first resident blacksmith in Parsons borough was Rufus Davidson. He worked in McAlpine' s shop. In 1838 Capt. Alexander built a powder-
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.
Timeline
Laurel Run, 1868 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (5), 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.
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