These short bits of history tend to pile up as I do more research on various topics. Unless otherwise credited, all quotes are from the Laurel Leader. 

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1870 

In May, it was announced that a Pound and Prison House was to be built on a lot donated by Mr. Frank Collier, provided the town would remove any and all improvements if requested by him in the future. The lot was also to be used for impounded livestock. The Laurel Commissioners accepted a bid from C.F. Shaffer, owner of the Shaffer Lumber Company, who offered to build the jail for $20. However, not quite two years later, the Commissioners’ meeting minutes reported that “James Brown was arrested and jailed in the lock-up for drunk & disorderly; he then broke out of lock-up.” Mr. Collier then decided it was not secure enough and requested it be removed per the original agreement.  

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1889 

The 9th Street Bridge next to the pool at the end of Main Street that was swept away by Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was actually the second bridge on that spot. The original bridge was constructed in 1808 and was also swept away by flood waters in 1889 caused by the Johnston, Pennsylvania flood.  

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1902 

In January, Andrew Carnegie wrote to Mayor Edward Phelps and agreed to donate $10,000 for a library in Laurel if a site is donated in town and $1,000 annually for maintenance of the library building. There is no evidence the offer was accepted, as Laurel’s first library was not opened until 1916. 

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1906 

In November, PG County Police Officer J. Randolph Brown was found dead in a buggy at French’s Livery Stable in Laurel by an employee at the stable. Brown had rented a horse and buggy the night before to serve a summons. According to the Leader, on the way back “he stopped at The Pines and had something to drink and also bought a quart bottle of whiskey for medical use, which was found untouched in the bottom of the buggy.” William Diven, bartender at The Pines, testified that Brown was not intoxicated when he left the bar. But, officials said, “the left side of his face and under his chin was scraped and bruised, evidently caused by falling against the wheel while the horse was moving.” The horse, without any direction from Brown, returned to the stable. His autopsy reported his death “from unknown causes.” 

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1907 

In June, Frank L. Martin published a notice in the Leader: “I wish to state that the rumor to this effect that my wife found letters in my pocket from other women is absolutely false. The letter was put there by a person who works with me, as a practical joke, which I can prove to those interested.” 

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1912 

In June, the Leader reported a New York divorce case in which the father, seeking custody of the couple’s son, claimed that “the child has been practically abandoned by the mother” because “she smokes cigarettes.” The judge rejected the argument, telling the court “that it is quite a common custom among many refined women in the larger cities of the world to smoke cigarettes.” 

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1914 

In October, “Mr. Walter Fisher, while cranking an automobile on Sunday, broke his arm.” 

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1916 

The Laurel Free Public Library opened in the Patuxent Bank building in two rooms on the floor above the Post Office. Maintained by the Laurel Library Association, members were charged $1 per year. The library faced constant financial problems paying its rent until 1929, when it relocated to donated space at 384 Main Street.  

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1919 

In January, Laurel resident Private Arthur Phelps, who was serving with the 313th Machine Gun Company in France, wrote a letter to his sister, Edna. The letter read: “I went over to call upon some of the 23rd Engineers today, and on my way over I had to pass a lot of German prisoners whom we captured in our first drive, and one of them yelled my name and to my surprise it was a boy whom I went to school with at School No. 1, in my home town, Laurel. What do you know about this? He asked me about Miss Annie Wilson, who taught us and also whether my father was still keeping store. I was not allowed to talk to him long for it is against the rules to talk to them.” His father, Edward Phelps, a former Mayor, had at that point owned a store in Laurel for decades. Arthur did not identify the German prisoner from Laurel. 

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1925 

In April, the Leader editorialized: “SHALL WOMEN SWEAR? On the other hand, an anti-swearer comes across with this compelling argument: ‘It just won’t do at all because it distorts the face. Cussing must be done forcibly, to be effective. This hardens the mouth, wrinkles the brow and brings on premature age. An angry face is never beautiful. Men have used strong language since the beginning of time. That is why there are so few good-looking men.’ That should settle the question. On the face of it, the negative wins. A representative of the swearing sex can only offer, as a clincher, this modest addendum to the argument: ‘With all men’s swearing, at life, at fate, fortune, accident, misery, women, and things in general, what has it got them?’” 

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1931 

In January, a robbery of Sol Laserovits’ jewelry store on Main Street went very badly. Three armed men entered the store with what appeared to be a plan. While one robber tied the proprietor to a chair, a second one scooped up jewelry (later valued at $1,000), and the third robber went outside and retrieved the getaway car. But the driver “got scared and started towards Washington” on Route 1, “leaving the other two who tried to make their escape on foot.” The two robbers left behind were quickly captured and police closed in on the panicked driver of the getaway car. “Finding himself between officers,” the driver killed himself with his pistol. “Naturally,” according to the Leader, “the holdup caused a good deal of excitement in the town for several hours.” 

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1942 

In November, a passenger on a bus stopping at the terminal on the corner of Main Street and Washington Boulevard saw flames coming from the rear of the Laurel Hotel on the opposite corner. The passenger tried to get someone’s attention in the hotel by banging on the front door, but no one answered. So, the Good Samaritan threw a rock through a second story window, awakening the housekeeper, who called the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department. The fire caused extensive damage to the rear of the hotel and the kitchen. There was no word on what activity inside the hotel precluded anyone from hearing the commotion outside. 

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1945 

In June, on his way back to Washington from Baltimore, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall stopped at the Laurel Pharmacy for a soda at the lunch counter. While the General sipped his soda and chatted with a few customers who recognized him, his chauffeur waited in his car on Washington Boulevard in front of the pharmacy. Laurel Police pulled up and ordered the chauffeur to move the vehicle. 

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1951 

Olney Theater had a banner season in 1951, with three Hollywood veterans headlining shows. In August, Veronica Lake, a major movie star throughout the 1940s (Sullivan’s Travels), starred in “The Curtain Rises” at Olney. In September, Leo G. Carroll, star of stage and screen since the 1930s (and who would go on to play Mr. Waverly, the boss in The Man From U.N.C.L.E in the 1960s), starred in “Home at Seven” at Olney. Following Carroll’s appearance, Olney then staged “Pal Joey,” starring Carol Bruce, the star of dozens of films since 1941.

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1953 

In March, the Fort Meade branch of the Citizens National Bank of Laurel was robbed by a “tall, nattily dressed man, wearing a visored cap and a trench-type overcoat” who commanded teller Hazel Gore, from Scaggsville, to “fill this bag” that he handed to her. The man then “took a glass jar from his pocket, removed the cap, thrust it near her face, and said ‘Smell it, it’s acid.’ The robber then told Stuart Dorset, the branch manager, ‘Put the money in the bag or I’ll throw acid in the lady’s face.’” The bank later reported the robber made off with $19,800. The FBI analyzed some drops spilled from the jar and confirmed it was “a dilute solution of sulfuric acid.”

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