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UPDATE:
As you may know, for the past two years the future of the stop has been endangered by the redeveloper of Laurel Race Track who wants stops there.
We worked with local residents and the City of Laurel to protect our stop.
Thanks to all those who helped. Working together is what makes Laurel work!
Jim, Barbara, Joseline, Ben
The historic rehabilitation of the Laurel train station was one of the "shovel ready" projects completed in President Obama's economic stimulus package. Many Laurel residents ride the MARC train to work daily, and we helped win state funds to add more trains to serve it.
Built in 1884 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Laurel Train Station has endured for over 131 years. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and opened for use by MARC as a train station when the Camden Line was established.
Now, as a result of a development project in Howard County, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is considering closing the Laurel station.
Please join us, and Laurel City Council President Edward Ricks, County Councilmember Mary Lehman, and other concerned residents to voice your opposition to closing the Laurel train stop.
Links
Letter from the City of Laurel
Laurel TV's press conference coverage:
Photo credit: Maryland State Archives
"Laurel is one of thousands of commuter rail stations all over the country ... creating jobs and creating a better transportation system for the 21st century."
- Vice President Joe Biden
during his 2009 visit to the Laurel MARC stop
We have worked too hard to win state funds and expand service for Laurel commuters, as well as expand smart growth in Laurel. We won't back down.
- Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk
Do you think you want 850 cars coming and going through your development every day? Doesn’t make any sense to us.
- Laurel City Council President
Edward Ricks
Smart growth means building on success, not destroying it.
The Laurel stop helped build the railroad industry in the
19th century – and it is building the sustainable economy of the 21st century.
- Senator Jim Rosapepe and
Delegate Barbara Frush,
Maryland legislative environment subcommittee chairs
Laurel City Council
The Laurel Historical Society strongly supports keeping the historic Laurel stop open.
Since 1835 Laurel’s train stop has been vital to this community’s identity, its prosperity, and its future.
Without the train stopping in Laurel in the mid- 1800s, Laurel Factory would not have prospered.
Without Laurel Factory, Laurel itself would not have grown.
Laurel exists because of the Laurel stop.
- Lindsey Baker, Executive Director of the Laurel Historical Society
We should not abandon 131 years of continuous train service in Laurel so that some Howard County developer can sell more condos.
Laurel's easy and close access to the MARC train service drives our development and is bolstering our home values. If we lose the MARC station, we lose part of our economic engine.
- G. Rick Wilson, Laurel resident
Photo credit: Jack E. Boucher. - Originally published as part of the Historic American Building Survey
and available at the Library of Congress call number HABS MD,17-LAUR,2-
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (which was the first common-carrier railroad in the United States) was granted a charter in 1833 to build a line from their existing mainline into Washington, DC
In 1835 the Washington Branch of the B&O was completed and train service to Laurel Station began
Before the railroad, travel to either DC or Baltimore would have taken hours, once the railroad came that time would have been reduced to less than an hour.
Because of this Laurel became one of the first railroad suburbs in the country, where people could live in the country and travel by train into the city for work.
The current station in Laurel was built in 1884, designed by E. Francis Baldwin who also designed the roundhouse that now houses the B&O Museum in Baltimore.
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