8th Annual McCeney March Through Time Walking Tour
STOP 1: Laurel Museum - Ask our staff and front desk docents about the current exhibit and history of the Laurel Cotton Mill!
STOP 2: Yellow Row -At one time called the “Yellow Row,” these 12 attached units, each measuring 13 x 40 feet, were built after 1840 as rental tenements (one up/one down apartments) for mill workers. They are the oldest row houses still standing in Prince George’s County. The mill sold the houses to individual owners in 1863.
STOP 2: Yellow Row -At one time called the “Yellow Row,” these 12 attached units, each measuring 13 x 40 feet, were built after 1840 as rental tenements (one up/one down apartments) for mill workers. They are the oldest row houses still standing in Prince George’s County. The mill sold the houses to individual owners in 1863.
- Across the street from Yellow Row is the back of St. Vincent Pallotti High School, and the location of two 19th tenant houses that were demolished earlier this year to make way for the campus expansion. The Laurel Historical Society conducted archaeological investigations from July 2021 through April 2023 and we partnered with the High School to document, preserve, and salvage as much information as possible on the site before the houses were torn down and a new school building erected. This partnership included the creation of an after-school Archaeology Club and the site served as the location for the LHS Archaeology Summer Camps in 2021 and 2022. In addition, LHS held a Public Archaeology Day in October 2021.
- We also monitored the demolition and were on-site to document the architectural elements as they were stripped and exposed, and to salvage artifacts as they were uncovered. We monitored beginning in January of 2023 and continued until all parts of the buildings were removed, in April 2023.
- We also continued archival and artifact analysis. We met with two individuals whose families had grown up in the house, collecting oral histories and photographs from them, all of which was added to the collection of the Laurel Historical Society for future research. Artifact analysis revealed more than 500 artifacts consisting of domestic artifacts such as glass and ceramic, personal items such as coins, buttons and children’s toys, structural items such as window glass, nails, and wire, utilities such as mortar, brick, and coal, and oyster and faunal remains. Several of the ceramic and glass items have maker’s mark, but in general the assemblage dates from the third quarter of the 19th century to present, as we have found much trash and recent school-related items such as mechanical pencils and a hairbrush.
STOP 3: Phelps and Shaffer Store
• Built c.1891, at the corner of 9th and Montgomery, the building was originally home to Phelps & Shaffer Department Store, the first in the city.
• In 1935, it was used for a time by the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department. From 1954-1972, it served as City Hall, Police Department headquarters, and jail. At the time of Laurel's 125th anniversary in 1995, it served as the Encore Shop of the Laurel Regional Hospital. In 2005, it was purchased from the city for private use and restored to its earlier grand appearance.
VIEW INTERIOR PICTURE HERE
STOP 4: St. Mark’s United Methodist Church - visit with volunteers inside and sample the pound cake!
STOP 5: Emancipation Park - Stop by and learn more from our LHS volunteers!
STOP 6: Old Laurel High School - talk with our volunteers to learn more!
• Built c.1891, at the corner of 9th and Montgomery, the building was originally home to Phelps & Shaffer Department Store, the first in the city.
• In 1935, it was used for a time by the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department. From 1954-1972, it served as City Hall, Police Department headquarters, and jail. At the time of Laurel's 125th anniversary in 1995, it served as the Encore Shop of the Laurel Regional Hospital. In 2005, it was purchased from the city for private use and restored to its earlier grand appearance.
VIEW INTERIOR PICTURE HERE
STOP 4: St. Mark’s United Methodist Church - visit with volunteers inside and sample the pound cake!
STOP 5: Emancipation Park - Stop by and learn more from our LHS volunteers!
STOP 6: Old Laurel High School - talk with our volunteers to learn more!
STOP 7: Patuxent Place
The complex of Victorian-style buildings that house shops, professional and medical offices, restaurants, and apartments began on the corner of Main and Seventh streets in 1985, where Red Hot and Blue is located. The award-winning complex was constructed by Cooper and Cummings. Patuxent Place II was added a short time later on the opposite side of Main Street, and Patuxent Places III - V now fill in the rest of the mid 500 and 600 blocks of Main Street.
In 1983, prior to construction, an archaeological reconnaissance survey was conducted on 605-615 Main Street. Before Patuxent Place, Victorian houses were located in these blocks.
VIEW CONSTRUCTION PHOTO HERE
HOMES PRIOR TO DEMOLITION
HOUSE IN 600 BLOCK TORN DOWN
STOP 8: St. Mary of the Mills
• First a Jesuit Mission from Georgetown University, the original St. Mary’s Chapel was built by Dr. Theodore Jenkins in 1843. St. Mary’s is the oldest church in continuous use in Laurel. It was enlarged in 1890, and the Parish School was established in 1893. Architect John Walton designed the large 1959 church addition, and a new rectory was built in 1965 connecting to the church. The bell in St. Mary’s stone tower was acquired in 1890 from the Laurel Cotton Mill, where it once rang. VIEW IMAGE HERE
• The Nicholas Snowden Mansion, built in the early 19th century on the current site of Pallotti High School, was later the home of Louisa Capron, Nicholas’ daughter, and her husband Horace Capron, an important figure in the establishment of the Laurel Cotton Mill. The mansion served as the home of succeeding mill superintendents and, from 1917 to 1957, was a convent and school (St. Mildred’s Academy. Just north of the Snowden-Capron house was the Assembly Hall built by the mill in 1840. For much of the town’s early years it was a center of Laurel community life. President Zachary Taylor was entertained there by Horace Capron.
• The 18th century mansion was razed and St. Vincent Pallotti High School was constructed on the site. Pallotti High School was enlarged in 2002.
VIEW EARLY PHOTOGRAPH OF ST. MARY'S HERE
The complex of Victorian-style buildings that house shops, professional and medical offices, restaurants, and apartments began on the corner of Main and Seventh streets in 1985, where Red Hot and Blue is located. The award-winning complex was constructed by Cooper and Cummings. Patuxent Place II was added a short time later on the opposite side of Main Street, and Patuxent Places III - V now fill in the rest of the mid 500 and 600 blocks of Main Street.
In 1983, prior to construction, an archaeological reconnaissance survey was conducted on 605-615 Main Street. Before Patuxent Place, Victorian houses were located in these blocks.
VIEW CONSTRUCTION PHOTO HERE
HOMES PRIOR TO DEMOLITION
HOUSE IN 600 BLOCK TORN DOWN
STOP 8: St. Mary of the Mills
• First a Jesuit Mission from Georgetown University, the original St. Mary’s Chapel was built by Dr. Theodore Jenkins in 1843. St. Mary’s is the oldest church in continuous use in Laurel. It was enlarged in 1890, and the Parish School was established in 1893. Architect John Walton designed the large 1959 church addition, and a new rectory was built in 1965 connecting to the church. The bell in St. Mary’s stone tower was acquired in 1890 from the Laurel Cotton Mill, where it once rang. VIEW IMAGE HERE
• The Nicholas Snowden Mansion, built in the early 19th century on the current site of Pallotti High School, was later the home of Louisa Capron, Nicholas’ daughter, and her husband Horace Capron, an important figure in the establishment of the Laurel Cotton Mill. The mansion served as the home of succeeding mill superintendents and, from 1917 to 1957, was a convent and school (St. Mildred’s Academy. Just north of the Snowden-Capron house was the Assembly Hall built by the mill in 1840. For much of the town’s early years it was a center of Laurel community life. President Zachary Taylor was entertained there by Horace Capron.
• The 18th century mansion was razed and St. Vincent Pallotti High School was constructed on the site. Pallotti High School was enlarged in 2002.
VIEW EARLY PHOTOGRAPH OF ST. MARY'S HERE
