Laurel

It was a beautiful day, so we opted for the Walking Tour of Historical Laurel Homes. Laurel has quite a large historical district and even though the homes are in the downtown area, many of them have huge yards. Some are the depth of the block they are on. No two homes are the same. We ended at the Lauren (Eastman) Rogers Museum of Art (yes, we went to an art museum). The building is beautiful and was built as a memorial to Lauren who was an heir to the Eastman Gardiner Lumber Company. He died at the age of 23 from complications of appendicitis. Laurel was considered the yellow pine capital of the world. Fun Fact - did you know that Masonite was invented in Laurel. William Mason (a former draughtsman for Edison) felt there was a need to do something with the sawdust from the mills and invented a process to make Masonite. Production began in 1926. We ended our afternoon with a late lunch at a Mexican Place. Most of this town is closed on Sundays. There are just about as many churches as people.Read more