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Laurel station (MARC) facts for kids

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Not to be confused with Laurel Race Track station.
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Laurel
MARC Commuter rail station
Laurel Maryland Railroad Station Dec 08.jpg
Laurel Railroad station in December 2008
Location 22 Main Street, Laurel, Maryland
Line(s) Capital Subdivision
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections Bus transport RTA 409
Construction
Parking 396 spaces
Bicycle facilities Yes; 10 lockers
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 1884
Traffic
Passengers (2018) 680 daily Increase 2.7% (MARC)
Services
Preceding station MARC Following station
Muirkirk
towards Union Station
 Camden Line Laurel Race Track
towards Camden Station
Former services
Preceding station Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Following station
Muirkirk
toward Chicago
 Main Line Laurel Park
toward Jersey City
Oak Crest
toward Chicago
Laurel Railroad Station
Laurel station (MARC) is located in Maryland
Laurel station (MARC)
Location in Maryland
Laurel station (MARC) is located in the United States
Laurel station (MARC)
Location in the United States
Location East Main Street
Laurel, Maryland
Built 1884
Architect Ephraim Francis Baldwin
Architectural style Queen Anne
NRHP reference No. 73002165
Added to NRHP March 30, 1973

Laurel is a historic passenger rail station on the MARC Camden Line in Laurel, Maryland, between the District of Columbia's Washington Union Station and Baltimore's Camden Station.

Station

The Laurel Railroad Station was originally constructed in 1884 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad along the railroad's Washington Branch, about halfway between Baltimore and Washington, DC. The architect was E. Francis Baldwin. The structure is constructed of brick, and is one and a half stories, modified rectangle in form with overhanging gabled and hipped roof sections with brackets and terra cotta cresting, and an interior chimney. There is a louvered lunette in one gable, stick work in another, and fish-scale shingling under truncated hipped section; shed shelter, segmental arched openings. It is Queen Anne in style. It is nearly identical in plan and dimensions to the Gaithersburg, Maryland station Baldwin designed, also built in 1884, although the rooflines and settings are quite different.

Laurel station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, (although one source claims it was 1972) and was reopened into a MARC station when the Camden Line was established.

A fire gutted the interior of the station, and damaged its roof and brick walls, in January 1992.

In February 2009, Vice President Joe Biden, Governor Martin O'Malley, and Senator Ben Cardin gave a speech at Laurel Station to gain support for an economic stimulus package in Congress that would provide funding to rebuild the station platform, among many other Maryland infrastructure projects. The funding bill passed and by mid-March, construction fencing went up for an anticipated six months of work on a new platform and other station improvement.

Station layout

The station has two side platforms and a station house adjacent to the southbound platform.

Gallery

  • Laurel Station Plaque Dec 08

    Laurel Railroad Station Historic Marker in December 2008

  • Laurel Railroad Station West Side Dec 08

    Laurel Railroad Station West Side View in December 2008

  • LaurelRRDepot

    A freight train passes through Laurel station.

  • Laurel Railroad Station, Prince George's County, Inventory No.: PG:LAU-6, including photo in 1975, at Maryland Historical Trust website
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