Laurel is a historic passenger rail station on the MARC Camden Line in

Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River, in northern Prince George's County. Its population was 30,060 at the 2020 census. Founded as a mill town i ...

, between the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

Washington Union Station Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's second-busiest station and North ...

and

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Camden Station Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Street Station, Camden Yards, and formally as the Transportation Center at Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of South Howard and West Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, adja ...

Station

The Laurel railroad station was originally constructed in 1884 for the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

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 Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

cresting, and an interior chimney. There is a louvered

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973, (although one source claims it was 1972) and was reopened as 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 Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, Governor

Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American politician who served as the 17th commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was th ...

, and Senator

Ben Cardin Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Maryland from 2007 until 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

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 platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

s and a station house adjacent to the southbound platform. The station is compliant with the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

Gallery

File:Laurel Station Plaque Dec 08.jpg, Laurel Railroad Station Historic Marker in December 2008 File:Laurel Railroad Station West Side Dec 08.jpg, Downtown-side view of Laurel station in December 2008 File:LaurelRRDepot.jpg, A freight train passes through Laurel station.

References

External links

* *, including photo in 1975, at Maryland Historical Trust website *
Main Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland 1884 establishments in Maryland Camden Line MARC Train stations Buildings and structures in Laurel, Maryland Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 1884 Railway stations in Prince George's County, Maryland Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland Queen Anne architecture in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland