LAUREL

city, Prince George's county, central Maryland, U.S., on the Patuxent River midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The land was patented to Richard Snowden, who arrived about 1658 and founded the community. Montpelier Mansion (1783; Georgian), built by Thomas Snowden, is now owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The town was named for the local laurel trees. After World War II the community experienced growth as a residential and industrial centre. The Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University is there. Laurel Park racecourse offers Thoroughbred racing and was the site of the annual Washington D.C. International horse race from 1952 until 1995, when the race was discontinued. The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center within Patuxent Research Refuge (southeast) is between Fort George G. Meade (an army base) and the National Agricultural Research Center. T. Howard Duckett (Rocky Gorge) Reservoir and Dam are immediately northwest. Inc. town, 1870. Pop. (1990) 19,086; (1996 est.) 18,718. city, seat (1906) of Jones county, southeastern Mississippi, U.S., on Tallahala Creek, 84 miles (135 km) southeast of Jackson. Founded in 1882 as a lumber camp, it was named for laurel shrubs, native to the surrounding forests. By 1920 it was the world's largest shipping centre for yellow-pine lumber, but as the forests were depleted the city faced economic collapse. Soon after, William Mason, an associate of Thomas Edison, moved to Laurel and developed a type of hardboard (Masonite) made from sawmill waste. The Masonite Corporation remains a major industrial concern. The petroleum industry and light manufacturing have boosted economic development. The Chickasawhay District of the De Soto National Forest extends southeastward from Laurel. The Lauren Rogers Library and Museum of Art has a notable collection of North American Indian baskets. The Southeastern Baptist College (1949) is in the city. James Street, a native of Laurel, in his novel Tap Roots (1942) popularized the legend that Jones County had seceded from the Confederacy during the American Civil War period. Inc. village, 1888; town, 1896; city, 1901. Pop. (1991 est.) 18,964.