Laurel Woods Elementary School

History

Laurel Woods history roots starts with the cold-war of the 1950s. In anticipation of mass evacuations of the Washington Area, the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways funded the I-95 highway project. In 1959 the plan was announced that the highway would be built through the farms of eastern Howard County, Maryland. In October 1962, 47 acres (190,000 m²) were rezoned for apartment at the corner of Whiskey Bottom and All Saint's Road to take advantage of the future highway exit in North Laurel. An additional 27 acres of land was given to the County in school exchange for approving such a dense development. To the West, School Board member Rob Moxley was secretly buying and swapping 10,000 acres of farmland for Howard Research and Development to build Columbia, Maryland. On 21 September 1963, the Laurel Planning and Redevelopment Corporation took out loans to by the land to build Whiskey Bottom Apartments. On June 17, 1964 Howard County Public School system applied for a P.L. 815 federal loan intended to fund schools for the children of Federal workers that were being relocated to support cold-war buildups. The project would be named "Patuxent Elementary".

In a 1972 board meeting, the name "Whiskey Bottom Road Elementary School" was chosen. There were concerns about the name from the first hearings, but board members believed the historical value outweighed any negative connotations. The new "open layout" school opened in 1973. Although the property reached to Whiskey Bottom Road, the school entrance and address was on North Laurel Road. The name was later shortened to Whiskey Bottom Elementary School. In 1991 a student movement considered the name unsuitable due to associations with alcohol and being considered ranked at "The Bottom". The school was renamed to "Laurel Woods Elementary" due to its proximity to the largest remaining stand of woods in Laurel. The majority of these woods were cleared in 2010 for the North Laurel Community Center, and remaining woods are planned to be cleared for the "Park Overlook" housing development.