(BALTIMORE – August 11, 2025) — Hidden beneath the bustling Belair-Edison Crossing Shopping Center lies one of Baltimore’s most important, yet often forgotten, historical treasures — Laurel Cemetery.
From 1852 to 1958, Laurel Cemetery served as Baltimore’s first non-denominational burial ground for African Americans, providing a dignified resting place for thousands across the city’s Black community. Located on Belle Air Avenue (now Belair Road), the cemetery welcomed people from all walks of life — civic leaders, working families, and 230 Black Civil War veterans who served in the United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.).
In its prime, Laurel was a place of beauty, pride, and remembrance. Each Memorial Day in the late 1800s, parades and gatherings honored the veterans buried there. In 1894, none other than Frederick Douglass spoke at the unveiling of a monument for Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, a towering figure in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a founder of Wilberforce University.
But by the early 20th century, Laurel began to decline. In 1911, the remains of the Civil War veterans were moved to Loudon Park National Cemetery to make way for the expansion of Belair Road. Land sales, neglect, and disputes between owners and descendants followed. In 1958, after bankruptcy and controversial legal maneuvers, the cemetery was demolished. An estimated 350 remains were reinterred at a new Laurel Cemetery in Carroll County, but thousands likely remain undisturbed beneath the shopping center.
Today, few patrons know the land’s history — but that is about to change.
On Friday, September 13, 2025, at 1 p.m., the public is invited to the Belair-Edison Crossing Shopping Center (2401 Belair Road) for a powerful ceremony honoring Laurel Cemetery’s legacy. The program will feature a formal blessing of the land, the unveiling of a historical marker, and remarks from elected officials and community leaders, including representatives from the Baltimore City Law Department, Senator Cory McCray, and Delegate Jackie Addison.
The Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project — launched in 2014 by University of Baltimore and Coppin State University faculty and students — has uncovered conclusive evidence of burials still present at the site through archaeological research. Their mission now is to preserve the cemetery’s history, honor those interred, and reconnect with descendants.
This event is an opportunity for the community to learn, remember, and reclaim a vital piece of Baltimore’s African American heritage. If you have photographs, stories, or knowledge of loved ones buried at Laurel, you are encouraged to share them with the project.
Event Details
📅 Date: Friday, September 13, 2025
🕐 Time: 1:00 PM
📍 Location: Belair-Edison Crossing Shopping Center, 2401 Belair Road, Baltimore, MD 21213
For more information on the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project or to contribute to the archive, visit: https://laurelcemetery.omeka.net
This is more than a memorial. It’s a chance to ensure that Laurel Cemetery — and the lives it holds — will never be forgotten.
