Old Town, West Laurel and the Broad Creek waterfront
Laurel's houses are much older than Delaware's as a whole. The 2018 comprehensive plan says a third of the housing dates to 1939 or earlier, against 9.1 percent statewide, and the historic district runs from the late 1700s to the 1930s. The plan also notes the town has no local historic preservation commission. For an old detached garage or carriage house, a carriage-style steel door with the right panel and window layout keeps the look without the upkeep of wood.
Old Town, the town's original section, sits inside the district, and West Laurel dates to the 1790s as one of Delaware's oldest free Black communities. About 44 percent of homes are rentals, and the plan says the town's code enforcement unit regularly inspects rental properties. Along the water are the gated Villas on Broad Creek and Abbotts on Broad Creek, both Laurel Redevelopment Corporation projects.





