During the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration that swept our nation, a group of Laurel citizens was appointed to head up programs and activities that would celebrate the two hundredth birthday of the United States.  At the close of all of the year-long activities, some visionary members of this initial committee decided that there was a wealth of history associated with our area.  They felt that it needed to be remembered, preserved, and passed down to future generations.  To this  the Laurel Historical Society was incorporated in January 1977, with the group's first meeting occurring the following April.  From that initial group of sixty  individuals, the Society has grown to a membership of over two hundred people.  The members care deeply about Laurel and want to preserve the memories of growing up in a tight-knit, rural community for future generations.  Thirty years ago there were no cell phones, no computers, nothing digital.  Sussex County was also a lot less crowded.  In those same thirty years, we have grown from a group with no home to one with two properties, a museum, and a wealth of artifacts, documents, decorative arts, and memorabilia of times past.

In 2008, the Society embarked on an extensive maintenance program on the Cook House, the repository of the Society's collections and offices.  Since the program began, the Society has completed work on the roof, replaced the sidewalks, and, in October 2009, had the exterior of the house repainted and resealed.

The Laurel Historical Society, in over thirty years, has never lost sight of the principles that the organization was founded on.  With the support of our members and the community, we will never cease our work of ensuring that the history of Laurel, and the citizens who have called the town their home, will never fade from memory.