 Laurel also hosted a horse trotter (harness racing) track named Freestate Raceway from 1948 to 1990; it was located in Howard County on the west side of US Route 1, south of Savage in an area that now includes a CarMax dealership, Weis supermarket, and a strip mall.In March 1912, the city agreed to take out $35,000 in loans to build its first sewer system with twelve miles of line that terminated by dumping into the Patuxent River.In February 1913, Laurel was a stopping point in the Suffrage hike led by Rosalie Gardiner Jones.