By AYLIN AARHUS
The Laurel Historical Society’s (LHS) invites the community to celebrate Laurel’s history during its Holiday House Tour. Held every other year since its start in 1976, the holiday house tour features local historic homes, churches and a school, all decorated for the holidays and open for visitors.
“We pick a selection of historic homes, private residences, and historic churches or schools to highlight on these tours,” Kristen Norton, LHS executive director, said. “The goal is to share the history and foster an appreciation for it.”
Don and Kathleen Dalphonse’s 147-year-old home is featured on the tour this year. LHS volunteers, their home was a stop on LHS’ first Holiday House Tour in 1976.
“I just love having people come through the house,” Don Dalphonse said. “I like meeting people who love history. I hope that they look around and say, ‘Wow, this is quite a neat little neighborhood.’ Everybody knows everybody in this neighborhood. It’s a real community.”
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church is another stop on the tour. Established in 1848 by Horace and Louisa Snowden Capron, St. Philip’s was one of the first churches in the region to have a racially-integrated cemetery when it was founded. The congregation also welcomed female priests starting in the mid-1980s, including Jane Holmes Dixon, who became the second female bishop in the Episcopal Church.
Betsy Walsh, who has been a member of St. Philips since she was baptized there more than 70 years ago, hopes people “…learn a little bit about our history and appreciate how St. Philip’s has adapted through the generations. The thing I hope the most for always is that if somebody walks in, they feel welcome, they feel at home, they feel heard. And that’s what makes my heart sing.”
where snacks and children’s activities will be provided.
Snacks and children’s activities will be provided at the Laurel Elementary School stop. Built in 1926, the school is approaching its 100th anniversary.
Each stop on the tour is significant, Norton said. “These buildings are tangible connections to our past,” she said. “They tell the stories of those who lived there, those who built them, those who worshiped in them or worked in them. We’re fortunate to have so many in Laurel. Once we lose our historic buildings, they’re lost forever. You can’t rebuild history. All you can do is protect it.”
The Holiday House Tour takes place Saturday, Dec.13, from 1 to 5 p.m. For ticket information, go to the Laurel Historical Society’s website.