Laura

How Laura began

Laura is a village in Union Township, Miami County, laid out about 1840 by Wesley Sharp and Riley McCool, three miles north of Georgetown (now Potsdam), which was laid out the same year. A post office named Laura opened in 1850, and according to the 1909 centennial history the village took the name of the first postmaster's daughter. Union Township had been settled from 1802 by Quakers from the Carolinas, and Friends' meetings, including Lick Branch, two miles southeast of the village, shaped its early life. Laura incorporated in 1892, reached a peak of 526 people in 1960, and had 398 in 2020.

Platted c. 1840, incorporated 1892.

Where the name comes from

Named for Laura, the daughter of the village's first postmaster, when the post office was established in 1850.

Before the town

No Native American sites, villages, or trails specific to Laura itself are recorded. The village sits in Union Township, Miami County; the county's documented Shawnee and Miami settlements (Pickawillany, Upper and Lower Piqua) lie to the north along the Great Miami River and Loramie Creek.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Miami.

Timeline

1. 1802 — Caleb Mendenhall of North Carolina settles in Miami County and the first Friends' meetings are held at his cabin; this Quaker migration from the Carolinas gave Union Township the nickname Quaker Township.
2. 1840 — Wesley Sharp and Riley McCool lay out Laura in Section 3 of Union Township, three miles north of Georgetown, which was laid out about the same time.
3. 1850 — A post office named Laura, after the first postmaster's daughter, began operating.
4. 1880 — The county history gives Laura about 200 people, a graded schoolhouse and two churches, Christian and Union; it notes that the village has no liquor saloon because the inhabitants will not tolerate one.
5. 1892 — Laura was incorporated as a village.
6. 1900 — The census counts 378 residents.
7. 1909 — The county centennial history calls Laura a well-conducted, thriving town of about 400 and lists its mayor, clerk, treasurer, marshal and six councilmen.
8. 1910 — The census counts 302 residents, down from 378 in 1900.
9. 1920 — The census counts 243 residents, the lowest recorded.
10. 1960 — Village population peaked at 526 residents.
11. 2020 — The census counts 398 residents, down from 474 in 2010.

Stories

Two villages, three miles apart

Georgetown and Laura were laid out in Union Township about 1840, three miles apart on the western edge of Miami County, close enough to the Darke County line that each drew part of its trade from across it. Georgetown, platted by George Hatfield in Sections 15 and 22, had a large dry-goods trade and a once-thriving business in oak shingles; Laura, laid out by Wesley Sharp and Riley McCool in Section 3 beside the north branch of Ludlow Creek, had the more people, about 200 to Georgetown's 150 in 1880, but less trade. By 1880 Laura had a graded school and two churches, and the county historian noted that it had no saloon because its inhabitants would not tolerate one. Georgetown, also called New Lebanon, kept its post office under the name Potsdam, and became the village of Potsdam.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · thislocallife.com · archive.org · archive.org · postalhistory.com

Mostly private wells The water here

• Laura Village100% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-11-26

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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