Laurel Park is a town in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,250 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The town of Laurel Park was settled on what had been Cherokee land in the late 1800s. Summer cottages and camps were construction in the areas surrounding Echo Mountain. By 1903, a rail line had been built up Fifth Avenue in Hendersonville to bring day-trippers and summer visitors to Rainbow Lake to enjoy swimming, boating, dancing, camping, and gambling at the Laurel Park Casino. Visitors to the casino included famous boxer Jack Dempsey. Later, another rail line and a canal connected Rainbow Lake with Laurel Lake (Rhododendron Lake), and a counter-balanced railway took sightseers from Crystal Spring (near Rainbow Lake) to an observation tower for views of downtown Hendersonville and near and distant mountains.

In 1925, the town was formally incorporated. That same year, Commodore J. Perry Stolz, builder of the popular and expensive Miami Fleetwood Hotel in Florida, arrived in Hendersonville with plans to repeat his success at the top of Jump Off Mountain near Jump-Off Rock. This 15-story hotel, also to be called the Fleetwood, would have a brick exterior trimmed with marble, all the modern conveniences, and a radio station at the top. A new concrete road (named Laurel Park Highway) was built up the mountain to the hotel site; this was used for transporting construction materials. Less than a year later, financial problems led to a halt in construction. Despite numerous attempts to complete the hotel, the 13th floor was the last floor completed, and the hotel was razed in 1939 by a salvage company.

After the stock market crash, the town slowly transitioned from a summer recreational resort to a more residential community.

The Singletary-Reese-Robinson House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Government

The town of Laurel Park is organized under the Council-Manager form of government, consisting of a mayor elected to a four-year term, as well as four commissioners elected to staggered four-year terms. The Mayor is J. Carey O’Cain, first elected in 2011 after serving on the city commission.

In recent years, the town has been one of the areas of Henderson County trending the most to the Democratic Party. In 2016, the town gave 50% of its votes to Donald Trump, while in the 2020 Presidential Election it gave 55% of its votes to Joe Biden, a swing of 15%, one of the largest swings to the Democrats in Henderson County.

Geography

Laurel Park is located in central Henderson County on the eastern slopes of Jump off Mountain. It is bordered to the east by the city of Hendersonville, the county seat. To the south is the unincorporated community of Valley Hill, and to the west is the community of Horse Shoe.

U.S. Route 64 passes through the northern part of the town, in the valley of Shaw Creek. Route 64 leads east into Hendersonville and west to Etowah.

The town government maintains three parks: Jump Off Rock Park, Rhododendron Lake Nature Park, and Little Laurel Green Park. Additionally, several hiking trails run around the town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which , or 0.78%, are water.

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2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Laurel Park had a population of 2,250. The median age was 63.9 years. 11.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 47.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 84.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.

98.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.5% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,087 households in Laurel Park, of which 14.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 54.7% were married-couple households, 12.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.