Earlier in the month there was a lot of good information on this board about KOP, origin of name etc. I have often wondered about another hobby spot – Mt. Laurel – in a region so flat that you can almost see speed bumps on the horizon – what's with the Mt. ?

The only explanation I’ve heard came from a hotel bartender. It’s entirely plausible although it could be an urban legend. If you’ve heard a different account please let me know.

The area was settled by the English in the early 1700s and they established a thriving tomato farming community. It was very remote, however, and only accessible by an old Indian hunting trail that roughly followed modern Rt 38. It was later referred to as trail 38.

There came to be a frisky young widow named Laurel who took to posting on some of the local Inn boards to make ends meet. She was very good looking and derived great pleasure from the task at hand. Because of her enthusiasm she quickly became very popular and soon had a regular following with the Swedish hobby community in Voorhees and soldiers from the Moorestown garrison. Trail 38 widened and many encampments around the tomato patches soon followed.

Now Laurel was very smart – she became the envy of many a fair maiden as she rode about in her imported carriage wearing her fine clothes and jewelry. She had no problem recruiting helpers to work as Laurels and could then run several shifts to accommodate all of the campers. Soon, she was able to retire from active service and only dealt with bookings and hiring carriage drivers for local out-calls. After a few years she retired completely, a wealthy woman not yet 30, and moved to Haddonfield.

Laurel’s reputation continued to spread and Philly area hobbyists began making the trek down trail 38. There was no internet, cell phones or email but hobbyists have their many time proven methods of net working and communicating – a common exchange heard on trail 38 as hobbyists passed coming from different directions :

H1 : “Greetings fellow traveler and hobbyist. Where are Ye headed ?”

H2 : “To mount Laurel – and Ye ?”

H1 : “Been there, done that. I am now headed to mount Holly”

Eventually, the names stuck.