This lot of land was one of many sold by Bailiff William R. Young in 1866 to Robert M. Vandiver. That was around the time that the Commissioners ordered the Bailiff to sell lots in the town so that they could collect taxes on the properties, even if unimproved. After Vandiver’s death, his heirs sold three lots of that parcel of land to William F. and Emma Summons of Virginia. After the death of his wife, William Summons deeded this property to his son, William G. Summons, in 1950. He sold the three lots in 1952 to John B. Laurie (1910-1974) and Nina Laurie (1912-2011).

After purchasing the property, John and Nina constructed this two-story building on Revolution Street where they operated a grocery store on the first floor. John had moved to Havre de Grace in 1928 and became the City and County’s first African-American police officer, first in the Auxiliary Police and then the Special Police Department. He also drove a taxi in the 1930s, which is how he met his wife, Nina, who happened to need a ride during a storm.

Nina Rosenna (Freeman) Laurie was born in Perryman to the late Mary F. (Tildon) Freeman and Alexander Freeman in 1912. After the early death of her mother, Nina went to live with her maternal grandmother, Hattie Christy Galloway and step-grandfather, Willem Galloway, who enrolled her in school at the Anderson Institute on Linden Lane. Nina loved music and learned to play piano and organ at a young age. She became the organist at St. James A.M.E. Church on Green Street and many people remember that at Christmastime her husband, John, put speakers on top of this building and Nina would play Christmas Carols for the entire neighborhood on her favorite Hammond organ. Nina also composed music and often sent her compositions to publishing companies, only to hear her music later played by someone else. And on Sunday mornings, Nina accompanied The Little Wonders Quartet on their local Sunday morning radio program. Nina also enjoyed growing flowers and vegetables in their garden behind the building.

In commenting on the death of John Laurie in April 1974, Councilman William Bullock said that Officer Laurie was the first black police officer in Harford County and also the first black Deputy in Harford County. Bullock said the devotion Officer Laurie had in serving the community could be summed up with the words, “Well done, John Laurie.”

One of the daughters of John and Nina Laurie is Rev. Cynthia P. Laurie who graduated from Morgan State College (now Morgan State University) became a teacher in the Havre de Grace Middle School and served on the Havre de Grace City Council in 1982. She serves as the Pastor at the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Chesapeake City and in 2019 was named a “Phenomenal Woman” by the Havre de Grace Colored School Foundation.

John and Nina’s son is John Laurie, Jr. who opened his own “Laurie’s Auto Service” in this same building in 1976 and continues to operate the business today, more than 40 years after his parents ran the grocery store here. This building continues to be owned by Cynthia Laurie and John Laurie whose family has owned it for 70 years.

County Records
Built 1953. 3591 sq ft, service garage, 9000 sq ft lot.