Laurel, originally Franklinville, was a station stop along the Greenport Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in Laurel, New York.HistoryThe station was built in the hamlet of Franklinville, and after securing a post office in February 1898, they had to change its name as there already was a Franklinville in Cattaraugus County. The residents voted to choose the name "Laurel" after the local lake. The station is mentioned in the Gazetteer of the State of New York in 1872.In light of the farming, gardening, small fruit raising, and cultivation of root crops, a freight depot was established following the arrival of the railroad right-of-way. It was reported in 1887 that the total number of barrels of cauliflower carted from the depot was 3,762. The building was renovated in the summer of 1879 to afford better accommodations for passenger service. In the fall of 1895, new interior floors and new roof shingles were installed as well as new platform planks. Regular passenger service appears on timetables in April 1891. On the timetables the name Franklinville first appears in April 1891, then disappears to reappear in September 1892. Then the name disappears again but reappears in June 1894. It is listed as Franklinville as late as Employee Timetable #3 from June 1897, when the superintendent of the LIRR ordered that names be the same as the postal jurisdiction. With the opening of the Laurel Post Office, Franklinville was revised as well. By the summer of 1898, timetables reflected the modifications, with Franklinville remaining in parentheses. Thereafter it was simply Laurel. Soon after the station became a signal stop only.At Laurel, a small shack depot replaced the former structure in 1901. In 1910, the building was the setting for a controversy between the LIRR and the Post Office as to who should haul the mail from the station because of the location of the depot’s entry. Tape measures revealed that it was the railroad’s responsibility. However, soon after a second door was cut into the depot making it the Post Office’s obligation.
