Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Laurens had a population of 9,335. It is the county seat of Laurens County. It is part of the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley metropolitan area.
History
thumb|left|Laurens in 1941
thumb|left|Downtown Laurens, 1941
Located in upstate South Carolina, the city of Laurens is named after Henry Laurens, a South Carolina merchant and rice planter who was one of America's wealthiest slave traders. He was a delegate to and second president of the Continental Congress and served as a diplomat.
Laurens was established by an act of the General Assembly on March 15, 1785, as a location for commercial activities. It was one of the six counties created from the Old Ninety-Six District of South Carolina. The town of Laurens was chartered in 1900 and in 1916. It was named in honor of South Carolina statesman Henry Laurens. Before the American Revolution, thousands of immigrants, mainly from Scotland and Ireland, settled in Laurens County. Later Laurens developed into a major intersection of commerce in colonial America. In the Battle of Musgrove Mill, Laurens witnessed intense fighting.
In 1790, after the Revolutionary War, Laurens was elected as the county seat. Like other southern towns, cotton was its major crop. High cotton production led to an economic boom and a substantial increase in the African American population due to the use of African slaves on cotton plantations. This attracted wealthy entrepreneurs and businessmen to Laurens. Future President Andrew Johnson worked as a tailor in downtown Laurens from 1824 to 1826.
Before the beginning of the American Civil War, Laurens provided a great deal of political leaders to the state government. The state's decision to secede from the Union was influenced by many of them. The fighting of the Civil War never neared Laurens, but it was affected by the influx of refugees fleeing Charleston to avoid the progressing Union Army and Navy. Several of the refugees settled in Laurens after the war.
In the postwar Reconstruction years, Laurens's economy evolved to include industry. The economic recovery relied upon the creation of the textiles and manufacturing industries. Lauren Cotton Mill was founded in 1895 and Watts Mill in 1902. Laurens Glass Company was established in 1910, and was one of the largest glass plants in the southeast for over 80 years. The Laurens Railroad Company was chartered in 1847. The Columbia-Newberry-Laurens Railroad and the Charleston-Western Carolina Railroad are the two major intersections provided by the railroad.
Laurens was the town chosen for a makeover in the second season of Town Haul.
The movie Burden (2018 film) was set in the town of Laurens.
Laurens is home to Reverend Gary Davis and Pink Anderson, acoustic blues musicians who were born in the city, as well as Redtop Davis, a lightweight boxer of the 1940s and 1950s. James "JT" Taylor, the lead singer of the funk/R&B band Kool & The Gang, grew up in Laurens.
Historic places
The Courthouse Square consists of four acres that was purchased in 1792 for two guineas, which is around $21,000 (Bolick, 1982). The Laurens County Courthouse is placed in the center of the square. The current courthouse is the third courthouse. The first courthouse was constructed of wood. It was used as a church, school, and courthouse. The second courthouse was made of brick. Dr. John Wells Simpson built the third courthouse in 1838.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Laurens had a population of 9,335, 3,890 households, and 2,450 families. The median age was 40.3 years. 23.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 83.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 77.5 males age 18 and over.
There were 3,890 households in Laurens, of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 32.1% were married-couple households, 18.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 41.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 4,614 || 49.4%
|-
| Black or African American || 3,664 || 39.3%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 44 || 0.5%
|-
| Asian || 51 || 0.5%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 1 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 417 || 4.5%
|-
| Two or more races || 544 || 5.8%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 817 || 8.8%
|}
2000 census
As of the census
There were 3,952 households, out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 23.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,756, and the median income for a family was $36,656. Males had a median income of $28,149 versus $21,883 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,582. About 12.9% of families and 17.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Laurens has a lending library, the Laurens County Public Library.
The city of Laurens is served by Laurens County School District 55, which also includes the neighboring towns of Gray Court, Hickory Tavern, and Waterloo. The following public schools are located within the city of Laurens: E.B. Morse Elementary, Ford Elementary, Laurens Elementary, Sanders Middle, Laurens Middle and Laurens District 55 High. Private education includes Laurens Academy, a Christian K-12 school. Piedmont Technical College also operates a campus in Laurens.
Government
Laurens City Hall is on the town square. The form of government is mayor/council. Attorney Nathan Senn serves as mayor, and members of the city council include Marian Miller, Alicia Sullivan, Cassandra Campbell, Sara Latimore, Martin Lowry, and Johnnie L. Bolt.
Senn was elected mayor on March 5, 2019, defeating the incumbent, John Stankus.
Media
Laurens is the home of WLBG-AM 860, which carries a news/talk format as 'Real Radio 860.' This radio station is well-respected and the oldest of the two daily news sources in Laurens, SC. Their feature program is 'Good Morning Upcountry' with host Randy Stevens. WLBG also covers local news every morning, with smaller news "recap" segments interspersed throughout the day. Laurens also has a daily news website, GoLaurens.com. It covers news, sports and crime daily. The city's only print newspaper, The Laurens County Advertiser, is a weekly, published every Wednesday. A smaller version, called The Advertiser EXTRA, is published and distributed every Friday and distributed via mail. Unlike the large version of the Advertiser, the Laurens County Advertiser Extra is distributed free of charge, without subscription to many residents throughout Laurens County. Laurens is home to the upstate's premier commercial printer, Print-A-Matic, Inc., founded by Robert Seymour in 1979. The Laurens County Community Access Channel, ACCESS 15, a Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channel is broadcast over Charter Cable channel 15.
Notable people
- Pink Anderson, blues singer
- Robert Archer Cooper, Governor of South Carolina
- W. Paul Culbertson, member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and former mayor
- Reverend Gary Davis, blues and gospel guitarist and singer
- Jeff Duncan, former U.S. representative and South Carolina state representative
- John Glen (1809–95), Mayor of Atlanta
- Bob Hazle, baseball player
- Hilary A. Herbert, Secretary of the Navy under President Grover Cleveland
- Andrew Johnson, 17th U.S. president
- Ali Rogers, Miss South Carolina 2012, first runner-up at Miss America 2013
- William Dunlap Simpson, Governor of South Carolina
- James "J.T." Taylor, R&B funk singer, Kool & the Gang
- Thomas A. Wofford, United States Senator from South Carolina
References
External links
- Laurens County
- Laurens County Chamber of Commerce
- Laurens County Museum
- Laurens County Advertiser
- ACCESS 15, Laurens County Community Access Channel
- GoLaurens.com