Laurens County, South Carolina facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Laurens County
U.S. county
Laurens County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of South Carolina
South Carolina's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
Founded	March 12, 1785
Seat	Laurens
Largest city	Laurens
Area
• Total	724 sq mi (1,880 km2)
• Land	714 sq mi (1,850 km2)
• Water	10 sq mi (30 km2)  1.4%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	67,539
• Density	93.29/sq mi (36.018/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	3rd

Laurens County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 67,539. Its county seat is Laurens.

Laurens County is included in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Laurens County was formed in 1785. It was named after Henry Laurens, the fifth president of the Continental Congress.

One of nine modern counties of the Colonial Ninety-Six District, Laurens County hosted more "official" (i.e. officially recognized and contemporaneously documented by competent governments) battles than did half of the original colonies. The Battle of Musgrove Mill was the first time during the American Revolution that regular soldiers of Great Britain were defeated in battle by militia.

Those battles in modern Laurens County were:

1. Fort Lindley/Lindler
2. Widow Kellet's Block House
3. Musgrove's Mill
4. Farrow's Station
5. Duncan Creek Meeting House
6. Indian Creek
7. Hammond's Store
8. Fort Williams (not to be confused with Williamson's fort some 25 miles south in Greenwood County)
9. Cedar Springs (begun in Cross Anchor SC, then an old-fashioned "Hoss Chase" of fifty eight miles through four counties and ended in NC after about 30 hours!)
10. Mud Lick Creek
11. Hayes' Station. (Joe Goldsmith, State Historian, SC Soc., Sons of the American Revolution)

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 724 square miles (1,880 km²), of which 714 square miles (1,850 km²) is land and 10 square miles (26 km²) (1.4%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Spartanburg County - north
• Union County - northeast
• Newberry County - southeast
• Greenwood County - south
• Abbeville County - southwest
• Anderson County - west
• Greenville County - northwest

Major highways

• Interstate 26
• Interstate 385
• U.S. Route 25
• U.S. Route 76
• U.S. Route 221
• South Carolina Highway 72
• South Carolina Highway 418

National protected area

• Sumter National Forest (part)

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 66,537 people, 25,525 households, and 17,707 families living in the county. The population density was 93.2 inhabitants per square mile (36.0/km²). There were 30,709 housing units at an average density of 43.0 per square mile (16.6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 70.4% white, 25.4% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 2.3% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 11.8% were American, 9.8% were Irish, 9.6% were German, and 8.8% were English.

Of the 25,525 households, 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.6% were non-families, and 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age was 39.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,529 and the median income for a family was $45,769. Males had a median income of $36,807 versus $26,799 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,757. About 14.1% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.0% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 67,539 people, 25,901 households, and 16,961 families residing in the county.

Communities

Cities

• Clinton
• Fountain Inn (mostly in Greenville County)
• Laurens (county seat)

Towns

• Cross Hill
• Gray Court
• Ware Shoals (mostly in Greenwood, partly in Abbeville Counties)
• Waterloo

Census-designated places

• Joanna
• Mountville
• Princeton
• Watts Mills

Unincorporated communities

• Barksdale
• Hickory Tavern
• Kinards (partly in Newberry County)
• Madden
• Owings

Education

There are three public school districts in the county. Laurens County District 55 covers what is generally the northeastern half of the county while District 56 covers the southwestern half. The Ware Shoals area is covered by the multi-county Greenwood County District 51. There are two public high schools in the county: Laurens (in Dist. 55) and Clinton (in Dist. 56.)

Public K-12 education includes Hickory Tavern Elementary, Ford Elementary, Gray Court-Owings, E.B. Morse, Hickory Tavern Middle, Laurens Middle, and Sanders Middle.

Private K-12 education includes Laurens Academy.

Presbyterian College, located in Clinton, is a four-year liberal-arts school founded in 1880.

Notable people

• James Adair, (c.1709–c.1783), historian, resided in Laurens County in later life.
• Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States, worked as a tailor in Laurens during the 1820s.
• William Y. Thompson (born 1922), historian, resided in Clinton from 1950 to 1955.
• William Dunlap Simpson, 78th governor of South Carolina and chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court from 1880 to 1890.
• Pat Cannon, United States Representative from Florida; raised in Laurens County.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Laurens (Carolina del Sur) para niños