Laurinburg

Laurinburg is a city in Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Scotland County. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina state border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. The Laurinburg Institute, a historically African-American school, is also located in Laurinburg. The population at the 2010 Census was 15,962 people.HistorySettlers arrived at the present town site around 1785. The settlement was named for a prominent family, the McLaurins.In 1840, Laurinburg had a saloon, a store, and a few shacks. Laurinburgh High School, a private school, was established in 1852. The settlement prospered in the years following.A line of the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad was built through Laurinburg in the 1850s, with the first train reaching Laurinburg in 1861. The railroad's shops were moved to Laurinburg in 1865 in the hope they would be safer from Union Army attack, however, in March of that year Union forces reached Laurinburg and burned the railroad depot and temporary shops.Laurinburg was incorporated in 1877, and the first courthouse in Scotland County was erected in Laurinburg in 1901. A new courthouse was built in 1964.In 1904, a black preparatory school called the Laurinburg Institute was founded.Main Street in Laurinburg was paved in 1914.Historic sitesSeveral site in Laurinburg are listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Scotland County, North Carolina, including: