Laurens, South Carolina
| Laurens, South Carolina | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Gateway Park
|
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| Motto: "Gateway to the Upstate" | |
 Location of Laurens in South Carolina |
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| Coordinates: 34°30′3″N 82°1′6″W / 34.50083°N 82.01833°WCoordinates: 34°30′3″N 82°1′6″W / 34.50083°N 82.01833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | South Carolina |
| County | Laurens |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | John Stankus |
| Area | |
| • City | 10.6 sq mi (27.4 km2) |
| • Land | 10.6 sq mi (27.4 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 610 ft (186 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • City | 9,139 |
| • Density | 936/sq mi (361.5/km2) |
| • Metro | 66,537 (Laurens County) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 29360 |
| Area code(s) | 864 |
| FIPS code | 45-40615 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1246310 |
| Website | cityoflaurenssc.com |
Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 9,139 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Laurens County.
Located in the Upstate region of South Carolina, the city of Laurens is named after Henry Laurens of Revolutionary War fame. It is part of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The small town of Laurens, South Carolina 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. Laurens was originally named Laurensville. On December 15, 1845, a charter was issued with the name of Laurensville. The first appearance of the town named Laurens was in an 1873 charter. The town of Laurens was chartered in 1900 and in 1916. The town was named in the honor of Henry Laurens, the South Carolina statesman.
The first inhabitants of Laurens were the Cherokee Indians. They used the land as their hunting and fighting ground. There has been evidence of broken potsherds, weapons, and a mound found linked to Cherokee culture on land now called Laurens. There were many treaties made with the Cherokee Indians over the land known as Laurens County dating back to 1721. Before the America Revolution thousands of immigrants, mainly from Scotland and Ireland, settled in Laurens County. Later Laurens developed into a major intersection of commerce in the 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 the major crop being produced. The high amount of cotton production led to an economic boom and a substantial increase in the African American population. The economic boom attracted wealthy entrepreneurs and businessmen to Laurens. Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States, worked as a tailor downtown Laurens from 1824 until 1826.
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