Laurens, South Carolina
Encyclopedia
Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 9,916 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Laurens County.

History

Located in the western part of South Carolina, it is named after Henry Laurens of Revolutionary War fame. It is part of the Greenville
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...

Mauldin
Mauldin, South Carolina
Mauldin is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 15,224 at the 2000 census. It is a principal city of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

Easley
Easley, South Carolina
Easley is a city in Pickens County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is a principal city of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area. Most of the city lies in Pickens County, with only a very small portion of the city in Anderson County...

 Metropolitan Statistical Area
Greenville-Mauldin-Easley metropolitan area
The Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget and used by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purpose only, is an area consisting of three counties in Upstate South Carolina, anchored mainly by...

.

Original maps indicate the town may have originally been called Laurensville. The earliest known reference to the name Laurens is a town charter in 1873.
Laurens and Laurens County is part of the Old 96 District
Old 96 District
Old 96 District, now a popular tourist destination in South Carolina, was originally inhabited by the Cherokee. The region continued support a great amount of textile mills and various other businesses. The region is now a destination for tourists containing: churches, battle sites , and other...

, which also includes Abbeville County
Abbeville County, South Carolina
Abbeville County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2010, its population was 25,147. Its county seat is Abbeville. It is the first county in the United States alphabetically.-History:...

, Greenwood County, McCormick County, and Edgefield County.

The textile, manufacturing, and glass industry was at one point a major source of employment; however, most have closed over the last 30 years, which has significantly hurt the city and its economic conditions. Today, there are no manufacturing plants in the city limits. The unemployment rate, as of July 2011, sat at 12%. Walmart operates a distribution center outside of the city near Interstate 385
Interstate 385
Interstate 385 starts where it meets the Interstate 26, near Clinton and heads in a northwest direction where it ends with exit 42, near downtown Greenville. After exit 42, I-385 turns into Business Spur 385 that then promptly ends at U.S. 29 near the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville. It is one...

, which serves as a major employer. Although the economic, crime and unemployment issues have been significant hurdles, the area has seen several recent economic retail developments. Laurens was the town chosen for a makeover in the second season of Town Haul
Town Haul
Town Haul is a television program on TLC, hosted by Genevieve Gorder. It makes-over old towns to give them a new look. Its first town was Jeffersonville, New York. Its second town was Laurens, South Carolina. In the first two seasons, they typically made over family-run businesses...

.

Laurens is home to Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...

 and Pink Anderson
Pink Anderson
"Pink" Anderson was a blues singer and guitarist, born in Laurens, South Carolina.-Life and career:After being raised in Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, he joined Dr...

, acoustic blues musicians who were born in the city, as well as Redtop Davis
Teddy Davis (boxer)
Teddy "Redtop" Davis, alias Murray Cain , was a featherweight professional boxer from South Carolina.-Personal life:...

, lightweight
Lightweight
Light-weight is a class of athletes in a particular sport, based on their weight.-Professional boxing:The lightweight division is over 130 pounds and up to 135 pounds weight class in the sport of boxing....

 boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 of the 1940s and 1950s. J.T. Taylor, the lead singer of the funk/R&B band Kool & The Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...

, grew up in Laurens.

The Redneck Shop
Redneck Shop
The Redneck Shop is a white nationalism and neo-Nazi clothing store in Laurens, South Carolina, which sells T-shirts, bumper stickers, and Ku Klux Klan robes, among other things. It is run by Maryland native John Howard, who describes himself as a former Klan leader.The building also features a...

, a white supremacist clothing store, is also located in Laurens.

Geography and climate

Laurens is located at 34°30′3"N 82°1′6"W (34.500717, -82.018271).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 10.6 square miles (27.5 km²), all of it land.

Laurens has a generally mild climate. The average wintertime high is 59°F and the average wintertime low is 36°F. The average summertime high is 89°F and the average summertime low is 65°F. The city averages around 4.6" of rainfall monthly.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 9,916 people, 3,952 households, and 2,596 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 936.6 people per square mile (361.5/km²). There were 4,396 housing units at an average density of 415.2 per square mile (160.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 53.72% White, 43.57% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 1.34% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.42% of the population. A 2009 census estimate put the city's population at 9,478.

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
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 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
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 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.

Government

The Laurens City Hall is located on the town square. The form of government is Mayor/Council. Sharon Brownlee currently serves as mayor, and members of City Council include: Marian Miller, Richard Griffin, Sylvia S. Douglas, Frank Richardson, Martin Lowry, Johnnie L. Bolt.

Media

The city's only print newspaper, The Laurens Advertiser, is a weekly, published every Wednesday. A smaller version, called The Laurens Advertiser EXTRA, is published and distributed every Friday and distributed via mail. Unlike the large version of the Advertiser, the 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. Laurens is also the home of WLBG-AM 860, which carries a News/Talk format as 'Real Radio 860.' Their feature program is 'Good Morning Upcountry' with host Randy Stevens. The Laurens County Community Access Channel, ACCESS 15, a Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...

 (PEG) cable tv channel is broadcast over Charter Cable channel 15.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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