[1] 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.

As a result of this, white Democrats built up a political base in Laurinburg and in 1899 the town and the surrounding area was split off from Richmond into the new Scotland County.

[8] The town was declared the seat of Scotland County in 1900[10] and the first courthouse was erected the following year.

[1] As their influence in public affairs and share of public resources declined, local black citizens created the Laurinburg Normal Industrial Institute, later known as Laurinburg Academy, in 1904.

[1] Beginning in 1929, the Great Depression severely impacted Laurinburg, causing two banks to fail.

[1] Laurinburg's downtown suffered an economic decline beginning in the 1980s when the Belk department store moved to a shopping center further away.

[12] Several sites in Laurinburg are listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Scotland County, North Carolina, including: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.71 square miles (32.9 km2), of which 12.55 square miles (32.5 km2) is land and 0.16 square miles (0.41 km2) (1.26%) is water.

Laurinburg is located 19 miles (31 km) northeast of Bennettsville, 26 miles (42 km) east of Rockingham, As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 14,978 people, 5,712 households, and 3,544 families residing in the city.

[citation needed] The black population is concentrated in the northern section of the city.