Scotland County, North Carolina: History
=== Early history ===
The earliest residents of the land which became Scotland County were Cheraw Native Americans. Many Scottish Highlanders and English Quakers began colonizing the area as early as the 1720s when it was within the British Province of North Carolina. The land encompassing Scotland County was originally under the jurisdiction of Bladen County. As North Carolina grew, its original counties were subdivided and the future Scotland portion was placed in the new Anson County. The relevant portion was then moved into the new Richmond County in 1779. Richmond County was bisected by the Sandhills, leaving the eastern portion—of future Scotland—geographically separated from the rest of the county.
More immigrants came after the American Revolutionary War, especially one large group of Highland Scots which came from the Cape Fear River. The group split and settled two areas in the county, Johns and Laurel Hill, the latter in the vicinity of the Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church, established in 1797. Laurel Hill became the first major community in the region, prospering as a post-revolution trading center. More immigrants settled the area at this time, including Germans, Welsh, English, and Ulster Scots. Enslaved Africans were also brought into the area. The Laurel Hill community largely moved south in 1861 after the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad laid a line through the area. Gaelic was spoken in the area through the 1860s.
During the American Civil War, the railroad's shops were moved to Laurinburg in the hope they would be safer from Union Army attack; however, in March 1865, Union forces reached Laurinburg and burned the railroad depot and temporary shops. The shops were rebuilt after the war, though economic recovery was slow.
Laurinburg was incorporated in 1877. It continued to develop as a railway town until 1894 when the shops were moved. …