Copyright Notice: This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

The general office of the Laurinburg & Southern Railroad, Laurinburg, N.C., 1953. Image from the North Carolina Museum of History.
The general office of the Laurinburg & Southern Railroad, Laurinburg, N.C., 1953. Image from the North Carolina Museum of History.
The Laurinburg & Southern Railroad was incorporated on 4 Mar. 1909 in response to protests from three industries in Laurinburg that were dissatisfied with the service of the railroad on which they were located. N. G. Wade, D. M. Flynn, J. F. McNair, J. Blue, A. L. Jones, and J. A. Jones were the incorporators, with McNair serving as president. Construction from Johns to East Laurinburg was completed on 2 July 1909, and soon the railroad made its first shipment of freight, a carload of finished cotton goods. Within a year the line was completed to Wagram, and on 12 Nov. 1921 a section from Wagram to Raeford was purchased from the Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad. Passenger service began on 11 June 1910 and later that year was expanded to include through service with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

In the early 2000s the 28-mile Laurinburg & Southern was owned by the Gulf & Ohio Railways of Knoxville, Tenn., which also owned the Nash County Railroad and the Yadkin Valley Railroad and connected with CSX and the Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad. Its chief traffic included grain, fertilizer, soda ash, coal, and lime. The company also performed contract track construction and crossing maintenance.

Warehouse and train of the Laurinburg & Southern Railroad, Laurinburg, N.C., 1953. Image from the North Carolina Museum of History.Reference:

Bill Robertson, Eighty Years of Laurinburg and Southern History (1989).

Additional References:

"Laurinburg & Southern Railroad." Gulf & Ohio Railways, Inc. http://www.gulfandohio.com/laurinburg-and-southern (accessed August 6, 2012).

"Laurinburg & Southern Railroad." Railway Association of North Carolina. http://www.ncrailways.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=19 (accessed August 6, 2012).

"Case Sutdies: Laurinburg & Southern Railroad." Strategic Rail Finance. http://www.strategicrail.com/case_detail.php?id=laurinburg (accessed August 6, 2012).

Lentz, John. "Railroad engine donated to county museum." January 11, 2010. LaurinburgExchange.com. http://www.laurinburgexchange.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Railroad+engine+donated+to+county+museum+-%20&id=5519402 (accessed August 6, 2012).

Image Credits:

"Photograph, Accession #: H.1953.101.1." 1953. North Carolina Museum of History.

"Photograph, Accession #: H.1953.101.2" 1953. North Carolina Museum of History.

Citation

Kern, Donald W. "Laurinburg & Southern Railroad." NCpedia. Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. Accessed on February 23rd, 2025. https://www.ncpedia.org/laurinburg-southern-railroad.