LANDRUM, S.C. (WSPA) – Downtown Historic Landrum has proudly maintained its old-town look for decades. It’s an intentional decision by city leaders that helps the small but growing city stand out amongst the rest.
Leaders said it’s also a way for them to remember Landrum’s history and how the city got its start.
History of Landrum
The first homesteaders arrived in the Landrum area around 1760, according to Landrum Mayor Robert Briggs. They settled in an area called Earl’s Fort, which was located approximately 2 miles east of the current city limits.
Throughout the next 80 years, the area continued to grow as lumber and corn mills were established. However, Briggs said it wasn’t until the railroad expanded across Spartanburg that Landrum evolved for the better.
He explained how a man with a familiar name gave the railroad company land in 1877 to construct a station.
“John G. Landrum was a Baptist preacher, and his family was married to the Earls,” Briggs detailed. “They had some property where the depot was, and they donated that property so Landrum could build that station.”
He said that the station helped develop Landrum from desolate farmland into a thriving market.
“If you look back at old maps in Spartanburg County from the 1880s, Landrum was just a crossroads,” he described. “With the train came commerce, and that was economically valuable for the area.”
The train also brought the official naming of the area: Landrum’s Station.
Around 1900, Briggs said the name was shortened to just Landrum, and in 1973, it was made a city.
History in the present-day
While trains and farming may not be the main draw to Landrum in 2026, remnants of its railroad history are still maintained in the area.
The Landrum train depot doubles as a museum, according to Stephanie Winterrowd, a longtime resident of the area.
“If you’re into history and want to experience the history of Landrum, we’ve worked really hard to restore our train depot,” she explained. “It is a community center; it’s available for events, and sitting next to it is our train car. It would have run on this railway, [but] it has the history of Landrum in it.”
Winterrowd said her family’s lineage dates well back into Landrum’s history, and as someone who’s personally seen many changes in the area come and go, the one thing that hasn’t changed is the historic look and feel of old-town Landrum.
“We’re very proud of the fact that we still have that small-town feel, those small-town businesses, those locally owned restaurants. [We’re] very proud of that and that historic nature,” she said.
She said neither leaders nor residents have any trouble preserving the environment because they love and understand its importance.
“There was always sort of a connection here, and so it was natural that the railroad came through this area. It provided even more of a connection, a place for people to sell their farm goods, peaches, cotton, so it really developed the area.”
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