unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Forrest County, Mississippi
Forrest County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,158. Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg. The county was created from Perry County in 1908 and named in honor of Nat ...
, United States.
History
The town of McLaurin is named for General McLaurin, who was also the first president of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad. At one time, McLaurin was the site of the largest
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
in the country, becoming an important shipping site for
masonite
Masonite board
Back side of a masonite board
Isorel,
Quartrboard, Masonite Corporation,
Masonite, also called Quartboard or pressboard, is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood or paper fibers. The fibers ...
and pulp wood. The manager of the first sawmill in the area, Jim Barron, is buried in McLaurin Cemetery.
The population in 1900 was 300.
A post office operated under the name McLaurin from 1896 to 1974.
A historic landing field for aircraft is located south of the settlement.
The McLaurin Salt Dome is a
salt dome
A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered us ...
McLaurin is served by U.S. Route 49, a north–south corridor that runs through
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
and
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
.
Places of worship
* McLaurin United Methodist Church
* Morning Star Church
* Old Enon Church
* First Baptist Church of McLaurin