City Directories and History: In 1837 John L. McLaurin purchased the property on which the present house is situated from David Stewart’s widow, Celia Stewart Thomas. McLaurin, the son of Scottish immigrants who had established themselves along the Little Pee Dee River in the 1790s, was a farmer who served on various local district boards. John t. McLaurin had two sons who served in the South Carolina General Assembly. The eldest son, Phi Hip Bethea McLaurin, served from 1856 to 1857. He was a lawyer who farmed extensively. Another son, John Bethea McLaurin (1834-1892) was also actively involved in local politics. It was this son, John B. McLaurin, who inherited the family home outside of Clio. He was both a farmer and a physician. After service in the Confederate army he returned to Clio and ca. 1880 constructed the present house, incorporating elements from an earlier structure. In 1882 he entered the South Carolina General Assembly as a delegate from Marlboro County. After John B. McLaurin’s death, the house passed to a nephew Dr. John Laugh!in McLaurin, a Clio dentist. The house continues to be owned by the McLaurin family.
The McLaurin house is an excellent example of the Italianate Victorian style, popular during the last quarter of the 19th Century. Symmetrical in plan, the house features such embellishments as multi-bracketed gables, octagonal bays with crowning balustrades, molded cornices, and a balustraded widow’s walk. (NR File Data / SC Dept. of Archives and History)
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