The Landrum area was settled circa 1760 by homesteaders from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. There, they built a fort approximately two miles from the current City of Landrum. The town of Landrum was founded in 1880 after the railroad was extended north from Spartanburg and named after John Gill Landrum, who gave the land for construction of the local depot. Landrum was incorporated as a town three years later. In 1973, it was made into a city.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,472 people, 1,040 households, and 691 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,053.7 people per square mile. There were 1,107 housing units at an average density of 471.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 81.84% White, 15.86% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.81% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.78% of the population. There were 1,040 households, out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couplesliving together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,583, and the median income for a family was $40,347. Males had a median income of $28,375 versus $20,784 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,259. About 10.4% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 18.9% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Public Schools include O.P. Earle Elementary, serving grades PK-5, Landrum Middle, serving grades 5–8, and Landrum High, serving grades 9-12. Grace Christian School, which serves grades PK-12, is a private institution. Landrum has a lending library, a branch of the Spartanburg CountyPublic Library.
