Lawrenceburg dates to 1802, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #149 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 257 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1806.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lawrenceburg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawrenceburg is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #149 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lawrenceburg’s overall grade.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lawrenceburg’s 504 sits above most of its state (95% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 261 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1802.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Lawrenceburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Lawrenceburg, building by building, 1885–1922
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Founded in 1802, Lawrenceburg was named for the maiden name of the wife of founder Samuel C. Vance.
On February 12, 1861, Abraham Lincoln made a pre-inaugural speech from his train platform while stopped in Lawrenceburg.
In the 19th century, Lawrenceburg became an important trading center for riverboats on the Ohio River.
The Dearborn County Courthouse, Downtown Lawrenceburg Historic District, Hamline Chapel United Methodist Church, the Liberty Theatre, the Dunn Home, The Daniel S. Major House, and Vance-Tousey House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Passages that mention Lawrenceburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Dearborn County Indiana1915 · page 137Read the page →
Read the text
“Section 16. It shall be the duty of the corporation of the said town of Lawrenceburg to give bond with good and sufficient security, to be approved of by the county commissioners of said county, or any one of them, in a pen¬ alty of any amount one or they may require, not exceeding however the pen¬ alty of ten thousand dollars payable to the state of Indiana, conditioned that the corporation of said town of Lawrenceburg shall within one year from and after the said first day of April, 1844, fit up and repair the court house and jail in said town of Lawrenceburg and build a clerk’s office, recorder’s office
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Dearborn County Indiana1915 · page 439Read the page →
Read the text
Caldwell, commissioners appointed by an act of the General Assembly, of the state of Indiana, approved January 31, 1824, and amended January . 21, 1826, for the ‘purpose of making, running, laying out and locating a road from the town of Lawrenceburg, in the county of Dearborn, to the town of Brookville, in the county of Franklin,’ reported they had met at the house of John Gray, in the town of Lawrenceburg, on the 13th day of November, 1826, and, being duly sworn according to law, appointed Henry McKenzie, surveyor, and Joseph Dart and Isaac Southard, chain bearers, who severally
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Lawrenceburg, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1802, according to Wikidata. Lawrenceburg’s post office opened in 1806, and the census of 1850 counted 2,651 people here.
How does Lawrenceburg rank for history?
Lawrenceburg is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #149 of 593 in Indiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Lawrenceburg?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Dearborn County Courthouse (listed 1981, the first), and 1 historic district, the Downtown Lawrenceburg Historic District, with 257 contributing buildings. 261 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lawrenceburg?
16% of Lawrenceburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1983.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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