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A−History
History · Lawrence Township

Lawrence Township dates to 1835, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #119 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Marshall's Store. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1860.

1835founded
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lawrence Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lawrence Township began

When was Lawrence Township founded?

1835

Lawrence Township dates its founding to 1835 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 339 in 18602020 census: 3,289191 years

How historic is Lawrence Township?

A−

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lawrence Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawrence Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #119 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lawrence Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1835, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194022.6% of homes (±9.1) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 3.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 83%

Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lawrence Township’s 3.0 sits above most of its state (72% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.1 points). Two sources give 1835.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Lawrence Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lawrence Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1835: 191 years of Lawrence Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lawrence Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lawrence Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPaw Paw River, Lawrence, Michigan, not …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Weston
1837–1844
Lawrence
1844–today
Prospect Lake
1851–1900
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LawrenceLawrence Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Prospect Lake Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lawrence Township
HillLawrence VillageProspect Lake

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Lawrence Township, 1835 to 1927

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835
    FoundingLawrence Township is established
  3. 1837Post officeThe Weston post office opens
  4. 1844Post officeThe Weston post office closes
  5. 1844Post officeThe Lawrence post office opens
  6. 1851Post officeThe Prospect Lake post office opens
  7. 1874BuiltMarshall's Store is built
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900Post officeThe Prospect Lake post office closes
  10. 1913In the archivePaw Paw River, Lawrence, Michigan, not later than 1913
  11. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Lawrence Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lawrence Township.

Read it all →

Lawrence was founded in 1835 as "Mason" (in honor of then-popular first Territorial Governor Stevens T. Mason) by speculator/developer John Allen of Ann Arbor. Allen purchased 40 acres at the location of today's Brush Creek and Paw Paw River. He constructed a sawmill there in 1836, and by 1843, it was a small village of 10 homes. Each of the residents' families engaged in various trades: carpentry, farming, livestock trading, and two blacksmiths. During these first 7 years, John Allen renamed the new village "Brush Creek", then sold all his interests to Paw Paw resident John R. Baker. Allen left Michigan, taking his profits to California to try other real estate deals.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Lawrence Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Paw Paw River, Lawrence, Michigan, not later than 19131913Paw Paw River, Lawrence, Michigan, not later than 1913
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
Webster circus house2025Webster circus houseHess-Eastman Post 1742025Hess-Eastman Post 174DeHavens2025DeHavensSt Joseph St at Paw Paw St - Lawrence, MI (October 2021)2021St Joseph St at Paw Paw St - Lawrence, MI (October 20…Lawrence Town Hall2018Lawrence Town HallFirst Congregational Church-Lawrence2018First Congregational Church-Lawrence
On the map

Lawrence Township on the map, 1927 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lawrence Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lawrence Township on the 1927 USGS mapLawrence Township on the 1931 USGS mapLawrence Township on the 1981 USGS map1927Hartford sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lawrence Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Paw Paw River, Lawrence, Michigan, not later than 1913
Retake this viewPaw Paw River, Lawrence, Michigan, not later than 1913, 1913

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lawrence Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lawrence Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Marshall's Store
Marshall's Store, built 1874
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Marshall's StoreItalianate · Built 1874

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lawrence Township, census by census

02004006008001,000190019502000Peak: 1,059

Between 339 and 1,059 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lawrence Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Arlington TownshipIts storyCPaw Paw Township2 historic placesA−Hamilton TownshipIts storyBHartford TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Lawrence Township’s history

What year was Lawrence Township founded?

In 1835, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lawrence Township’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1860 counted 339 people here.

How does Lawrence Township rank for history?

Lawrence Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #119 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Lawrence Township?

One place: the Marshall's Store (listed 2002).

How old are the homes in Lawrence Township?

23% of Lawrence Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.