Founding year: the first Lawrence post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lawrence’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawrence is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lawrence’s overall grade.
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’s 10.6 sits above most of its state (83% 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 (±9.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Passages that mention Lawrence, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Saint Lawrence, its basin & border-lands1905Read the page →
Read the text
For many years Tadoussac had been a rendezvous for the fur trade on the St. Lawrence. No settlement or permanent post had been founded, but there the Indians in spring and early summer used to meet the vessels of the traders. Frangois Grave, Sieur du Pont (whose .231
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Saint Lawrence, its basin & border-lands1905 · page 404Read the page →
Read the text
lish factories on Hudson's Bay could be headed off, and there he stationed his younger brother, Claude. Beyond this point the Winnipeg divide approaches Lake Superior and closes the St. Lawrence basin in on the west at a distance of only forty-five to sixty miles. Dulhut founded his main station at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River, now known as Fort William. A century later it was the headquarters of the Northwest and Hudson's Bay fur
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
Lawrence, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: 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.
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
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Lawrence’s history
What year was Lawrence founded?
The Lawrence post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lawrence rank for history?
Lawrence is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Lawrence?
24% of Lawrence’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people 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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