On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawrence is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #695 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lawrence’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lawrence’s 1.5 sits below most of its state (23% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1897.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Lawrence’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Old Lawrence, or Back Lawrence, is a part of the village, comprising many large homes, mansions, beach side villas and former plantations with very large property, a few dating back to the time of the American Revolution. This area, like Hewlett is unique because its rural affluence is similar in character to the more well known Gold Coast of the North Shore instead of being more urbanized like the rest of the South Shore of Nassau County. One of the area's oldest structures, Rock Hall – once home to two prominent families, the Martins and Hewletts – was constructed during colonial times and is now an active museum, Hewlett still being the most expensive city in the 5 towns.
Passages that mention Lawrence, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical genealogy of the Lawrence family1858 · page 123Read the page →
Read the text
Secondly. By quit claim deed, made by Joseph Lawrence of Flushing, to Joseph Bonny of Woodbridge, in the province of East New Jersey, in the year 1735, as identifying the second ancestor, Joseph Lawrence, with the said Elizabeth Lawrence above identified as the lawful wife of the first ancestor, William Lawrence, who came over from England to America as aforesaid (see Appendix D).
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical genealogy of the Lawrence family1858 · page 18Read the page →
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ments of that town, for which he received the honors of knighthood from King Richard, and also a coat of arms (this coat of arms is still preserved, impressed on the seal appended to a document of William Lawrence, 1680, and also Richard Lawrence, 1711, preserved in the Surrogate's Office, New York City,) at the same time. After this the family became eminent in England, so much so, that Sir John Lawrence, the ninth in
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.
Timeline
Lawrence, 1897 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 1897, according to Wikidata. the census of 1890 counted 626 people here.
How does Lawrence rank for history?
Lawrence is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #695 of 758 in New York. 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?
18% of Lawrence’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
1913
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