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–Not graded
History · Lawrence

17% of Lawrence’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on.

0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Lawrence’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lawrence are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lawrence’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Lawrence came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lawrence.

Read it all →

Like most of northern Wisconsin, the area that would become Lawrence was Ojibwe territory in the years before white contact.

Some of the earliest European Americans to walk the six mile squares that would become Lawrence were the U.S. government's surveyors. In 1847 they surveyed the outsides of the six mile squares on foot with chain and compass. Then others came back in 1855 to survey all the section lines. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description for the western six miles of what would become Lawrence:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lawrence, 1916 to 1971

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1916Post officeThe Walrath post office opens
  3. 1933Post officeThe Walrath post office closes
  4. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Lawrence on the map, 1971 to 1980

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

Lawrence on the 1971 USGS mapLawrence on the 1980 USGS map1971Sheldon NE sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Lawrence

Nobody well known was born in Lawrence itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ron KovicAnti-war activist · b. 1946
Lois CappsAmerican politician and writer · b. 1938
Jim LeonhardAmerican football player and coach · b. 1982
B
Beverley AndersonAmerican alpine skier · b. 1938
M
Mark HayesAmerican composer · b. 1953
M
Mike NewkirkPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1986
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Walrath, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
East Lawrence SchoolschoolSouth Lawrence SchoolschoolWalrath Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Lawrence
South Lawrence

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

McKinley1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrowIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHawkinsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTrueIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRichland1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lawrence’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.