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CHistory
History · Lawrence

1 of Lawrence’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #266 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Lawrence was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2009. Below: maps from 1954 on.

1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

About Lawrence’s history

How historic is Lawrence?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Lawrence’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawrence is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #266 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lawrence’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19403.6% of homes (±2.9) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 27%

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lawrence’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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.

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 so far

Lawrence, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lawrence yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lawrence is a town in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 6,306 as of the 2020 census, up from 4,284 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Little Rapids is located in the town.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,284 to 6,306 (+47%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Lawrence, 1873 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Little Rapids post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1939Post officeThe Little Rapids post office closes
  5. 1954On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Lawrence on the map, 1954 to 1992

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 1954 USGS mapLawrence on the 1974 USGS mapLawrence on the 1992 USGS map1954De Pere 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.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Lawrence

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
1993
Little Kaukauna Lock and Dam Historic District
Little Kaukauna Lock and Dam Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Lock1
Concrete Dam1
Colonial Revival1
Little Kaukauna Lock and Dam Historic DistrictLock

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

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 →
W
Willem DafoeAmerican actor · b. 1955
Zack SnyderAmerican filmmaker · b. 1966
Tony ShalhoubAmerican actor · b. 1953
Kevin MacLeodAmerican composer and music producer · b. 1972
Esmir BajraktarevićAmerican-Bosnian association football player · b. 2005
Jay DeMeritAmerican soccer player · b. 1979
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Little Rapids
Gone or out of use
Briggs Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lawrence
LawrenceSouth 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.

De Pere19 historic placesA−AshwaubenonIts storyD−RocklandIts storyCHobartIts storyD−WrightstownIts storyB−Kaukauna1 historic placeA−

Questions about Lawrence’s history

How does Lawrence rank for history?

Lawrence is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #266 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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?

One place: the Little Kaukauna Lock and Dam Historic District (listed 1993).

How old are the homes in Lawrence?

4% of Lawrence’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 2009.

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.