Lawrence

History

The municipality was platted in 1849 under the name "Lanesville", but other names were tried because there was already another Lanesville in Indiana. The name "Jamestown", in honor of the town's founder James White, was used for a while, but in 1866 the Marion County Commissioners approved the name "Lawrence", which is also the name of the township in which it is located. The name was in honor of Captain James Lawrence, naval hero of the War of 1812. In 1929 the citizens of Lawrence voted to become an independent town, where they first established the town marshal, as well as other parts of government. In 1969, Indianapolis and Marion County adopted a unified government structure known as Unigov. Lawrence is one of four "excluded cities" and therefore retains its own municipal government. Its citizens vote not only for the mayor and council of Lawrence, but also for the mayor of Indianapolis and representatives on the Indianapolis City-County Council.

Geography

Lawrence is located in northeastern Marion County. It is bordered to the east by Hancock County, including the town of McCordsville. Downtown Indianapolis is to the southwest. U.S. Route 36 (Pendleton Pike) runs through the city, leading northeast to Pendleton. US 36 intersects Interstate 465, the Indianapolis beltway, at that highway's Exit 42 at the southwest corner of Lawrence. Exit 40 on I-465, with East 56th Street and North Shadeland Avenue, is along the western border of Lawrence. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lawrence has a total area of , of which , or 0.48%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  31,996
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  29,843
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  23,943
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,877
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  21,914
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,902
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,789
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  20,731

Largest nearby schools

• North Central High School
  High · Indianapolis · 3,628 students · 16.1:1 ratio
• Warren Central High School
  High · Indianapolis · 3,414 students · 18.5:1 ratio
• Lawrence North High School
  High · Indianapolis · 2,861 students · 19.7:1 ratio
• Arsenal Technical High School
  High · Indianapolis · 2,366 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Lawrence Central High School
  High · Indianapolis · 2,317 students · 19.6:1 ratio
• Fall Creek Valley Middle School
  Middle · Indianapolis · 1,351 students · 21.1:1 ratio
• Early Learning Center
  Elementary · Indianapolis · 1,298 students · 24:1 ratio
• Belzer Middle School
  Middle · Indianapolis · 1,183 students · 19.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2023-10-31
  7 km ESE of Linden, Indiana
• M 3.8 — 2010-12-30
  6 km SE of Greentown, Indiana
• M 3.8 — 2004-09-12
  4 km NW of Manilla, Indiana