Lawrence

History

Native Americans lived along the Merrimack River for thousands of years before European colonization of the Americas. Evidence of farming at Den Rock Park and arrowhead manufacturing on the site where the Wood Mill now sits have been discovered. At the time of contact in the early 1600s, the Pennacook or Pentucket had a presence north of the Merrimack, while Massachusett, Naumkeag, and Agawam controlled territory south of the river. The territory which would later be aggregated into the city of Lawrence was purchased from Pennacooks Sagahew and Passaquo in 1642 for the English settlement of Haverhill, and from Massachusett sachem Cutshamekin in 1646 as a post-hoc payment for the lands surrounding the English settlement of Andover (modern-day North Andover center). The area that would become Lawrence was then part of Methuen and Andover. The first settlement within the present-day city limits came in 1655 with the establishment of a blockhouse in Shawsheen Fields, now South Lawrence. The future site of the city (formerly parts of Andover and Methuen) was purchased by a consortium of local industrialists. The Water Power Association members: Abbott Lawrence, Edmund Bartlett, Thomas Hopkinson of Lowell, John Nesmith and Daniel Saunders, had purchased control of Peter's Falls on the Merrimack River and hence controlled Bodwell's Falls the site of the present Great Stone Dam. The group allotted fifty thousand dollars to buy land along the river to develop. In 1844, the group petitioned the legislature to act as a corporation, known as the Essex Company, which incorporated on April 16, 1845. The first excavations for the Great Stone Dam to harness the Merrimack River's water power were done on August 1, 1845. The Pemberton Mill collapse occurred on January 10, 1860, in…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (6.07%) is water. Lawrence is on both sides of the Merrimack River, approximately upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. On the north side of the river, it is surrounded by Methuen. On the south side of the river, the town is bordered by North Andover to the east, and Andover to the south and southwest. Lawrence is approximately southwest of Newburyport, north-northwest of Boston and southeast of Manchester, New Hampshire. Aside from the Merrimack River, other water features include the Spicket River, which flows into the Merrimack from Methuen, and the Shawsheen River, which forms the southeastern border of the city. Lawrence has two power canals that were formerly used to provide hydropower to the mills—one on the north bank of the river, the other on the south. Channeling water into these canals is the Great Stone Dam, which lies across the entire Merrimack and was, at the time of its construction in the 1840s, the largest dam in the world. The highest point in Lawrence is the top of Tower Hill in the northwest corner of the city, rising approximately above sea level. Other prominent hills include Prospect Hill, in the northeastern corner of the city, and Mount Vernon, along the southern edge of the city. Most industrial activity was concentrated in the flatlands along the rivers. Den Rock Park, a wooded conservation district on the southern edge of Lawrence that spans the Lawrence-Andover town line, provides recreation for nature lovers and rock climbers alike. There are also several small parks throughout town. Lawrence is covered by the ZIP Codes 01840, 01841, 01842, and 01843. Lawrence has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa), which…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766)

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  27,809
• Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  25,748
• Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766)

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  25,284
• Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  25,051
• Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766)

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  21,465
• Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  21,403
• Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  21,355
• Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,355

Largest nearby schools

• Lawrence High School
  High · Lawrence · 3,084 students · 13.2:1 ratio
• Haverhill High
  High · Haverhill · 1,944 students · 12.9:1 ratio
• Methuen High
  High · Methuen · 1,916 students · 13:1 ratio
• Andover High
  High · Andover · 1,702 students · 13.3:1 ratio
• Gr Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical
  High · Andover · 1,692 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• North Andover High
  High · North Andover · 1,336 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Donald P Timony Grammar
  Elementary · Methuen · 1,263 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• Tenney Grammar School
  Elementary · Methuen · 1,254 students · 12.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.8 — 2016-03-21
  4 km ESE of Warner, New Hampshire
• M 2.61 — 2013-10-11
  New Hampshire
• M 3.15 — 2010-09-26
  2 km SW of Canterbury, New Hampshire