Timeline of Lawrence, Massachusetts

The following is a timeline of the history of Lawrence, Massachusetts in the United States.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

19th century

• 1845
  • Essex Company begins construction of dam and canal on Merrimack River.
• 1846
  • Essex Company Machine Shop built.
  • Lawrence Street Church organized.
  • Church of the Immaculate Conception established.
• 1847
  • Town of Lawrence incorporated from Methuen and Andover; named after businessman Abbott Lawrence,
  • Lawrence Courier newspaper in publication.
  • Bellevue Cemetery established.
  • Franklin Library Association formed.
  • First Baptist Church, First Free Baptist Church, First Unitarian Society, Church of the Good Shepherd, and First Methodist Episcopal Church established
• 1848
  • Boston & Maine Railroad depot established in South Lawrence.
  • Lawrence Dam constructed across Merrimac River.
  • Bay State woollen mills begin operating.
  • St. Mary's Church organized.
• 1849
  • Manchester and Lawrence Railroad begins operating.
  • Lawrence Sentinel newspaper begins publication.
  • Central Church organized.
  • Atlantic Cotton Mills starts in business.
  • Lawrence Gas Company formed.
  • Lawrence Brass Band formed.
• 1850 - Population: 8,282.
• 1851 - Grace Episcopal Church built.
• 1853
  • City of Lawrence incorporated as a municipal government.
  • Charles S. Storrow becomes first city mayor.
  • Lawrence Duck Company in business.
  • Garden Street Methodist Episcopal Church organized as a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
• 1854
  • Additional part of Methuen annexed to the City of Lawrence.
  • Pacific Mills starts operating bin business.
  • Lawrence Paper Company incorporated.
• 1855 - Pemberton Company in business.
• 1860
  • January - Pemberton Mill building collapse.
  • Population according to decennial United States Census: 17,639.
• 1861 - Massachusetts state militia called up by Governor in response to proclamation by 16th President Abraham Lincoln of a state of rebellion in the South following firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor in South Carolina Confederate forces on April 12. Sixth Regiment earliest to respond with men from Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Stoneham, Boston. Heads south by train and is attacked by mobs of Southern sympathizers in Baltimore along watfront Street while being pulled through on horse cars and later marching between the President Street Station of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad on the east of the harbor to the Camden Street Station of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on way to the national capital at Washington, D.C. on Friday, April 19. Four soldiers killed and numerous wounded and among Baltimorean civilians as city police and officials attempt to escort troops. Considered the "First Bloodshed of the Civil War".
• Second Baptist Church established.
• 1864 - Moseley Truss Bridge built.
• 1865
  • Eliot Congregational Church organized.
  • Arlington Mills in business.
  • Wright Manufacturing Co. formed.
• 1867 - Lawrence Flyer and Spindle Works in business.
• 1868
  • Lawrence Daily Eagle newspaper begins publication.
  • South Congregational Church and First Presbyterian Church established.
• 1871
  • Archibald Wheel Co. incorporated.
  • Parker Street Methodist Episcopal Church and St. Anne's Church organized.
• 1872 - Free Public Library established
• 1873 - St. Laurence's Church dedicated.
• 1876 - [YMCA formed.
• 1877
  • Lawrence Bleachery established.
  • Tower Hill Congregational Church organized.
• 1878 - German Methodist Episcopal Church organized.
• 1879
  • Parts of Andover and North Andover annexed to Lawrence.
  • German Presbyterian Church organized.
  • Lawrence Bicycle Club formed.
• 1880
  • Globe Worsted Co. incorporated.
  • Bodwell Street M.E. Church organized.
• 1881
  • Lawrence Line Company incorporated.
  • Munroe Felt and Paper Company incorporated.
  • Merrimac Paper Company incorporated.
• 1882
  • L'Institute Canadien Francais founded.
  • Stanley Manufacturing Co. incorporated.
• 1884 - Emmons Loom Harness Company organized.
• 1887 - Lawrence Experiment Station established by the Massachusetts State Board of Health.
• 1888
  • Duck Bridge built.
  • Board of Trade organized.
• 1896 - High Service Water Tower built
• 1890
  • Public Library building constructed.
  • Evening Tribune newspaper begins publication.
  • July - Cyclone.
• 1899 - 20,899 people employed in manufacturing in Lawrence.

20th century

• 1905 - American Woolen Company builds Wood Mill.
• 1910 - Everett Mill constructed.
• 1912 - Famous nationally known 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike occurs with strife and casualties. Later known as the "Bread and Roses Strike".
• 1918 - Central Bridge constructed.
• 1919 - 30,319 people employed in manufacturing in Lawrence.
• 1920 - Population: 94,270.
• 1927 - Stadium opens.
• 1931 - Boston & Maine Railroad depot active off Parker Street.
• 1934
  • Lawrence Municipal Airport established.
  • Walter A. Griffin becomes mayor.
• 1935 - Central Catholic High School opens.
• 1943 -

Climatic Research Laboratory for United States Army in operation.

• 1966 - Daniel P. Kiley, Jr. becomes mayor.
• 1972 - John J. Buckley becomes mayor.
• 1975 - Paul Tsongas becomes Massachusetts's 5th congressional district representative.
• 1978
  • Immigrant City Archives at Lawrence History Center established for local history and culture with exhibitions.
  • Lawrence P. LeFebre becomes mayor.
• 1986 - Kevin J. Sullivan becomes mayor.
• 1991 - Northern Essex Community College active in Lawrence.
• 1995 - Malden Mills fire.

21st century

• 2001 - Michael J. Sullivan becomes mayor.
• 2004 - Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School opens.
  • First observance of Civil War Weekend at central Compeigne Common in October remembering local casualties then nationally famous and considered first "martyrs for the Union" of the noted Sixth Massachusetts volunteer state militia regiment in infamous Baltimore riot of 1861 (also known as the "Pratt Street Riots") as the "First Bloodshed of the Civil War" on April 19, 1861. Various military reenactment units and heritage groups including from the Baltimore Civil War Museum at the historic President Street Station participate with memorial ceremonies at Soldiers Monument in Common and gravesites at historic Bellevue Cemetery, sponsored by the Lawrence Civil War Memorial Guard.
• 2005 - Lawrence (MBTA station) reopens for the Boston commuter train, subway and transit system.
• 2007 - Niki Tsongas becomes Massachusetts's 5th congressional district representative.
• 2010
  • Population: 76,377.
  • William Lantigua becomes mayor of Lawrence, first of Hispanic ancestry.
• 2012
  • School Superintendent convicted of fraud and embezzlement.
  • Centennial observed of infamous 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike, later known as "Bread and Roses" labor strife.

See also

• History of Lawrence, Massachusetts
• List of mayors of Lawrence, Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lawrence, Massachusetts
• Labor history of the United States
• Baltimore riot of 1861
• Timeline of Baltimore history
• History of Baltimore
• Timeline of Boston
• Timeline of Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Gloucester, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Haverhill, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Lowell, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Lynn, Massachusetts
• Timeline of New Bedford, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Newburyport, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Salem, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Somerville, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Waltham, Massachusetts
• Timeline of Worcester, Massachusetts

Further reading

Published in the 19th century

Published in the 20th century

External links

• Digital Commonwealth. Materials related to Lawrence, Mass., various dates.
• Library of Congress. Images related to Lawrence, Mass., various dates.

Images

• New England factory life -- 'Bell-time.' (Boston Public Library).jpg

  Washington Mills, Lawrence, Mass., 1868

• 1876 map Lawrence Massachusetts by Bailey and Hazen BPL 10363.png

  Map of Lawrence, 1876

• Lawrence common, western view, Sept. 15, '77, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg

  Lawrence Common, 1877

• Pacific mills--water wheel pit, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg

  Pacific Mills, c. 19th century

• 2010 Lawrence Massachusetts aerial 4361131115.jpg

  Aerial view of Merrimack River and Lawrence, 2010