The Immigrant City, built from scratch in the 1840s around the Great Stone Dam on the Merrimack, where workers from dozens of nations ran the mills, lived through the Pemberton collapse of 1860 and stood together in the Bread and Roses strike of 1912.

Essex County · Record checked October 12, 2026

89,143Population2020 census1
1847Became a townfrom parts of Methuen and Andover; a city in 18531
900 ftGreat Stone Damfirst stone laid September 19, 18452
1912Bread and Rosesmore than twenty thousand workers walked out3
24National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Then and now

The same town 172 years apart. Click either map to look closer.

View of the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts from 1854, drawn from Prospect Hill, restored by KNOWOL

1854

The view from Prospect Hill

By Ed Hoffman, A.J. Wandra and S.W. Chandler & Bro.

The young city seen from Prospect Hill, dedicated to Samuel Lawrence, with a directory of 14 major companies, the Pemberton Mill among them, and 14 churches with the dates they were organized.5

See the 1854 printMore about this map
Bird's-eye map of Lawrence, Massachusetts from 1876 by J.C. Hazen, restored by KNOWOL

1876

The bird's-eye view of 1876

By J.C. Hazen

Lawrence from above with its street names, the canals on both banks of the Merrimack, and landmarks including the Essex Company, Pacific Mills, Lawrence Duck Company, Merrimack Paper Mills, Lawrence Flour Mills, Franklin House and Masonic Hall.6

See the 1876 printMore about this map
Map of Lawrence, Massachusetts in 2026, with Broadway, Haverhill Street and Tower Hill

2026

Lawrence today

By KNOWOL

Shaded relief on both banks of the Merrimack, from Tower Hill to Mount Vernon, with Broadway, Haverhill Street and the Salem Turnpike, Prospect Hill, Daddy Frye Hill, Stevens Pond and the Spicket River Reservoir.3

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Lawrence

The day the Pemberton fell

The Essex Company built the Pemberton Mill in 1853 as the pride of the new city. It stood by itself between the canal and the river, five stories tall and 284 feet long, so wide it was probably the widest mill in New England, and it cost $800,000. On January 10, 1860, at thirteen minutes before five in the afternoon, it fell without warning while hundreds of people, many of them Irish women and children, were at work inside. The official count was 88 dead. Investigators blamed weak cast-iron columns. Lawrence answered with its hands. For a week the church sewing circles sewed for the families, and at the Lawrence Street church fifteen or twenty women made more than a thousand yards of cloth into sheets and shirts. Mill workers in Manchester sent $81.7891

Bread and Roses

In January 1912 a new state law cut the work week, and the mills cut pay to match. Workers walked out, starting at the Everett Mills, and soon more than twenty thousand people from more than 51 nationalities were on strike. Few believed a workforce that spoke so many languages, many of them women, could hold together, but it did, through two bitterly cold months. Families sent hundreds of their children to stay with sympathetic households in New York, New Jersey and Vermont, and Congress held hearings. The owners settled, with raises of up to 20 percent for workers in Lawrence and across New England. A state history written in 1927 put it simply: the strike was won because people were badly underpaid and their working conditions were unbearable.103111

A city built at Bodwell's Falls

Before there was a Lawrence there were farms, a few families like the Bodwells, who lived where the Spicket meets the Merrimack by 1693, and a crossroads in South Lawrence with two taverns and a country store. Early in 1843 Daniel Saunders imagined a dam across the river at Bodwell's Falls. The first stone was laid on September 19, 1845, and the dam, 900 feet long, was done in 1848 at a cost of $525,773.36. The new town got a library almost at once, and Abbott Lawrence gave $1,000 for its books. Samuel Lawrence had bricks stamped with his name and his wife Alison's, and one of them is still set in the Appleton Street side of City Hall.12132141516

Through the years

23 moments from 1642 to today.

  1. 1642Land north of the Merrimack is bought from the Pennacook sachems for the Haverhill settlement.1
  2. 1655A blockhouse in Shawsheen Fields, now South Lawrence, is the first settlement inside today's city.1
  3. 1693Henry Bodwell is living where the Spicket River meets the Merrimack.12
  4. 1775Col. Thomas Poor, whose farm later becomes the city farm, leads fifty North Andover men at Lexington and Concord.13
  5. 1832Mount Zion Church meets in the Prospect Hill schoolhouse and holds the area's first Christmas service.17
  6. 1843Daniel Saunders comes up with the idea of damming the Merrimack.2
  7. 1845The Essex Company is incorporated, and the first stone of the Great Stone Dam is laid on September 19.2
  8. 1847Lawrence becomes a town, and the Franklin Library, seed of the public library, is incorporated.14
  9. 1848The Great Stone Dam and the North Canal are finished.18
  10. 1853Lawrence becomes a city, and the Essex Company builds the Pemberton Mill.7
  11. 1854A view of the young city is drawn from Prospect Hill.5
  12. 1860On January 10 the Pemberton Mill collapses with hundreds of workers inside.1
  13. 1867Napoleon III awards the Pacific Mills a prize of 10,000 francs.19
  14. 1872French Canadians build St. Anne's Church at Haverhill and Franklin streets.1
  15. 1876J.C. Hazen publishes his bird's-eye view of Lawrence.6
  16. 1892Robert Frost graduates from Lawrence High School.3
  17. 1896The 157-foot High Service Water Tower goes up on Tower Hill.20
  18. 1912The Bread and Roses strike begins in January and holds through two cold months.10
  19. 1912In October about thirty thousand people march in a Flag Day parade.21
  20. 1918Leonard Bernstein is born in Lawrence on August 25.3
  21. 1918The First World War ends; nearly 200 Lawrence men have died in it.22
  22. 1924On July 17 hailstones as big as baseballs break hundreds of windows.23
  23. 1995Malden Mills burns, and its owner keeps paying the workers while it is rebuilt.1

Places to see

Places worth a visit in Lawrence today.

  • Great Stone DamBroadway, Route 28. Built 1845 to 1848 at Bodwell's Falls.
  • Lawrence Heritage State ParkDowntown, by the canal. Mill workers' story in an 1840s boarding house.Visit their website
  • Everett MillsNorth Canal. Where the 1912 strike began.
  • High Service Water TowerTower Hill. Brick tower of 1896, 157 feet tall.
  • Tower HillNorthwest corner. Highest point in Lawrence, about 240 feet.
  • Prospect HillNortheast. Hill neighborhood where Lebanese families settled.
  • St. Anne's ChurchHaverhill and Franklin streets. French Canadians' first church, 1872.
  • Sacred HeartSouth Broadway. St. Anne's mission church in South Lawrence.
  • Den Rock ParkNear the North Andover line. Traces of ancient farming found here.
  • Mount Vernon ParkSouthern edge. Neighborhood along the city's southern edge.

On the National Register

All 24 places in Lawrence on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Great Stone Dam

    Built 1845 to 1848 · Listed 1977 · [[Merrimack River]] and MA 28

    Built across Bodwell's Falls between 1845 and 1848, 900 feet long and 35 feet high, it powered the canals and mills that made the city. It was the largest dam in the world when it was built.16

  • Essex Company Machine Shop

    Built 1846 · Listed 1972 · Union St.

    Also called the Stone Mill, it was built in 1846 at the head of the canal to make machinery for the Essex Company and its tenant mills, and in 1850 employed 400 people. It is 404 feet long and one of the few buildings left from the company's original works.24

  • Bellevue Cemetery

    Built 1847 · Listed 2003 · 170 May St.

    Laid out in 1847 as the city's first cemetery, in the winding, park-like rural cemetery style, with a small strip in Methuen. With the reservoir park beside it, it is part of the largest open space in Lawrence.25

  • Mechanics Block Historic District

    Built 1847 · Listed 1973 · 107-139 Garden St. and 6-38 Orchard St.

    Back-to-back rows of brick rowhouses built by the Essex Company in 1847 as housing for skilled mill workers.26

  • North Canal

    Built 1848 · Listed 1975 · Parallel to Canal St.

    The canal itself, dug by the Essex Company and finished with the dam in 1848, carried the Merrimack's water to the mills. It was listed on its own in 1975, before the wider mill district.27

  • North Canal Historic District

    Built 1848 · Listed 1984 · Roughly bounded by the [[Merrimack River|Merrimack]] and [[Spicket River|Spicket]] Rivers, North, Canal, and Broadway

    The North Canal Historic District of Lawrence, Massachusetts, encompasses the historic industrial heart of the city. It is centered on the North Canal and the Great Stone Dam, which provided the waterpower for its many mill complexes.18

  • Grace Episcopal Church

    Built 1852 · Listed 1976 · Common and Jackson Sts.

    The site on which it as built has been used for religious facilities since 1846, around the time of Lawrence's founding. This simple Gothic Revival stone structure was built in 1852, replacing an earlier wooden chapel, and was enlarged in 1892.28

  • Arlington Mills Historic District

    Listed 1985 · Broadway between Manchester, Stafford and Chase Sts.

    A 75-acre mill complex straddling the Lawrence and Methuen line, begun by the Arlington Mills Company in 1865 and by 1925 one of the largest textile works in Massachusetts. Its 23 buildings include an 1896 wool-combing mill 750 feet long.29

  • High Service Water Tower and Reservoir

    Built 1874 · Listed 1978 · Off MA 110

    The reservoir was built in 1874 to 1875 for the city's water supply, and the 157-foot brick tower by George G. Adams followed in 1896. It gave Tower Hill its name.20

  • Buildings at 24 to 30 Summer St.

    Built 1877 · Listed 1985 · 24 to 30 Summer St.

    A row of three-story brick rowhouses in the Second Empire style, built in 1877.30

  • Downtown Lawrence Historic District

    Listed 1979 · Roughly bounded by MA 110, Methuen, Lawrence and Jackson Sts.

    The civic and commercial heart of the city, with City Hall and the Essex County Courthouse facing Campagnone Common and brick commercial blocks of 1880 to 1920 along Essex Street.31

  • Essex Company Offices and Yard

    Built 1883 · Listed 1979 · 6 Essex St.

    Headquarters of the Essex Company, which built the dam and founded the city. Built in 1883 to 1884, it now houses the Lawrence History Center and its Immigrant City Archives.32

    Visit their website

  • Old Public Library

    Built 1892 · Listed 1978 · 190 Hampshire St.

    The Richardsonian Romanesque structure was built in 1892 to a design by George G. Adams, a leading architect of public buildings in New England.33

  • John R. Rollins School

    Built 1892 · Listed 2000 · 451 Howard St.

    A three-story Richardsonian Romanesque school of 1892 on Prospect Hill, named for John R. Rollins, who served as mayor and superintendent of schools. It is still a school.34

  • Engine House No. 6

    Built 1895 · Listed 2004 · 480 Howard St.

    Built in 1895 to 96 to a design by John Ashton, the Colonial Revival brick building is the oldest firehouse building in the city, and its design was used in the development of other city fire stations. Shuttered by budget cuts in 2009, it was reopened in 2012, and continues to serve its original purpose.35

  • Blakeley Building

    Built 1898 · Listed 2009 · 475-479 Essex St.

    It is the only well-preserved 19th century remnant of a streetscape that extended for the entire block. The four story Classical Revival building was built in 1898 for Richard Barlow, at that time completing the block between Franklin and Hampshire Streets.36

  • Sacred Heart Parish Complex

    Built 1899 · Listed 2011 · 321 S. Broadway

    Five buildings of 1899 to 1936 on South Broadway, begun as St. Anne's mission to French Canadians in South Lawrence, including a Gothic Revival church of multicolored granite.37

  • Wood Worsted Mill

    Built 1906 · Listed 2010 · S. Union St. and Merrimack St.

    Built in 1906 to 1909 for the American Woolen Company, it is 1,300 feet long, six stories high and held 17 miles of aisles. Locals called it the eighth wonder of the world. Parts of the complex were taken down in 2009, but the main building stands.38

  • American Woolen Company Townhouses

    Built about 1907 · Listed 2012 · 1-14 Wood Way, 1-14 Washington Way, 1-14 Prospect Way

    The American Woolen Company Townhouses are a collection of brick townhouses built c. 1907 by the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. They were part of a program of company-built housing between 1906 and 1910 that included the nearby American Woolen Mill Housing District.39

  • Daniel Saunders School

    Built 1931 · Listed 2011 · 243 S. Broadway

    A two-story Classical Revival school of 1931 named for Daniel Saunders, a founder of the city, built on the site of an earlier school lost to fire. It now houses homeless families.40

  • American Woolen Mill Housing District

    Listed 1982 · 300-328 Market St.

    The American Woolen Mill Housing District is a residential historic district at 300 to 328 Market Street in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It consists of nine three story multiunit tenements built in the first decade of the 20th century.41

  • Gleason Building

    Listed 1982 · 349-351 Essex St.

    A six-story Richardsonian Romanesque block of brick and brownstone on Essex Street, built by William Oswald to Arthur F. Gray's design, with the city's first hydraulic elevator.42

  • Arlington-Basswood Historic District

    Listed 1984 · Roughly bounded by Lawrence, Alder, Arlington, and Juniper Sts.

    The Arlington, Basswood Historic District encompasses a substantial residential development project of the Arlington Mills Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Roughly bounded by Lawrence, Alder, Arlington, and Juniper Streets, the district includes 89 properties, most of which are triple-deckers or other multiunit housing.43

  • Jackson Terrace Historic District

    Listed 1984 · 43-59 Jackson St., Jackson Court, Jackson Terr., and 58-62 Newberry St.

    Jackson Terrace, located on the east side of Camapgnone Common, was developed as a residential extension of the Common, with a small central park area ringed by residences. The houses that line it are distinctive renditions of Italianate, Second Empire, and Queen Anne architecture.44

In their words

“It was not the I. W. W. which won in Lawrence; it was the fact that men were grossly underpaid and that working conditions were unbearable.”

Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, 1927, on the 1912 strike11

“Merrimack River which flows through city turns more spindles than any other stream on earth.”

History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, 192423

“The city is noted for the large percentage of working people who own their homes.”

History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, 192445

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Lawrence, Massachusetts, Wikipedia
  2. Massachusetts of today (1892), on the Great Stone Dam, Internet Archive
  3. Map of Lawrence, Massachusetts in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Wikipedia
  5. View of Lawrence, Massachusetts from 1854, restored by KNOWOL
  6. Map of Lawrence, Massachusetts from 1876, restored by KNOWOL
  7. Essex Institute Historical Collections, on the collapse of the Pemberton Mill, Internet Archive
  8. The Lawrence calamity (1860), bound with Sanitary survey of the town of Lawrence, Internet Archive
  9. The Lawrence calamity (1860), on the relief work, bound with Sanitary survey of the town of Lawrence, Internet Archive
  10. 1912 Lawrence textile strike, Wikipedia
  11. Commonwealth history of Massachusetts (1927), on the 1912 strike, Internet Archive
  12. The Essex antiquarian (1897), on Henry Bodwell, Internet Archive
  13. Lawrence yesterday and today (1845-1918) (1918), on the South Lawrence crossroads, Internet Archive
  14. History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with war records (1924), on the Franklin Library, Internet Archive
  15. Lawrence yesterday and today (1845-1918) (1918), on the Lawrence brick in City Hall, Internet Archive
  16. Great Stone Dam, Wikipedia
  17. History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with war records (1924), on Mount Zion Church, Internet Archive
  18. North Canal Historic District, Wikipedia
  19. History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with war records (1924), on the Pacific Mills, Internet Archive
  20. High Service Water Tower and Reservoir, Wikipedia
  21. Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts (1922), on the 1912 Flag Day parade, Internet Archive
  22. History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with war records (1924), on the World War, Internet Archive
  23. History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with war records (1924), on the 1924 hailstorm and Lawrence in a nutshell, Internet Archive
  24. Essex Company Machine Shop, Wikipedia
  25. Bellevue Cemetery, Wikipedia
  26. Mechanics Block Historic District, Wikipedia
  27. North Canal, Wikipedia
  28. Grace Episcopal Church, Wikipedia
  29. Arlington Mills Historic District, Wikipedia
  30. Buildings at 24 to 30 Summer St., Wikipedia
  31. Downtown Lawrence Historic District, Wikipedia
  32. Essex Company Offices and Yard, Wikipedia
  33. Old Public Library, Wikipedia
  34. John R. Rollins School, Wikipedia
  35. Engine House No. 6, Wikipedia
  36. Blakeley Building, Wikipedia
  37. Sacred Heart Parish Complex, Wikipedia
  38. Wood Worsted Mill, Wikipedia
  39. American Woolen Company Townhouses, Wikipedia
  40. Daniel Saunders School, Wikipedia
  41. American Woolen Mill Housing District, Wikipedia
  42. Gleason Building, Wikipedia
  43. Arlington-Basswood Historic District, Wikipedia
  44. Jackson Terrace Historic District, Wikipedia
  45. History of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with war records (1924), on the city's industries, Internet Archive