About Lawrence

Located twenty-five miles north of Boston, Lawrence, Massachusetts is truly a city of immigrants and industry. Lawrence was built in the 1840's as the nation's first planned industrial city. The massive mill buildings lining the Merrimack River, the striking clock and bell towers, and the breath-taking Great Stone Dam are all a tribute to Lawrence's industrial heritage.

Known as the "Immigrant City", Lawrence has always been a multi-ethnic and multicultural gateway city with a high proportion of foreign-born residents. The successive waves of immigrants coming to Lawrence to work in the mills began with the Irish, followed by French Canadians, Englishmen, and Germans in the late 1800s. Around the turn of the century and early 1900s, Italians, Poles, Lithuanians, and Syrians began arriving. The wave of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans started in the mid-late 1900s, and the newest arrivals originate from Vietnam and Cambodia. The current population of roughly 70,000 is largely Hispanic and has given a Latino slant to the local economy and culture.
 
Today Lawrence remains an urban center with 35% of its economy still manufacturing-based. Despite global trends that have seen manufacturing industries move south and overseas, the city is still a hub of textile, apparel and shoe companies like Malden Mills, KGR, Inc., Grieco Brothers, New Balance, and Cardinal Shoe. With the affordable space and close proximity to routes 93 and 495, newer companies in technology, health care, and manufacturing such as New England Affiliated Technology, the Robert Able Company, and the Gem Group, have chosen to locate in Lawrence.

In addition, Lawrence offers recreational, historical, and cultural attractions. The Lawrence Community Boating Program allows the city's youth and adults to sail on the rolling waters of the Merrimack. The Lawrence Heritage State Park is a 23-acre historic preservation of urban life that records the history of immigrant workers and life in a mill town. The city also boasts art exhibitions at Essex Art Center and a wide range of cultural activities like ethnic festivals that celebrate the diversity and rich heritage of Lawrence.
 

Official Lawrence Web Site
Visit the official site of the City of Lawrence where you will find a city overview, information on elected officials, city departments, business opportunities and job postings.  Learn about the rich heritage of this multi-cultural city of immigrants and industry located on the Merrimack River.

to learn more.

Lawrence Municipal Airport
Established in 1934 and situated in the heart of Massachusetts' Merrimack Valley, the Lawrence Municipal Airport is an important transportation resource.  Visit them online to learn more about this municipal airport's potential to facilitate development of its own, on-site industrial park.  Major companies in the tele-communications and defense industries consider LWM an integral part of their business operations.

to learn more.

Lawrence General Hospital
For over 125 years, quality health care and a variety of medical and emergency services have been provided to the residents of the Merrimack Valley by Lawrence General Hospital.

to learn more.

Lawrence Eagle Tribune
View the local news online at the official site of the this Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper.  The Eagle-Tribune is one of the few local, family-owned newspapers still publishing in America, and its owners continue to believe that readers are better served by neighbors than by corporate policy.

to learn more.

Northern Essex Community College
Learn about Northern Essex Community College on this informational site.

to learn more.

Greater Lawrence Educational Collaborative
The GLEC is a public educational service agency comprising the Massachusetts school districts of Andover, Boxford, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Middleton, North Andover, Topsfield and the Greater Lawrence Technical School. Through the cooperation of its member districts, it provides educational programs and services to students throughout northeastern Massachusetts.

to learn more.