city, seat (1855) of Douglas county, eastern Kansas, U.S. It lies on the Kansas River. It was founded in 1854 by antislavery (abolitionism) radicals who had come to Kansas under the auspices of the New England Emigrant Aid Company to outvote proslavery settlers and thus make Kansas a “free” state. The city was named for Amos A. Lawrence, a New England textile manufacturer who funded the company's settlement efforts. It was a noted station on the Underground Railroad by which slaves escaped into free territory. As a Jayhawker (abolitionist) headquarters, the town was sacked in 1856 by a proslavery militia under David Rice Atchison, a former Democratic senator from Missouri, and in 1863 by Confederate guerrillas under the command of William Clarke Quantrill (Quantrill, William C.), who massacred more than 150 citizens and burned much of the city.

Lawrence has some small factories, but it is essentially a college town. In 1866 the University of Kansas (Kansas, University of) was opened; Dyche Museum of Natural History and Snow Entomological Museum, both on the university's campus, house important scientific collections. In 1884 Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University) was established for American Indians. Baker University (1858) is in Baldwin City, 13 miles (21 km) south. Clinton State Park and Douglas State Fishing Lake are nearby. Inc. 1858. Pop. (1990) city, 65,608; Lawrence MSA, 81,798; (2000) city, 80,098; Lawrence MSA, 99,962.

city, Essex county, northeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along the Merrimack River, 26 miles (42 km) north of Boston. The site at Bodwell's Falls (the source of abundant waterpower) was promoted for industry in 1845 by the Essex Company, formed by a group of Boston financiers that included Abbott Lawrence (Lawrence, Abbott), for whom the town was named. In 1847 it was set off from Andover and Methuen and incorporated as a town, and it developed as one of the largest woolen- textile centres in the United States after completion of the Boston and Maine Railroad (now closed). In 1912 Lawrence was the scene of a great strike involving out-of-town militia and the Industrial Workers of the World; known as the “Bread and Roses” strike (owing to a banner carried by some of the striking women textile workers), it was settled when the labourers won a one-cent hourly increase. The city's industry has diversified since 1950, and its manufactures now include textiles, electronics, and computerized systems. Services and trade are also important. It is nevertheless an area of destitute families, many of them immigrants. More than one-fourth of residents live below the poverty level. Inc. city, 1853. Pop. (1990) city, 70,207; Lawrence PMSA, 353,232; (2000) city, 72,043; Lawrence PMSA, 396,230.

county, western Pennsylvania, U.S., bordered to the west by Ohio. It consists of a hilly region on the Allegheny Plateau that is drained by the Shenango, Mahoning, and Beaver rivers. McConnell's Mill State Park is located along Slippery Rock Creek.

New Castle, the county seat, was connected to Beaver in Beaver county by the Erie Extension Canal (opened 1833). Lawrence county was created in 1849 and named for the Lawrence, Oliver Hazard Perry (Perry, Oliver Hazard)'s flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie (Lake Erie, Battle of). New Wilmington is the home of Westminster College (founded 1852). Other communities include Ellwood City, Bessemer, Ellport, and Wampum. The county's economy rests on services (health care and business), manufacturing (iron and steel), and mining (bituminous coal). Area 361 square miles (934 square km). Pop. (2000) 94,643; (2007 est.) 90,991.