The following is a timeline of the history of Lawrence, Massachusetts in the United States.
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 Merrimack 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.
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.
1985 - Greater Lawrence Habitat for Humanity organized.
1986 - Kevin J. Sullivan becomes mayor.
1991 - Northern Essex Community College active in Lawrence.
1995 - Malden Mills fire.
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.
Timeline of Lawrence, Massachusetts Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA