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Lawrence, Kansas

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Lawrence, Kansas
City
The Douglas County Courthouse anchors the south end of downtown Lawrence.
The Douglas County Courthouse anchors the south end of downtown Lawrence.
Location in Kansas
Location in Kansas
CountryUnited States
StateKansas
CountyDouglas
Founded1854
Government
 • MayorSue Hack
 • City managerDave Corliss
Area
 • City28.7 sq mi (74.3 km2)
 • Land28.1 sq mi (72.8 km2)
 • Water0.6 sq mi (1.5 km2)
Elevation
840 ft (256 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • City80,098
 • Density2,849.4/sq mi (1,100.2/km2)
 • Metro
99,962
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code785
FIPS code20-38900Template:GR
GNIS feature ID0479145Template:GR
Websitewww.lawrenceks.org

Lawrence is a river city in and the seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, 41 miles (66 km) west of Kansas City, along the banks of both the Kansas (Kaw) and Wakarusa Rivers. It is considered governmentally independent and is the principal city within the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 80,098, making it the sixth largest city in Kansas. Lawrence is the home of the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.

History

Lawrence was founded in 1854 for the New England Emigrant Aid Company by Charles Robinson, who later served as governor of Kansas. The city was named after Amos Adams Lawrence, a prominent politician and antislavery partisan and the son of famed philanthropist Amos Lawrence.

In the Bleeding Kansas era, Lawrence was a center of anti-slavery sentiment. On May 21, 1856, a pro-slavery posse led by Sheriff Samuel J. Jones burned the Free-State Hotel, destroyed the equipment of two anti-slavery newspapers, and looted several other businesses in an attack known as the sack of Lawrence; no loss of life was recorded. Abolitionist John Brown's nearby Pottawatomie Massacre is believed to have been a reaction to this event. On August 21, 1863, during the American Civil War, Confederate guerrillas led by William Quantrill burned most of the houses and commercial buildings in Lawrence and killed 150 to 200 of the men they found in the Lawrence Massacre. Of historical importance is KU's Pioneer Cemetery, perhaps best known for being the final resting place of Thomas Barber, a free-state settler, and Elmer McCollum, KU alumnus who is credited with discovering Vitamin A. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, is buried in East Lawrence in Memorial Park Cemetery.

The University of Kansas was founded in Lawrence in 1865 by the citizens of Lawrence under a charter granted by the Kansas Legislature, with the donation of 40 acres (160,000 m²) of land on Mount Oread by former Kansas Governor Charles Robinson and his wife, Sara, and a small monetary gift from Amos Adams Lawrence. As a college town, Lawrence is known for its liberal philosophy and distinctive culture.

Lawrence also holds the distinction of having been the site of operation for the state's first railroad in 1871 and the city where the state's first telephone was installed in 1877. In 1989, when the Free State Brewing Co. opened in Lawrence, it was the first legal brewery in Kansas in more than 100 years. The restaurant is in a renovated inter-urban trolley station in downtown Lawrence. The city is home to the state's only hydro-electric plant.

In the early 1980s Lawrence grabbed national and later world attention because of the television movie The Day After. The TV movie first appeared on ABC but was later shown in movie theaters around the world. The movie depicted what would happen to average Americans, particularly those living in Lawrence and surrounding communities, if the United States was destroyed in a nuclear war. The movie was filmed in Lawrence with help from many people in the community.

Geography

Lawrence is situated at 38°57′36″N 95°15′12″W / 38.96000°N 95.25333°W / 38.96000; -95.25333Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (38.959902, -95.253199)Template:GR.

This is about 41 miles (66 km) west of Kansas City, and about 20 miles (30 km) east of Topeka.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 74.3 km² (28.7 mi²). 72.8 km² (28.1 mi²) of it is land and 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) is water, including Potter Lake on the KU campus. The total area is 2.06% water.

Google Earth, software that allows the user to "fly" over the surface of the earth, mapped with high-quality satellite photography and accurate topographical data, has a default position when started up that is centered exactly on the city of Lawrence (specifically on Meadowbrook Apartments, lying between Compton Square and Regency Place). This may be verified by running the software and zooming in from the default start position without rotating the virtual globe at all. This location was set by Brian McClendon, a 1986 graduate of the University of Kansas and director of engineering for GoogleEarth.[1]

Climate

Over the course of a year, temperatures range from an average low of almost 20°F in January to an average high above 90°F in July. The high temperature reaches 90°F an average of 49 days a year and reaches 100°F an average of five days a year. The minimum temperature falls below the freezing point (32°F) an average of 96 days a year. Typically the first fall freeze occurs between mid-October and the second week of November, and the last spring freeze occurs between the last week of March and the third week of April.

The area receives nearly 40 inches of precipitation during an average year with the largest share being received in May and June; the April-to–June period averages 32 days of measurable precipitation. During a typical year the total amount of precipitation may be anywhere from 27 to 54 inches. There are on average 100 days of measurable precipitation each year. Winter snowfall averages almost 18 inches, but the median is less than 10 inches. Measurable snowfall occurs an average of 10 days a year with at least an inch of snow being received on six of those days. Snow depth of at least an inch occurs an average of 18 days a year.

Source: Monthly Station Climate Summaries, 1971-2000, U.S. National Climatic Data Center
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Temperatures (°F)
Mean high 39.2 45.6 57.2 67.6 76.6 85.3 90.6 89.4 81.3 70.1 54.2 42.4 66.6
Mean low 20.5 25.9 35.4 45.7 55.6 64.8 69.7 67.9 59.4 48.3 35.6 25.0 46.2
Highest recorded 72
(1967) 		82
(1972) 		90
(1946) 		94
(1989) 		98
(1956) 		107
(1980) 		111
(1954) 		107
(1984) 		108
(1947) 		98
(1939) 		84
(1980) 		76
(1939) 		111
(1954)
Lowest recorded −18
(1947) 		−11
(1996) 		−7
(1978) 		13
(1975) 		30
(1944) 		44
(1945) 		51
(1972) 		42
(1956) 		31
(1942) 		20
(1993) 		2
(1986) 		−21
(1989) 		−21
(1989)
Precipitation (inches)
Median 1.14 1.15 2.33 3.03 5.54 4.41 2.70 3.09 3.62 2.90 2.32 1.56 37.69
Mean number of days 6.4 6.2 8.8 10.3 12.0 9.5 8.6 8.4 8.5 7.7 7.5 6.1 100.0
Highest monthly 3.49
(1979) 		2.71
(1997) 		10.54
(1973) 		8.93
(1999) 		11.54
(1995) 		14.35
(1977) 		18.30
(1993) 		10.94
(1996) 		12.85
(1973) 		10.11
(1998) 		6.21
(1998) 		4.77
(1971)
Snowfall (inches)
Median 3.8 3.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.7 9.6
Mean number of days 2.9 2.6 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.9 2.4 10.1
Highest monthly 21.9
(1985) 		17.5
(1978) 		7.5
(1975) 		4.5
(1983) 		0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0
(1996) 		8.0
(1975) 		10.6
(1973)
Notes: Temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation includes rain and melted snow or sleet in inches; median values are provided for precipitation and snowfall because mean averages may be misleading. Mean and median values are for the 30-year period 1971–2000; temperature extremes are for the station's period of record (1939–2001). The station is located in Lawrence at 38°58′N 95°16′W, elevation 980 feet.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18601,645—
18708,320405.8%
18808,5102.3%
18909,99717.5%
190010,8628.7%
191012,37413.9%
192012,4560.7%
193013,72610.2%
194014,3904.8%
195023,35162.3%
196032,85840.7%
197045,69839.1%
198052,73815.4%
199065,60824.4%
200080,09822.1%

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 80,098 people, 31,388 households, and 15,725 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,100.2/km² (2,849.4/mi²). There were 32,761 housing units at an average density of 450.0/km² (1,165.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.80% White, 5.09% African American, 2.93% Native American, 3.78% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.36% from other races, and 2.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.65% of the population. 23.8% were of German, 10.6% English, 10.1% Irish and 7.1% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.0% spoke English, 2.9% Spanish and 1.0% Chinese or Mandarin as their first language.

Of the 31,388 households, 25.1% included children under the age of 18, 38.0% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.9% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.6% under the age of 18, 30.7% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 15.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,669, and the median income for a family was $51,545. Males had a median income of $33,481 versus $27,436 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,378. About 7.3% of families and 18.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Politics and culture

While Kansas may be a heavily Republican state, Lawrence is reliably Democratic. Douglas County, where Lawrence is situated, was one of only two counties in Kansas whose majority voted for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. Douglas County has supported the Democratic candidate the past four presidential elections. Currently, Lawrence is served by both the 2nd and 3rd U.S. Congressional Districts of Kansas. Before reapportionment in 2002, Lawrence sat entirely within the third district. Douglas County was the only county in the state to reject the amendment to the Kansas Constitution prohibiting both gay marriage and civil unions in April 2005. (The vote against the amendment was primarily in the city of Lawrence; outside the city, the amendment carried in the rest of Douglas County.) Lawrence has an active chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition, which persuaded the city commission to approve a domestic partner registry on May 22, 2007. The registry, which took effect Aug. 1, provides unmarried couples -- both same-sex and other-sex -- some recognition by the city for legal purposes. At the request of the city commission, the Kansas Attorney General reviewed the ordinance before it was enacted; he concluded that the ordinance did not violate the state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and recommended that the registry be available only to Lawrence residents.

Lawrence also features the customary staples of college-town liberalism, such as a radical library and infoshop, two microbreweries, a half dozen locally owned coffeehouses, and a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The city is known for a thriving music and art scene; Rolling Stone named Lawrence one of the "best lil' college towns" in the country in its August 11, 2005, issue. They had previously named the local commercial radio station, KLZR 105.9 FM, as one of a top ten "Stations that Didn't Suck" in 1998. The station, which was independently owned at that time, was soon after sold to corporate buyers and the format changed to Top 40. KJHK 90.7 FM, the University of Kansas's student-run radio station, is a staple of the local music scene. It won a CMJ award in 2006 for "most improved station" and was nominated for a Plug Award for best college radio station in 2007.The New York Times said Lawrence had "the most vital music scene between Chicago and Denver" in a travel column on February 25, 2005.

The Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is a four-day weekend music festival held annually in early June just outside Lawrence at Clinton State Park. After its inception in 2004, the festival had grown dramatically by 2006, with almost 60,000 tickets sold, while developing a nationwide following that accounted for 80% of ticket sales. The festival is known for an eclectic mix of music, featuring artists like The Flaming Lips, Wilco, STS9, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Neko Case, and Widespread Panic, to name a few. The event is kept smaller than other festivals such as Bonnaroo by an agreement with the state.[1] Activities other than music include disc golf, yoga, hiking, and swimming in Clinton Lake.

In recent years the North vs. South Music Festival has become a staple of the music scene. Held each August to coincide with the anniversary of Quantrill's Raid, North vs. South is billed as a friendly reenactment of that famous Civil War battle and features upward of four dozen independent rock bands hailing mostly from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Austin, Texas.

Each May, Lawrence hosts its annual "Art in the Park" festival in South Park.

Lawrence's culture isn't just political activism and the arts; the town is famous for the University of Kansas's athletic teams as well. The high-ranked Kansas Jayhawks basketball team is closely followed by many residents during the winter. The football team has reached bowl eligibility in three of the last four years.

Education

Universities

The University of Kansas is the largest public university in the state with a total enrollment of under 30,000 including the Medical Center. It has over 170 fields of study and the nationally known Kansas Jayhawks athletics programs.

Haskell Indian Nations University offers free tuition to members of registered Native American tribes. It has an average enrollment of more than 1,000 students representing all 50 states and 150 tribes. Haskell is the home of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame and the Haskell Cultural Center.

K-12 schools

The Lawrence Public Schools USD 497 system includes sixteen public grade schools, four junior high schools, and two high schools: Lawrence High School and Lawrence Free State High School. The athletic teams of the former are nicknamed the Chesty Lions, and those of the latter are the Firebirds. Both schools are Class 6A in enrollment size, and Lawrence High School leads the State of Kansas in most state championships won, with 102 championships. The Lawrence High School football team also leads the nation with most undefeated seasons at 31, though all of these occurred before Free State High School came into existence. The junior highs are Central, South, West, and Southwest. Private high schools include Bishop Seabury Academy, which is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and the non-denominational Veritas Christian School. There is also St. John Catholic School, which teaches grades 1 through 6 and is funded by the Catholic communities of Lawrence. Raintree Montessori School is a secular private school which teaches preschool through grade 6. The Prairie Moon School is a Waldorf school near Lawrence.

Transportation

Sites of interest

Downtown Lawrence, in particular Massachusetts Street, has a lively atmosphere and is filled with restaurants, bars, galleries, shops and music venues. Bowersock Dam provides hydropower to riverfront businesses like the Lawrence Journal-World.

The University of Kansas campus is home to many museums, including the KU Natural History Museum [2] and the Spencer Museum of Art [3]. The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics houses various artifacts from the life of the former Kansas Senator. Another site of interest is the Lawrence Arts Center. It has daytime activities, organized plays and acts, and an art gallery filled with artwork created by the townspeople. Artwork, theater, and other related activities are some of the biggest parts of Lawrence.

Clinton Lake is approximately three miles (5 km) southwest of Lawrence and has areas for boating, swimming, fishing, and camping.

There are a variety of mountain biking venues, including the trails at Clinton Lake, and the river trails by the Kansas River.

Trivia

  • Poet, author, and counterculture figure William S. Burroughs moved to Lawrence in 1983 and died there at age 83, from complications following a heart attack, on August 2, 1997.
  • Writer, editor and early Oscar Wilde biographer Frank Harris worked as a cowboy in the Lawrence area and attended KU during the 1870s. His experiences in Lawrence are described in his books "My Reminiscences as a Cowboy" and "My Life and Loves."
  • Home to the Gaslight Tavern.
  • Three well known bands hailed from Lawrence, Kansas; The Get Up Kids, The Appleseed Cast and The Anniversary.
  • In the 1983 TV movie The Day After, Lawrence was ravaged by fallout from detonations of nearby Soviet nuclear bombs, including one which destroyed Kansas City, Missouri. Lawrence was also destroyed in the 2006 TV Series Jericho.
  • Colleen McMurphy, a character in the cult TV series China Beach, hailed from Lawrence.
  • From 1947 until 1981, Lawrence was the location of the Centron Corporation, one of the major industrial and educational film production companies in the United States at the time. The studio was founded by two University of Kansas graduates and employed university students and faculty members as advisers and actors. Also, many talented local and area filmmakers were given their first chances to make movies with Centron, and some stayed for decades. Others went on to successful careers in Hollywood. One of these local residents, Herk Harvey, was employed by Centron as a director for 35 years and in the middle of his tenure there he made a full-length theatrical film, Carnival of Souls, a horror cult film shot mostly in Lawrence and released in 1962. The Centron Corporation soundstage and residing building is now called Oldfather Studios and houses the University of Kansas film program.
  • A scene from Where Pigeons Go To Die, a movie directed by Michael Landon, was shot in the 1300 block of Massachusetts Street.
  • There are three separate tunnel systems underneath Massachusetts Street, as well as an extensive steam-tunnel network underneath the University of Kansas, which includes tunnels designed as nuclear attack shelters.
  • The inventor of basketball, James Naismith, was the first basketball coach at the University of Kansas and was the only KU coach with a losing record.
  • In the television show Supernatural, the main characters were born in Lawrence; several scenes from the pilot (and one whole episode) were set in Lawrence.
  • Lawrence's Mount Oread is named after Oread Seminary in Worcester, which was founded by the organization that sent the city's first settlers.[2]
  • The unincorporated area of Stull, Kansas, which lies just west of Lawrence across Clinton Lake, contains a cemetery that a popular local urban legend claims is a "gateway to hell." In 2002, a church that stood next to the cemetery was torn down after years of abandonment.[4]
  • Well-known singer-songwriter Josh Ritter wrote a song called "Lawrence, Kansas".[5]
  • Some exterior shots for the CBS series Jericho were filmed in Lawrence. [6] In the seventh episode of the series, it is mentioned that Lawrence was destroyed by a nuclear blast.
  • The default Google Earth view is centered on the Meadowbrook apartment complex in Lawrence, because the developer of the software lived in that complex as a child.


Places of interest include Haskell Indian Nations University. The campus can be accessed from 23rd Street and Barker Avenue.

Sister cities

Lawrence has two sister cities through Sister Cities International:

Lawrence has one sister city through "US-El Salvador Sister Cities":

Notable natives and residents

Main article: People from Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence in the Media

Media outlets

Internet Providors
Broadcast television
Broadcast radio
Newspapers

See also

General

History

Maps

Template:Mapit-US-cityscale

References

  1. ^ "Wakarusa Officials Reflect On Event". Lawrence Journal-World. 2005-06-24. Retrieved 2007-04-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Mount Oread’s name precedes that of city, Lawrence Journal-World, 2004-09-13. Accessed 2007-09-26.
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