Lawrence is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Kaufman County, located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 279 in 2000. It is located within the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

History

The area in what is known as Lawrence today was first settled in the early 1840s. The

Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

built a track through the community in 1872. A post office was established at Lawrence in 1874 and remained in operation until the 1930s. Lawrence had three stores, a church, a hotel, and 200 residents in the early 1880s. Farmers brought crops here to use the corn and

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

s and used grain cars provided by the railroad. Its population was 176 in 1904, dropping to 75 from 1925 to the 1930s. The population further declined to 40 after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It then made a comeback in the 1970s. The population surpassed the 100 mark in 1974, with an official population of 113 in 1988. Two years later, it grew to 231 and stopped at 279 in 2000.

Geography

Lawrence is located on a railroad spur off Farm to Market Road 1392, northwest of Terrell in northwestern Kaufman County.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Lawrence has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Lawrence, Texas
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Education

Lawrence had its own school in the 1880s. Today, Lawrence is served by the

Kaufman Independent School District Kaufman Independent School District is a public school district based in Kaufman, Texas, United States. In addition to Kaufman, the district serves the cities of Oak Ridge, Oak Grove, and Post Oak Bend. In 2009, the school district was rated ...

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Kaufman County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas