Lawrence Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Lawrence Area Cameras

Village · Nuckolls County · Population 272 (2020 census) · ZIP 68957 · Founded 1886 · Peak population 538 (1920)

About Lawrence

Lawrence is a village of 272 in the northwest corner of Nuckolls County, on NE 4 near the Webster and Clay county lines, about 12 miles west-northwest of Nelson. It has the Lawrence Opera House, on the National Register, and the elementary school and offices of Lawrence-Nelson Public Schools.

History

Lawrence was platted in 1886 as the Burlington built its DeWitt–Holdrege line through, and was named for an official of that division of the railroad. The post office opened in February 1887 and the Locomotive newspaper began that year, and the Missouri Pacific's Hastings branch soon crossed here, giving Lawrence two railroads. Baptists organized in 1880, Methodists in 1887 and Catholics in 1893. The country around was settled earlier: the first Mass of St. Stephen parish was said in Louis Schumm's dugout in October 1875, and an 1893 list names many Czech-born landowners around Lawrence and in Liberty and Victor precincts.

The two-story Lawrence Opera House went up in 1901 at 2nd and Calvert Streets and was used as an opera house until about 1917; it was listed on the National Register in 1988. The village reached its largest population, 538, in 1920. Lawrence won the 1985 Class D-2 eight-man state football championship with a 13–0 season.

Highways and trails through Lawrence

Route	One way	Other way
NE 4East–west through the village	East, with NE 14 for about a mile north of Nelson, toward Oak and Davenport	West into Webster County

Nearby towns

Deweese	about 8 mi northeast	County roads
Blue Hill	about 10 mi west-northwest	County roads
Nelson	about 12 mi east-southeast	NE 4 and NE 14
Fairfield	about 13 mi northeast	County roads
Angus	about 13 mi east	NE 4
Guide Rock	about 15 mi south-southwest	County roads
Edgar	about 16 mi east-northeast	NE 4 and county roads

Things to see

The Lawrence Opera House, 2nd and Calvert Sts. (1901; National Register) · Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 141 E. 2nd St. · St. Stephen Catholic Church, 2 mi south, the 1875 parish, in a church dedicated in 1947 · Liberty Cove Recreation Area, about 3 mi southwest in Webster County, with 8 electric RV pads, a beach, a boat ramp and trails (Little Blue NRD)

Schools and health care

Schools: Lawrence-Nelson Public Schools: Lawrence-Nelson Elementary (PK–5) and the district office at 411 E. 2nd St., Lawrence; Lawrence-Nelson Middle School and Lawrence-Nelson High School (6–12) at 850 S. Nevada St., Nelson

Health care: No clinic in Lawrence; nearest: Brodstone Family Medical Center–Nelson, 76 W. 8th St., Nelson; hospital: Brodstone Healthcare (Brodstone Memorial Hospital), 520 E. 10th St., Superior, a 25-bed critical access hospital

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Nuckolls County (1940); NEGenWeb Nuckolls County; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Park Service; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Little Blue NRD; Nebraska Department of Transportation; city, school, diocese and hospital websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.