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Post-War History
Lawrence was a great wool-processing center until that industry declined in the 1950s. The decline left Lawrence a
struggling city. The population of Lawrence declined from over 80,000 residents in 1950 to approximately 64,000
residents in 1980, the low point of Lawrence's population.
"Urban Renewal"
Like other northeastern cities suffering from the effects of Post World War II industrial decline, Lawrence has often
made efforts at revitalization, some of them controversial. For example, half of the enormous water-powered Wood
Mill, once the largest mills in the world, was knocked down in the 1950s. Nothing has been built on the site other than
a quarter-mile long parking lot. More significantly, under the guise of "Urban Renewal," large tracts of downtown
Lawrence were razed in the mid-1970s and replaced with a parking lots and a three story parking garage connected to
a new Intown Mall intended to compete with newly constructed suburban malls. The historic Theater Row along
Broadway was also razed, destroying ornate movie palaces of the 1920s and 1930s that entertained mill workers
through the Great Depression and the Second World War. Additionally, the city's main post office, an ornate
federalist style building at the corner of Broadway and Essex Street, was razed. Most of the structures were replaced
with one-story, steel frame structures with large parking lots, housing such establishments as fast food restaurants
and chain drug stores, fundamentally changing the character of the center of Lawrence.[1]
Lawrence also attempted to increase its employment base by attracting industries unwanted in other communities,
such as waste treatment facilities and incinerators. From 1980 until 1998, private corporations operated two trash
incinerators in Lawrence. Activist residents successfully blocked the approval of a waste treatment center on the
banks of the Merrimack River near the current site of Salvatore's Pizza on Merrimack Street.
Troubles of the 1980s and 1990s
Hispanic immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico began arriving in Lawrence in significant
numbers in the late 1960s, attracted by cheap housing and a history of tolerance toward immigrants. In 1984,
tensions between remaining working class whites and increasing numbers of Hispanic youth flared into a riot,
centered at the intersection of Haverhill Street and Railroad Steet where a number of buildings were destroyed by
molotov cocktails and over 300 people were arrested.[2]
Lawrence saw further setbacks during the recession of the early 1990s as a wave of arson plagued the city. Over 200
buildings were set alight in an eighteen month period in 1991-92, many of them abandoned residences and industrial
sites
Lawrence was a great wool-processing center until that industry declined in the 1950s. The decline left Lawrence a
struggling city. The population of Lawrence declined from over 80,000 residents in 1950 to approximately 64,000
residents in 1980, the low point of Lawrence's population.
"Urban Renewal"
Like other northeastern cities suffering from the effects of Post World War II industrial decline, Lawrence has often
made efforts at revitalization, some of them controversial. For example, half of the enormous water-powered Wood
Mill, once the largest mills in the world, was knocked down in the 1950s. Nothing has been built on the site other than
a quarter-mile long parking lot. More significantly, under the guise of "Urban Renewal," large tracts of downtown
Lawrence were razed in the mid-1970s and replaced with a parking lots and a three story parking garage connected to
a new Intown Mall intended to compete with newly constructed suburban malls. The historic Theater Row along
Broadway was also razed, destroying ornate movie palaces of the 1920s and 1930s that entertained mill workers
through the Great Depression and the Second World War. Additionally, the city's main post office, an ornate
federalist style building at the corner of Broadway and Essex Street, was razed. Most of the structures were replaced
with one-story, steel frame structures with large parking lots, housing such establishments as fast food restaurants
and chain drug stores, fundamentally changing the character of the center of Lawrence.[1]
Lawrence also attempted to increase its employment base by attracting industries unwanted in other communities,
such as waste treatment facilities and incinerators. From 1980 until 1998, private corporations operated two trash
incinerators in Lawrence. Activist residents successfully blocked the approval of a waste treatment center on the
banks of the Merrimack River near the current site of Salvatore's Pizza on Merrimack Street.
Troubles of the 1980s and 1990s
Hispanic immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico began arriving in Lawrence in significant
numbers in the late 1960s, attracted by cheap housing and a history of tolerance toward immigrants. In 1984,
tensions between remaining working class whites and increasing numbers of Hispanic youth flared into a riot,
centered at the intersection of Haverhill Street and Railroad Steet where a number of buildings were destroyed by
molotov cocktails and over 300 people were arrested.[2]
Lawrence saw further setbacks during the recession of the early 1990s as a wave of arson plagued the city. Over 200
buildings were set alight in an eighteen month period in 1991-92, many of them abandoned residences and industrial
sites