THOUGHTS ON THIS PLACE WE CALL HOME Writer / Neal G. Moore
Lawrence is a community of military soldiers and veterans, baby boomers and retirees, blue-collar beer drinkers and wine-sipping soccer moms. It’s one of four “excluded cities” in Marion County where button-down oxford shirts, work coveralls, desert camo and neon-colored soccer jerseys are seen with equal frequency. The city’s 47,000 residents are Midwestern in temperament and tend to elect Republicans — except when they don’t. Residents are 63 percent white, 26 percent African-American and 11 percent Latino — a diverse, salt-of-the-earth, sometimes spicy, occasionally frustrating and altogether entertaining community that defies stereotyping — an American mash-up we call home. So, how did we get to where we are today? In October 1823, Elisha Reddick became the first white settler in what is now Lawrence Township. In 1849, the village of Lanesville was platted near a Native American trail that today is the convergence of Pendleton Pike, Franklin Road and East 42nd Street. A year after the Civil War’s end, county commissioners chose Lawrence as the name for the village and township — an homage to Capt. James Lawrence, naval hero and famous for his dying command, ”Don’t give up the ship!”
Through the ‘60s, ’70s and ’80s, soldiers and Army brass streamed into Fort Ben, and many chose to remain in Lawrence following active duty. The 1990 census tallied more than 26,000 residents. In 1991, Fort Ben was tabbed for closure — victim of post-Cold War cost-cutting. Still, Lawrence’s population continued to increase even as the fort was shuttering most of its buildings. That’s because Lawrence rolled up its sleeves and decided to repurpose the abandoned property. The city is nothing if not resilient. Lawrence — having survived a painful, difficult divorce — is intent on establishing a new identity. Many assets are in place: quality schools, Fort Harrison State Park, Ivy Tech. Village at the Fort is providing the “downtown” identity that Lawrence has never really had. Signs point to a revived Lawrence capable of competing with Carmel, Fishers and the like. Success will require purposeful commitment, creative leadership and a shared vision that is bold, affordable and attainable. It’s what must happen to sustain this place we call home.
In 1903, land was acquired to establish a military base in Lawrence. The U.S. Army named the fort after Benjamin Harrison, the nation’s 23rd president and a Hoosier. Through the years Fort Ben served as a military induction site, a military prison, a POW camp, a mental hospital, and the Army’s finance and communications training center. Military paychecks are still processed here.
Top: Capt. James Lawrence, U.S. naval hero, for whom the city of Lawrence is named (source: Wikipedia). Bottom: One of several impressive markers denoting entrance to Village at the Fort, the mixed-use green space located at 56th St. & Lee Rd.
In 1929, Lawrence graduated from a village to a town and, despite the stock market crash, grew in population and commercial trade. In 1940, there were about 1,000 Lawrence residents. After World War II, GIs returned to Lawrence, and by 1956 the population had swelled to 8,000.
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