History of Lawrence's Neighborhoods to be Discussed

The Lawrence Historical Society will hold its annual meeting at 2 p.m. this Sunday, Feb. 24, at Lawrence High School.

The meeting, which is free and open to the public, will feature a lecture about the development of the township's various neighborhoods presented by township historian Dennis Waters and Michael Siegel of the Rutgers University Geography Department.

A flyer about the event and lecture, "The Street Where You Live: How Lawrence Became a Suburb, 1900-2000," reads as follows:

Like many sleepy farming communities in New Jersey, Lawrence Township underwent a profound transformation during the 20th century as thousands of acres of farmland were subdivided into housing tracts. From 1900-2000 Lawrence’s population increased almost twenty-fold.

The details of this transformation are found in hundreds of subdivision site plans stored in the Township Engineer’s office. For the past two years, Township Historian Dennis Waters has been working with Michael Siegel of the Rutgers University Geography Department to digitize and analyze these documents.

On Sunday, Feb. 24, Waters and Siegel will present the results of their research at the annual meeting of the Lawrence Historical Society.

Join us to learn how the Lawrence of then became the Lawrence of now - and hear the fascinating stories behind many of our town’s best-known neighborhoods, like Eldridge Park, Nassau Estates, Colonial Heights, and Darramoor.

This free event will conclude with a birthday cake in honor of the 316th anniversary of the founding of Lawrence (then Maidenhead) Township.