Lawrence, Illinois

Lawrence is an unincorporated community in Chemung Township, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. Lawrence is 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Harvard.

Lawrence, Illinois
Unincorporated community
Lawrence, Illinois Lawrence, Illinois
Coordinates: 42°26′28″N 88°38′28″W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	McHenry
Township	Chemung
Elevation	906 ft (276 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)	815 & 779
GNIS feature ID	411867[1]

History

A post office called Lawrence was established in 1856, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1903.[2] The community was named for Lawrence Bigsby, the owner of the original town site.[3]

January 2008 Tornado

In early January 2008 a ef3 tornado went through Lawrence. This caused major damage to several houses in the community. Although no deaths were reported, several injuries to residents of Lawrence. Although the initial tornado did little damage, a train that was operated by Wisconsin rail had been derailed and a tanker car containing radioactive elements smashed into the back of the locomotive before flipping over and leaking radioactive elements over the rails. This caused concerns to the community of Lawrence and later evacuating people in Lawrence and northern areas of the nearby town of Harvard. a fire was reported after the derailing of the train. The damage in the train crash is not known. Although the tornado alone caused about 8.3 million dollars in damages. most likely in the train crash as the tornado did minor damage outside of Lawrence.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lawrence, Illinois
2. "McHenry County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
3. Chicago and North Western Railway Company (1908). A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways. p. 93.