City: Indianapolis, IN

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (317) 549-8670

Description: First platted in 1849 with just 16 lots, Lawrence is located minutes north of downtown Indianapolis and now covers 20 square miles with a population of about 41,000. In 1960 Lawrence became a city and nine years later annexed Fort Benjamin Harrison. Lawrence offers easy access to major interstate highways, including I-69, I-70, I-65, and I-74. Lawrence is one of the “excluded cities” allowed to retain its city government when the rest of Marion County adopted the unified government structure known as Unigov. But Lawrence does vote for the mayor of Indianapolis as county executive and maintains representation on the Indianapolis/Marion County City-County Council.Lawrence was named in honor of Captain James Lawrence, naval hero of the War of 1812, who is best remembered for the command “Don’t give up the ship!”