Lawrence Farmstead

The son of an original member of the Mercer colony, Stephen Decatur Lawrence (1853-1934) received about 640 acres of farmland on his twenty-first birthday. He began building the first structure, a small home, on this site in 1874. In 1882 contractor Charley Florrer built a T-plan house about six feet east of the original structure. The new house was of clapboard construction with square nails. In 1886, a kitchen room was added, altering the building to a cruciform floor plan. The striking central tower is an example of the Victorian features of the home, which include the steeply pitched overhanging roof and prominent porches. Other structures were added to the farmstead, on which Stephen D. Lawrence and his first wife Louisa E. Porter (1861-1891) reared three surviving children. Charley Florrer built the barn in 1887; other structures erected just north of the main house included a smokehouse, a brick-lined root cellar, and the wash house. The Lawrence Farmstead complex is representative of the evolution of domestic buildings from the 1870s to the late twentieth century on the North Texas plains and blackland prairie. S. D. Lawrence married his second wife, Louisa Hill Walker (1867-1948), and they reared their eight children here. Members of the prominent Lawrence family lived on the land until 1995, when 13.7 acres including the family complex became a city historical park according to the wishes of one of Stephen and Louisa's daughters. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1998

Lawrence Farmstead is a historical marker in Mesquite, Dallas County, dedicated in 1998. It is one of 352 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 574 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.7702, -96.5905 near Mesquite. The nearest cataloged historic site is Opal Lawrence Historical Park (museum), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include First Methodist Church of Mesquite, Public Education in Mesquite, and City of Mesquite.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5113011831. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.