Lawrenceville, Georgia
Encyclopedia
Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Gwinnett County
Gwinnett County, Georgia
, Gwinnett County had a population of 805,321. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 53.3% white , 23.6% black , 2.7% Korean, 2.6% Asian Indian, 2.0% Vietnamese, 3.3% other Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.8% some other race and 3.1% from two or more races...

, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

 estimates the 2008 population at 29,258. Lawrenceville has six ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

s (30042-30046, 30049); it is part of the 678/770/404 telephone area code
Telephone numbering plan
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunications to allocate telephone numbers to subscribers and to route telephone calls in a telephone network. A closed numbering plan, such as found in North America, imposes a fixed total length to numbers...

, which is used throughout metropolitan Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

.

History

Lawrenceville was incorporated by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on 15 December 1821. This makes Lawrenceville one of the oldest cities in the Metro Atlanta Area. The city is named after Commodore James Lawrence
James Lawrence
James Lawrence was an American naval officer. During the War of 1812, he commanded the USS Chesapeake in a single-ship action against HMS Shannon...

, commander of the Frigate Chesapeake during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

. In 1821 a permanent site for the county courthouse was selected and purchased, the four streets bordering the square were laid out along with other streets in the village, and a public well was dug. Major Grace built the first permanent courthouse, a brick structure, in 1823-24 for a cost of $4,000. The courthouse presently on the square was constructed in 1885.

William Maltbie, the town’s first postmaster, suggested the name “Lawrenceville” in honor of Captain James Lawrence
James Lawrence
James Lawrence was an American naval officer. During the War of 1812, he commanded the USS Chesapeake in a single-ship action against HMS Shannon...

, a naval commander during the War of 1812. Lawrence, a native of New Jersey, is probably best known today for his dying command, "Don't give up the ship!"

Courtland Winn
Courtland Winn
Courtland Simmons Winn was a politician, lawyer and civic leader from the State of Georgia .Courtland S. Winn was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia while the American Civil War raged. His father Judge Samuel J...

 served two terms as mayor starting in 1884 when he was 21 years old.

The two most famous people born in Lawrenceville gained their fame elsewhere. Charles Henry Smith, born in 1826, left as a young man and lived most of his life in other Georgia towns. Beginning during the Civil War, he wrote humorous pieces for Atlanta newspapers under the name Bill Arp. He has been described as the South's most popular writer of the late 19th century, though he is not much read today. Ezzard Charles
Ezzard Charles
Ezzard Mack Charles was an African-American professional boxer and former world heavyweight champion. He holds wins over numerous Hall of Fame fighters in three different weight classes. Charles retired with a record of 93 wins, 25 losses and 1 draw.-Career:He was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia,...

, born in Lawrenceville in 1921, grew up in Cincinnati, where opportunities for African-Americans were far better at the time than in the Deep South. He eventually was heavyweight boxing champion of the world.

As a boy, Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...

 lived in downtown Lawrenceville around 1900. But the future movie star's stay was brief. His family moved often within Georgia.

Lawrenceville was one of many venues in the nation where Hustler
Hustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...

magazine publisher Larry Flynt
Larry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications . In 2003, Arena magazine listed him as the number one on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list....

 faced obscenity charges in the late 1970s. On March 6, 1978, during a lunch break in his Lawrenceville trial, he and his local attorney Gene Reeves were shot by a sniper near the courthouse. Both survived, though Flynt was seriously disabled. Imprisoned serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin
Joseph Paul Franklin
Joseph Paul Franklin is an American serial killer. He has been convicted of several murders, and has confessed to the attempted assassinations of two prominent people — the 1978 shooting of magazine publisher Larry Flynt and Flynt's attorney, and the 1980 shooting of Vernon Jordan, Jr....

 claims to have been the shooter, but he did not make the claim until years after the crime, and he has never been charged in the case. A heavily fictionalized treatment of the shooting can be seen in the 1996 movie The People vs. Larry Flynt
The People vs. Larry Flynt
The People vs. Larry Flynt is a 1996 American biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman about the rise of pornographic magazine publisher and editor Larry Flynt, and his subsequent clash with the law. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton.The film was written by...

.

Geography

Lawrenceville is located at 33°57′11"N 83°59′33"W (33.953052, -83.992469). According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 13.1 square miles (33.9 km²), of which, 13 square miles (33.7 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

Dacula
Dacula, Georgia
As of 2010 Dacula had a population of 4,442. the median age was 35.2. There were 1,472 households with 92.0% of housing units occupied. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 76.6% white , 11.3% black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian Indian, 2.8% other...

, Duluth
Duluth, Georgia
Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia and an increasingly more affluent and developed suburb of Atlanta. Unincorporated portions of Forsyth County also have Duluth as a mailing address, though this area is outside city limits...

, Buford
Buford, Georgia
As of 2010 Buford had a population of 12,225. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 65.8% white, 13.8% black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 14.7% reporting some other race and 2.5% reproting two or more races...

, Grayson
Grayson, Georgia
As of 2010 Grayson had a population of 2,666. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 62.8% white, 23.8% black or African American, 0.4% native American, 9.0% Asian, 1.8% from some other race and 2.2% from some other race...

, Lilburn
Lilburn, Georgia
As of 2010 Lilburn had a population of 11,596. The median age was 36.3. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 52.7% white , 16.4% black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 4.8% Asian Indian, 10.4% other Asian, 12.3% from some other race and 2.8% from two or more races...

, Norcross
Norcross, Georgia
As of 2010 Norcross had a population of 9,116. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 40.8% white , 19.8% black or African American , 0.7% Native American, 2.1% Asian Indian, 10.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 21.5% from some other race and 4.3% reporting two or more races...

, Snellville
Snellville, Georgia
Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. The population was 15,351 at the 2000 census. The city's mayor, Jerry Oberholtzer, was elected to a 4-year term in 2007. The city's commercial and residential development has grown enormously in recent years...

, and Suwanee
Suwanee, Georgia
As of 2010 Suwanee had a population of 15,355. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 67.4% white, 10.8% black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 18.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.3% reporting some other race and 2.3% reporting two or more races...

 are nearby cities.

Climate

Lawrenceville has a humid subtropical climate
Humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...

 (Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

 Cfa).

Demographics

As of 2010 Lawrenceville had a population of 28,546. The median age was 32.4. The racial composition of the population was 48.0% white, 32.0% black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 1.1% Asian Indian, 4.7% other Asian, 10.3% from some other race and 3.4% from two or more races. 22.3% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2009, there were 29,397 people, 7,484 households, and 5,313 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,723.9 people per square mile (665.7/km²). There were 7,684 housing units at an average density of 591.5 per square mile (228.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 48.04% White, 40.61% African American, 0.22% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.46% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 2.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.14% of the population.

In 2000, there were 7,484 households out of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households account for 0.6% of all households. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 35.3% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 105.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $43,299, and the median income for a family was $48,557. Males had a median income of $34,263 versus $26,903 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $19,649. About 11.7% of families and 24.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.0% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Lawrenceville is the most populous incorporated city in Gwinnett County.

Transportation

Lawrenceville can be accessed through several highways. Georgia 316 passes through Lawrenceville to Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

 and connects to Interstate 85
Interstate 85
Interstate 85 is a major interstate highway in the Southeastern United States. Its current southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus interchanges with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond...

 at Exit 106. Interstate 85 South then travels through downtown Atlanta, which is roughly 30 to 35 miles away. Lawrenceville can also be accessed by US 78 (Stone Mountain Freeway) and then Scenic Highway (Georgia 124) via Snellville, GA. Thirdly, some southern unincorporated areas with Lawrenceville addresses can be accessed by Ronald Reagan Parkway. Other highways that pass through Lawrenceville are US 29, GA 8, GA 20, and GA 120.

Lawrenceville also is home to Gwinnett's only airport, the small Gwinnett County Airport-Briscoe Field, which is not an international airport but serves some commercial (though mainly private) aircraft.

Schools with Lawrenceville mailing address

The following is a list of schools with a Lawrenceville mailing address, with its high school cluster in parenthesis.

Elementary Schools
  • Cedar Hill Elementary School (Central Gwinnett)
  • Lawrenceville Elementary School (Central Gwinnett)
  • Simonton Elementary School (Central Gwinnett)
  • Margaret Winn Holt Elementary School (Central Gwinnett)
  • Benefield Elementary (Berkmar)
  • Woodward Mill Elementary School
  • Lovin Elementary School
  • K.E. Taylor Elementary School
  • McKendree Elementry School
  • Jenkins Elementary School
  • Rock Springs Elementary chool
  • Walnut Grove Elementary School

Middle Schools
  • Moore Middle School (Central Gwinnett)
  • J.E. Richards Middle School (Central Gwinnett)
  • Twin Rivers Middle School
  • Creekland Middle School

High Schools
  • Central Gwinnett High School
    Central Gwinnett High School
    Central Gwinnett High School is a high school in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The school is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools, and J.E Richards Middle School is its feeder...

  • Phoenix High School
  • Mountain View High School
    Mountain View High School (Lawrenceville, Georgia)
    Mountain View High School is a public high school in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA and a part of Gwinnett County Public Schools. Mountain View High School is a new high school that opened in the 09-10 school year. The school officially opened for classes on Monday, August 10, 2009...

  • Archer High School
    Archer High School
    Archer High School is a public high school in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA and a part of Gwinnett County Public Schools. Archer High School is a new high school that opened in the 2009-10 school year. The school is named after longtime Gwinnett County teacher and coach Benjamin Vernon Archer...

  • Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
    Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
    The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology is a charter school founded in 2007. The current principal is Dr. Jeff Mathews. It previously resided in the 100 building of the Duluth High School Campus, Duluth, Georgia from its founding in 2007 until May 2010. In June 2010, the...

  • Collins Hill High School


Other Schools
  • Gwinnett InterVention Education (GIVE) Center East
    GIVE Center East
    GIVE Center East Center is one of two alternative schools in the Gwinnett County School System in Gwinnett County, Georgia. GIVE was founded in 1994 as a program for students in grades 6 through 12 with severe discipline issues that prevented them from attending their home school...

     (Alternative School)
  • Hooper Renwick School

Colleges and university

Within Lawrenceville are two public colleges:
  • Gwinnett Technical College
    Gwinnett Technical College
    Gwinnett Technical College is a Technical College in Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States. Since opening its doors as the Gwinnett Area Technical School in 1984, the college has added numerous programs, made two name changes, expanded its facilities and experienced enrollment growth.In the 1980s,...

  • Georgia Gwinnett College

Libraries

Gwinnett County Public Library
Gwinnett County Public Library
The Gwinnett County Public Library is located in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia, USA, north-east of Atlanta. In FY2004 the public library system circulated over 6 million items to almost 200,000 registered borrowers.- History :...

 operates the Lawrenceville Branch in an unincorporated area
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

.

Hospitals

Lawrenceville is home to one of the premier hospitals in the region, Gwinnett Medical Center
Gwinnett Medical Center
Gwinnett Medical Center is a not-for-profit network of healthcare facilities and providers in Gwinnett County, Georgia comprising the following licensed facilities:* GMC-Lawrenceville - a hospital with 353 acute care beds in Lawrenceville, GA...

. GMC is a non-profit, 500-bed health care network based in Gwinnett County. It comprises two hospitals, plus several supporting medical facilities, with more than 4,300 employees and more than 800 affiliated physicians. The flagship campus of GMC is located in Lawrenceville near the intersection of Hwy. 316 and Duluth Highway 120.

Downtown

Historically significant buildings in downtown Lawrenceville include the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse and Lawrenceville Female Seminary. Also downtown are various landmarks and antique locations. The downtown area includes many restaurants like UpTown Café, Corner Stop Café, Cosmo’s Original Little Italy Pizza, and McCray’s Tavern on the Square. Downtown also offers valuable living on the square with the new "Cornerstone On The Square" condos and townhomes. Lawrenceville's revitalization plan was strengthened in 2005 when the city crafted a unique partnership with the Aurora Theatre (Gwinnett county's only professional theatre), which relocated from the nearby town of Duluth
Duluth, Georgia
Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia and an increasingly more affluent and developed suburb of Atlanta. Unincorporated portions of Forsyth County also have Duluth as a mailing address, though this area is outside city limits...

 to a permanent site in downtown Lawrenceville in May 2007 for the opening of its eleventh season. Another theater is GTC on Gwinnett Drive. The Aurora Theatre also conducts Lawrenceville Ghost Tours--a 90 minute walking tour of the historic downtown area led by professional storytellers. Ghost tour guides recount town lore and legends including Lawrenceville's role in the trial of Larry Flynt
Larry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications . In 2003, Arena magazine listed him as the number one on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list....

 and the kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle
Barbara Jane Mackle
Barbara Jane Mackle is an American heiress who was the survivor of a notorious crime. Her book about the ordeal was the basis of two television movies.-The crime:...

.

Economy

Scientific Atlanta, now currently known as Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...

 is based near Lawrenceville.

Sports

The AAA minor league baseball Gwinnett Braves
Gwinnett Braves
The Gwinnett Braves are a minor league baseball team in the International League, the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Atlanta Braves. The team was previously the Richmond Braves for 43 seasons . On January 14, 2008, it was announced that the Richmond Braves would move from Richmond,...

 of the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 play at Coolray Field.

Notable natives and residents

  • Robert Craig
    Robert Craig
    United States Army Second Lieutenant Robert Craig received the Medal of Honor for heroic service as an infantry officer during the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War II.-Early life:...

  • Ezzard Charles
    Ezzard Charles
    Ezzard Mack Charles was an African-American professional boxer and former world heavyweight champion. He holds wins over numerous Hall of Fame fighters in three different weight classes. Charles retired with a record of 93 wins, 25 losses and 1 draw.-Career:He was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia,...

  • EJay Day
    EJay Day
    Earl "EJay" Day is an American singer and was one of the ten finalists during the first season of American Idol. Day was actually a last minute replacement in the Idol semifinals for Delano Cagnolati, who was discovered to have lied to escape the show's age cutoff...

  • Darius Walker
    Darius Walker
    Darius A'Dunte Walker is an American football running back who is a free agent in the National Football League. He was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Notre Dame.Walker has also been a member of the St...

  • Courtland Winn
    Courtland Winn
    Courtland Simmons Winn was a politician, lawyer and civic leader from the State of Georgia .Courtland S. Winn was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia while the American Civil War raged. His father Judge Samuel J...

  • Brian McCann
  • Jeff Francouer
  • Jonathan Babineaux
    Jonathan Babineaux
    Jonathan Joel Babineaux is an NFL defensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons. He was drafted with the 59th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.-High school career:...

  • Maya Moore
    Maya Moore
    Maya April Moore is an American basketball forward for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA and Ros Casares Valencia of Euroleague. Moore was the winner of the 2006 and 2007 Naismith Prep Player of the Year. She was selected as the John Wooden Award winner in 2009 after leading Connecticut to the...

  • Jennifer Ferrin
    Jennifer Ferrin
    -Early life:Ferrin was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She attended Brookwood High where she was the lead in many high school plays and was a member of the choir...

  • Hamilton Jordan
    Hamilton Jordan
    William Hamilton McWhorter Jordan was Chief of Staff to President of the United States Jimmy Carter.-Early life:...

  • Junior Samples
    Junior Samples
    Junior Samples, born Alvin Samples Jr. in Cumming, Georgia was an American comedian best known for his 14-year run as a cast member of the TV show Hee Haw.-Early Years:...

  • Toby Sells
    Toby Sells
    Toby Sells is an American special effects make-up artist and make-up effects designer. Sells and his special-effects makeup were featured on the October 30, 2007 episode of the Discovery Channel series Dirty Jobs....

  • Rachel G. Fox

Trivia

  • Deion Sanders
    Deion Sanders
    Deion Luwynn Sanders , nicknamed "Prime Time" and "Neon Deion", is a former National Football League cornerback and Major League Baseball outfielder who currently works as an NFL Network analyst...

     once bought land in Lawrenceville to build a mansion
    Mansion
    A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

    , but sold it to construction companies.
  • The film Road Trip was filmed in parts of Lawrenceville.

External links



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