Lawrence County, Indiana Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Lawrence County, Indiana
County
Location in the state of Indiana
Indiana's location in the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Indiana
Founded	1818
Named for	James Lawrence
County seat	Bedford
Largest city	Bedford (population and area)
Incorporated Municipalities	Three Cities and Towns Bedford (city) Mitchell (city) Oolitic (town)
Government
• Type	County
• Body	Board of Commissioners
Area
• Total	451.93 sq mi (1,170.5 km²)
• Land	449.17 sq mi (1,163.3 km²)
• Water	2.76 sq mi (7.1 km²)
Area rank	20th largest county in Indiana
Elevation	502 ft (153 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	45,011
• Rank	33rd largest county in Indiana
• Density	99.5973/sq mi (38.4547/km²)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Codes	47264, 47420-47421, 47436-47437, 47446, 47451, 47462, 47467, 47470
Area code	812 and 930
Congressional district	9th
Indiana Senate district	44th
Indiana House of Representatives districts	65th and 73rd
FIPS code	18-093
GNIS feature ID	0451703
Indiana county number 47

Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 45,011. The county seat is Bedford. Lawrence County comprises the Bedford, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History
Geography
Municipalities
Townships
Local sights
Astronauts
Climate and weather
Demographics
See also

History

Lawrence County was formed in 1818 from land given by Orange County. It was named for Capt. James Lawrence, who uttered the famous words "Don't give up the ship." after being mortally wounded during the War of 1812. Until the Battle of Tippecanoe, there was a lack in population of white men, due to the fact that Native Americans still lived in the area. The first trace of settlement in Lawrence County was near Leesville, however, Bono was the first settlement in the county.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 451.93 square miles (1,170.5 km²), of which 449.17 square miles (1,163.3 km²) (or 99.39%) is land and 2.76 square miles (7.1 km²) (or 0.61%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Monroe County (north)
Jackson County (east)
Washington County (southeast)
Orange County (south)
Martin County (west)
Greene County (northwest)

Major highways

U.S. Route 50
State Road 37
State Road 54
State Road 58
State Road 60
State Road 158
State Road 446
State Road 450
State Road 458

National protected area

Hoosier National Forest (part)

Municipalities

Cities and Towns

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Extinct town

Palestine

Townships

Local sights

Joe Palooka Statue – a statue of a comic strip character Joe Palooka, dedicated in 1948, is located near the town hall in Oolitic.
Spring Mill State Park is located near Mitchell

Astronauts

Lawrence County has had several native residents that have become astronauts over the years. They include:

Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom was born and raised in Mitchell; was killed in the Apollo 1 accident
Charles "Charlie" Walker was born and raised in Bedford.
Kenneth "Kenny" Bowersox was born in Virginia but was raised in Bedford

The Virgil I. Gus Grissom Memorial, located at the Spring Mill State Park near Mitchell, has many mementos of his career, including the space capsule he commanded, "The Molly Brown" from Gemini 3.

Climate and weather

Weather chart for Bedford, Indiana

2.8

2.7

3.8

4.5

4.1

4.5

4.2

3.1

3.2

3.9

3.3

temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches
source: The Weather Channel

Metric conversion

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
70 3 -8	69 6 -6	96 12 -1	114 18 4	128 23 11	104 28 16	115 30 18	107 29 17	79 26 12	82 19 5	100 12 1	84 6 -5
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in Bedford have ranged from a low of 18 °F (−8 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −29 °F (−34 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 111 °F (44 °C) was recorded in July 1930. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.70 inches (69 mm) in February to 5.04 inches (128 mm) in May.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	4,116	—
1830	9,234	124.3%
1840	11,782	27.6%
1850	12,097	2.7%
1860	13,692	13.2%
1870	14,628	6.8%
1880	18,543	26.8%
1890	19,792	6.7%
1900	25,729	30.0%
1910	30,625	19.0%
1920	28,228	−7.8%
1930	35,583	26.1%
1940	35,045	−1.5%
1950	34,346	−2.0%
1960	36,564	6.5%
1970	38,038	4.0%
1980	42,472	11.7%
1990	42,836	0.9%
2000	45,922	7.2%
2010	46,134	0.5%
2020	45,011	−2.4%
2023 (est.)	45,084	−2.3%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 46,134 people, 18,811 households, and 12,906 families residing in the county. The population density was 102.7 inhabitants per square mile (39.7/km²). There were 21,074 housing units at an average density of 46.9 per square mile (18.1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.3% white, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 18.4% were German, 14.6% were Irish, 13.1% were American, and 10.4% were English.

Of the 18,811 households, 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.4% were non-families, and 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 41.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $50,355. Males had a median income of $42,337 versus $30,386 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,352. About 10.9% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.4% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

Lawrence County, Indiana facts for kids

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