| Official Name: | Lawrence, Illinois |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | Illinois#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Lawrence |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | McHenry |
| Subdivision Type3: | Township |
| Subdivision Name3: | Chemung |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 0.95 |
| Area Land Km2: | 0.95 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 0.37 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 0.37 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 220 |
| Population Density Km2: | 231.07 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 597.83 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation Ft: | 906 |
| Coordinates: | 42.4411°N -88.6411°W |
| Postal Code: | 60033 |
| Area Code: | 815 & 779 |
| Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank Info: | 411867 |
Lawrence is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Chemung Township, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. Lawrence is 2miles northwest of Harvard. It was named a CDP before the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 220.[2]
A post office called Lawrence was established in 1856, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1903.[3] The community was named for Lawrence Bigsby, the owner of the original town site.[4]
Lawrence first appeared as a census designated place in the 2020 U.S. Census.
| White alone (NH) | 159 | 72.27% | |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 6 | 2.73% | |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Asian alone (NH) | 2 | 0.91% | |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH) | 11 | 5.00% | |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 42 | 19.09% | |
| Total | 220 | 100.00% |
In early January 2008, an ef3 tornado went through Lawrence. This caused major damage to several houses in the community.[6] Although no deaths were reported, several injuries occurred. 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 from the train crash as the tornado did minor damage outside of Lawrence.[7]