Lawrence Hall [Demolished]
Address5, Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number411
Alternate Names
Lawrence Scientific School,
Previous Building Number
145
Historic CAPS Identifier L381.8
Building Root Number N/A
Historic CAPS Identifier L381.8
Building Root Number N/A
Architect (Original)
Richard Bond
Land Acquired
1816
Constructed 1847
Building Acquired 1847
Demolished 1970
Constructed 1847
Building Acquired 1847
Demolished 1970
StatusInactive
Materials for this building in our collection are not fully processed at this time.
Site Name HistoryThe site is named for Abbott Lawrence who endowed the school.Historical NotesLawrence Hall, designed by Richard Bond, was the original home of the Lawrence Scientific School. Constructed in 1847 it stood on north side of Cambridge Street on the site now occupied by the Science Center. The original brick and brownstone, Italianate-style, building was intended to have multiple wings which were never fully constructed as planned. In 1871 Ware and Van Brunt (architects of Memorial Hall) renovated the interior and added a third story. During World War I the building housed activities related to the United States Naval Radio School, which occupied a portion of Harvard's campus from 1917 to 1919. The building was razed in 1970 to provide space for the new Science Center.
Funds for the construction of Lawrence Hall came from a gift of Abbott Lawrence (LL.D. 1854). A later wing to the building was contributed by Annie Bigelow Lawrence Rotch in 1892.
Additional Information
Hurlbut, Byron Satterlee. A Guide Book to the Grounds and Buildings of Harvard University. Cambridge: U, 1898. Print.
Weber, Paul J. Photographs of Harvard University Buildings and Grounds Taken by Paul J. Weber, Ca. 1929-1931 and 1939. Harvard University Archives call number HUV 2329
HBS Archives Photograph Collection: Buildings and Grounds, 1908-2006. (1908). Baker Business Library Historical Collections call number Arch P1
Harvard University. General Information by and about Lawrence Hall. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1512.
Love, James Lee. The Lawrence Scientific School in Harvard University, 1847-1906. 1944. hollis.harvard.edu, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc1.cu02305828.
Elliott, Clark A. “Founding of the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University, 1846-1847: A Study in Writing and History.” Archivaria, 1994, pp. 119-.
