Lawrence (MBTA station)

LAWRENCE STATION
2005-built station platform and garage in 2012
Location	211 Merrimack Street Lawrence, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°42′7″N 71°9′9″W / 42.70194°N 71.15250°W / 42.70194; -71.15250Coordinates: 42°42′7″N 71°9′9″W / 42.70194°N 71.15250°W / 42.70194; -71.15250
Owned by	MVRTA
Line(s)	Haverhill Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	3
Connections	MVRTA: 33
Construction
Parking	400 spaces (5 accessible) Additional garage spaces used for local parking
Bicycle facilities	18 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	6
History
Opened	1848, 1979
Closed	1976
Rebuilt	1931, 2005 (relocated)
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	722 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Andover toward North Station Haverhill Line Bradford toward Haverhill

Lawrence Station is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill Line located in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The station is located at the Senator Patricia McGovern Transportation Center on 211 Merrimack Street in the city's Gateway District. The modern station, which opened in 2005, is the latest of seven distinct stations located in Lawrence since 1848.

The city of Lawrence was chartered in 1846, several years after the Boston & Maine Railroad opened. In 1848, the original tracks from Ballardvale to North Andover were abandoned and the route was relocated to the modern routing through Lawrence south of the Merrimack River. That year, the B&M set a land speed record for railed vehicles by operating the first authenticated 60 mph (96.6 km/h) train, The Antelope, from Boston to Lawrence, travelling 26 miles in 26 minutes.

The first station in Lawrence, South Lawrence, was a wooden structure built in 1848 just north of Salem Street. It was enlarged just two years after construction, then replaced in 1872 by a brick depot between Salem and Andover Streets.

In 1849, the Manchester and Lawrence Railroad was built from South Lawrence depot north through Lawrence proper. A new station was located at Essex Street and named North Lawrence; the original wooden building was replaced in 1851 by a permanent building (similar to the depot at Andover) then in 1879 by a Victorian Gothic brick structure. In 1880, the Boston and Lowell Railroad extended the 1848-built Lowell and Lawrence Railroad to a new depot north of the Merrimack River on Canal Street. After the B&M absorbed the B&L in 1887 the depot became redundant, though it saw service until 1918. Passenger service on the Lawrence & Lowell ended in 1926.