Lawrence is a city in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is one of four "excluded cities" in Marion County. The city is home to Fort Benjamin Harrison within Fort Harrison State Park. The population was 46,001 at the 2010 census. The city is on the northeast side of Indianapolis and is currently growing at twice the rate of the rest of Indiana. History The municipality was platted in 1849 under the name Lanesville but other names were tried because there was already another Lanesville in Indiana. The name Jamestown, in honor of the town's founder James White, was used for a while, but in 1866 the Marion County Commissioners approved the name Lawrence, which is also the name of the township in which it is located. Lawrence was named after the naval hero of the War of 1812, Captain James Lawrence In 1929 the citizens of Lawrence voted to become an independent town, where they first established the town marshal, as well as other parts of government. In 1969, Indianapolis and Marion County adopted a unified government structure known as Unigov. Lawrence is one of four “excluded cities” and therefore retains its own municipal government. Its citizens vote not only for the mayor and council of Lawrence, but also for the mayor of Indianapolis and representatives on the Indianapolis City-County Council. Geography Lawrence is located at (39.862739, −85.994264). According to the 2010 census, Lawrence has a total area of , of which (or 99.46%) is land and (or 0.54%) is water. Climate The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cold winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Lawrence has a humid continental climate with hot summers and year around precipitation, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps. Demographics 2010 census At the 2010 United States Census, there were 46,001 people, 17,864 households, and 11,949 families in the city. The population density was . There were 19,515 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 63.2% White, 25.8% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.7% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.2%. Of the 17,864 households 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% were married couples living together, 17.5% had a female householder with no husband