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LAW li E3T CK.ieSom ©tiling1 About One of th« I’ujier Towns of Des Moines County.All the old settlers of Burlington have heard of Lawrence, a paper town of the long ago, situated up in .Jackson township, about one and one-half miles southeast of Kingston. But some of the new-comers are probably not aware that there is or ever was such a town in existence.Lawrence was laid out by a man from New Jersey, a man named C. Allen Whiting, a man of infinite depravity, and the way ho did gull those eastern people was wonderful to behold. Even to this day the county officials arc bored by people who want to know how the town of Lawrence is flourishing, what town lots are worth, whether it has any railroad facilities, and if so liow many, and whether it is advisable to invest still heavier in Lawrence real estate in anticipation of a rise.The officers never had hut one letter which 0they took real delight in answering, and that was when T. f«. Foster was asked by a man down in Massachusetts if the place had any water power, and if so had it ever been improved And Foster wrote back : Yes ! Lawrencehas abundance of water power ; water four feet deep all over it and it is improved every year by hunters from all parts of the country who go up there and shoot ducks by the bout load.” As lie has never heard from the man since lie thinks the answer was conclusive although it may have been far from satisfactory.The town was laid out July 21st, 1858, and divided into fifteen hundred and thirty-aix lots 50x100 feet each. The streets were all fifty feet wide except First avenue, which was the tony street and was given an extra twenty feel. They were numbered from the east, from First up to Ninth, and then come River, F tnt, Erie, Bank, Btatc and Water, with pie 11 y of room for mote streets in the wide waste of bottom which intervened between the original survey ami the bluff, two or three aides away. Then from the south there were the avenues First, Second, Third, Fourth, and so 011 up as high as the buyer wanted to go. These lots were all sold, or nearly all, at prices ranging from $15 to $100 each, and there is scarcely a hunter in Burlington but has pulled over the town in a boat while up the bottom after ducks. Of course Whiting has never beenseen in this locality since, although it is not probable that there aro any here who were bitten by liis audacious scheme.
Newspaper Details
Burlington Weekly Hawk Eye
Burlington, Iowa, US
Thu, Dec 23, 1875
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Burlington P.
IA, USA 15 Jan 2025
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