The Friends of Lawrence Heritage State Park formed in 1999 to support the Park and its activities. The principal founding member was Mary Girouard, a long-time volunteer at the Park as well as a long-time member of the Park’s Advisory Board. The first President was Jonas Stundzia, another experienced Park volunteer and avid local historian. We quickly became a 501c3 non-profit corporation.
The Friends first service to the Park was to act as a fiscal agent, receiving grant funds to support Park programs. Over time the Friends have gradually increased our activity to the point that we now conduct or support several events per year, as well as raising money to support Park maintenance and improvements. The Friends elect Officers and other Board members who meet monthly, and hold an annual meeting in the Fall.
The Friends keep membership fees low, and have approximately 100 members. If you appreciate the Park, and the work the Friends do to support it, please consider joining. Friends members are kept up-to-date on events by mail or email notices.
Current Board of Directors, 2023-2024
- James Beauchesne, President
- Thomas Spitalere, Vice President
- Susan Grabski, Treasurer and Membership
- Anne Benedix, Secretary
- Jonathan Guzman
- JoAnne McConaughy
- Jurg Siegenthaler
- Phyllis Tyler
Lawrence Heritage State Park
The Lawrence Heritage State Park is located at:
One Jackson Street, Lawrence, MA 01840
978 794-1655
Open daily 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
A restored boarding house with two floors of interactive exhibits tells the tale of Lawrence, one of the nation’s first planned industrial cities. Along with stories of Lawrence’s mill workers and industry, the workers’ role in the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike is relived with images and sounds. Walk along the esplanade of a nineteenth-century canal and through a park created within the walls of an industrial-era building.
The Visitor Center is located in a beautifully restored 1840s boarding house that features the original beams and brickwork. You will find a turn-of-the–century kitchen, complete with antique stove and sink similar to that of the mill workers. There are amazing models of the mills and boarding houses to help visitors imagine how the community looked and functioned. Visitors can trace the routes of more than 30 immigrant populations who settled in Lawrence and can test their skills at planning their own industrial city. A video presentation of the Great Strike of 1912 tells the powerful story of nearly 30,000 workers and the nation’s labor struggles and a painting by renowned labor artist, Ralph Fasanella, titled “Lawrence 1912: The Bread and Roses Strike,” hangs as a permanent piece of the exhibit.
Pemberton Park, off Canal Street near the Central Bridge, offers superb views of the city’s mills and historic dam, and opportunities for fishing and boating. The park property is about five acres and will soon extend to the Great Stone Dam. Walking trails, lighting and benches make this park an attractive place to visit in daylight or at dusk.
Lawrence Riverfront State Park, Eaton and Everett Streets, offers tennis, basketball, street hockey courts; wooded walking trails; children’s play area and a sledding hill. Company, family or other group outings are welcomed by reservation.
Bashara Boathouse offers summer sailing and instruction through the Greater Lawrence Community Boating Program, (978) 681-8675.
Greycourt State Park, 37 Pleasant St. Methuen, MA. Site of the former Tenney Estate and Gatehouse. Offers wooded walking trails and scenic landscape. Open dawn to dusk. Day to day maintenance performed by the Methuen Dept. of Public Works (978) 983-8545.