Lawrence, Kansas: Rock Chalk, Bleeding Kansas, and the Best Cheddar Ale Soup You'll Eat Under a Historical Marker

If you've ever wondered what happens when you cross an abolitionist colony, a Big 12 basketball program, and a farmers' market that takes itself very seriously, congratulations: you've wondered about Lawrence, Kansas. Parked on Interstate 70 on the Kansas River, this college town is roughly 40 minutes from Kansas City and absolutely wants you to know it is not like the rest of Kansas.

We recently put Lawrence through the wringer over at RoastMyTown. It took it well. It then wrote a strongly worded letter to the editor about it.

The Numbers: A Small City With a Big Personality Disorder

Lawrence had 94,934 people at the 2020 census. It's the sixth-largest city in Kansas, which is a bit like being the sixth-tallest Hobbit.

The reason the place feels so lively is that it's home to both the University of Kansas (KU) and Haskell Indian Nations University. The result is a very young town, because someone's roommate is always "just staying until the lease ends."

Lawrence likes to bill itself as the "Berkeley of the Midwest." The Subaru-to-resident ratio has never been officially audited, but we'd bet money on it. The bumper stickers alone could power the downtown streetlights.

History: Burned Twice, Still Bringing It Up

Lawrence didn't just happen; it was planned, with an agenda. It was founded by the New England Emigrant Aid Company and named for Amos A. Lawrence, an abolitionist from Massachusetts who offered financial aid and support for the settlement. The goal was to make Kansas a free state, and the town spent the 1850s getting punished for it. It was sacked by pro-slavery forces in 1856, then burned in 1863 when William Quantrill's raiders rode in and killed roughly 150 people.

Most towns would call that a rough decade. Lawrence called it a personality. Walk downtown and you'll find historical markers, a bar named John Brown's Underground, and locals who can recite the Bleeding Kansas timeline faster than their own phone numbers.

To its credit, the town keeps working on its own history. Just this month, a collective of community partners pitched rehabilitating an Underground Railroad site in Lawrence, currently serving as city storage, into a public educational facility. That's the good kind of dining out on your past: the kind where you actually do something with it.

And in case you thought the town only does one thing, the University of Kansas was established in Lawrence in 1865, just two years after the town was set on fire. That is some serious "living well is the best revenge" energy.

Sports: Welcome to the Church of Rock Chalk

You cannot write about Lawrence without kneeling at Allen Fieldhouse, the home of KU basketball, which opened in 1955 and is widely considered one of the loudest, most intimidating gyms in college hoops. It sits in the shadow of the sport's own origin story: James Naismith, the man who invented basketball, was KU's first basketball coach, and the original typed rules of the game are on display on campus, because of course they are.

The building is named for Forrest "Phog" Allen, a coach whose nickname came from his foghorn voice and whose statue now greets you outside. Inside, 16,000-ish fans link arms for the alma mater and perform the "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" chant, a chant that name-checks a mythical bird that does not exist, named after Free-State guerrillas who very much did. It's the most Lawrence thing imaginable: history, mythology, and a light chant-based hypnosis.

Food and Fun: Mass Street, Cheap Pizza, and Civic Pride

Lawrence's culinary scene is the best in Kansas, according to Lawrence. Is it? Honestly, Massachusetts Street, the walkable main drag everyone calls "Mass Street," is great. There are independent bookstores, record shops, coffee joints, craft breweries with patios, and enough restaurants that you can have a perfectly good white-tablecloth dinner without going anywhere near a Cheesecake Factory.

But the real Lawrence dining experience, as every KU grad will tell you with a faraway look, is cheap drinks at The Wheel. Fine dining is a lovely idea. A Tuesday night with your friends and a pitcher is the actual religion.

The town is also in the middle of some civic soul-searching. The city is currently asking residents to weigh in on a "Vision 2030" plan, and it recently unveiled a World Cup-themed public art exhibition. Not bad for a town that most of the planet couldn't find on a map.

The Verdict

Lawrence is smart, loud, a little smug, and deeply lovable, a town that has been burned, rebuilt, and has opinions about all of it. Visit for the history, stay for the basketball, and bring a Subaru to blend in.

Think we were too nice? See the full roast on RoastMyTown.com.