Richard Cordley, first historian of Lawrence Lawrence Students

The following data comes from the "History of Lawrence Businesses" display, located at the Watkins Community Museum

Click links below to jump directly to any year:
1860           1890           1919           1950           1978







Click thumbnail image to see larger image!





The Businesses of 1890

Agriculture   Construction   Finance   Food   Health Services  
Agricultural Implement dealers 7 Brickyard 1 Abstract & Title companies 4 Bakers 6 Dentists 6
Cattle dehorning company 1 Carpenters, contractors, builders 11 Attorneys 19 Cider and vinegar makers 2 Drugstores 9
Feed stores 5 Civil Engineers 7 Auctioneer 1 Flour Mills 6 Patent medicine company 1
Grain Dealers 4 Lime and Cement companies 3 Banks 5 Fruit and produce dealers 2 Physicians 22
Hay dealer 1 Lumber companies 4 Collecting Agency 1 Grape grower 1 Veterinarians 2
Livestock dealers 7 Mantel and Grate maker 1 Commercial agencies 2 Ice dealers 4  
Nurseries 4 Marble supplier 1 Commission agents 3 Meat companies 11  
Seed company 1 Molding makers 2 Insurance companies 12 Pork packers 2  
    Planing mill 1 Loan & Trust companies 2 Poultry companies 2  
    Plasterers 2 Loan companies 11 Retail grocers 41
    Plumbers 2 Notaries 23 Tea and Coffee store 1
    Roofers 4 Patent agent 1 Wholesale grocers 2
    Sand company 1 Real Estate agencies 13




Hotels   Manufacturing   Personal & Household Services   Recreation   Retail  
Boarding Houses 12 Barbed wire factory 1 Barbers 10 Billiard rooms 2 Artist material shops 2
Hotels 7 Bed Spring Factory 1 Baths 3 Confectioners 7 Books and Stationers 3
    Blankbook manufacturers/book binders 3 Dressmakers 11     Boot and Shoe dealers 6
    Broom factory 1 Dyer and Cleaning works 1     Carpets and oil cloth dealers 3
    Canning company 1 Florists 4   China and Glassware dealers 4
    Cigar factories 2 Laundry 1     Cigar & Tobacco dealers 5
    Cooper 1 Milliners 6     Coal and wood dealers 6
    Flouring mills 3 Music teachers 13     Curtain dealers 5
    Iron works 1 Photography Studios 5     Furnace dealers 3
    Paper company 1 Rubber stamp maker 1     Gentlemen's furnishings stores 9
    Shirt manufacturer 1 Shoemakers 10     Granite iron goods dealer 1
        Undertakers 2     Gun and locksmiths 3
                Hardware stores 6
                Hide and pelt dealers 2
Transportation and Communication               Junk dealers 2
Bill Poster 1             Merchant tailors 8
Blacksmiths 12             Musical instrument dealers 2
Carriages 3             Notions stores 5
Carriage painters 2             Paint stores 13
Carriage trimmer 1             Paper hangers 6
Express companies 2             Pipe dealer 1
Harness and saddle makers 6             Queensware maker/seller 1
Liveries and stables 12             Saddlery hardware stores 2
News dealers 2             Safe dealer 1
Newspapers 6             Secondhand stores 2
Printers 5             Sewing machine stores 5
Railroad depots 5             Signwriters 3
Telegraph companies 2             Sporting goods stores 2
Ticket broker 1             Stoves and tinware stores 6
Ticket offices 2             Trunks stores 4
Transfer companies 2             Upholsterer 1
Wagon makers 9             Violin maker 1
                Watch and jewelry stores 8
                Wood haulers 2


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the National Endowment for the Humanities
the Southwestern Bell Foundation
Project Partners
The Lawrence Journal-World
Watkins Community Museum of History
Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas