Santa Fe Railroad Depot

The current one-story brick passenger station in Lawrence was built in 1950 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (now BNSF Railway). 

New York Elementary School

New York Elementary was established in 1869. Although the original building no longer exists, it was constructed at 936 New York Street, the same location as the current school. Karl Ramberg, father of NYS alumna Zoey Ramberg, created a stone tablet sculpture placed near the southwest corner of the school to commemorate the school's original building. New York is one of the earliest schools founded in Lawrence located in one of its most historic neighborhoods.

Langston Hughes is our most famous alumnus. In the early 1900s, the Harlem Renaissance writer attended NYS for fourth through sixth grade. When his grandmother died, he went to live with family friends at 731 New York Street just down the street from our school. His book, Not Without Laughter, is a fictionalized account of his childhood in Lawrence. Click on his name to learn more about Langston Hughes from the City of Lawrence website.

In 1937, the original building was replaced with a structure which forms the core of our current building. Four classrooms which make up the north end of the main hallway were added in 1955. The most recent and most extensive addition/renovation was completed in May 1996. The gymnasium with kitchen were added and the old gym was converted into the media center with a mezzanine computer lab. New windows, lighting, doors, and air conditioning were included in the renovations. The Shelley Miller Memorial Community and School Kitchen was completed and dedicated and the Dorothy Macgregor room was rededicated. In addition, the office area was refurbished.

Municipal Stadium

Built in 1947, Municipal Stadium continues to be used for baseball/softball games.

It was dedicated in July 1947 before a crowd of over 2,500 fans, who turned out to watch a Lawrence Colts semi-professional baseball game. More than 30,000 spectators would attend 55 games during the first season of play at the stadium.

As part of the City-wide Sesquicentennial celebration in 2004, the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association to commemorate the occasion put together a mural painting project of the exterior of the stadium depicting the neighborhood's history.

Panels were painted to showcase the history of the neighborhood, which include Quantrill's raid, the history and games played at the stadium, John Speer, who was an abolitionist newspaper editor whose homestead was close to the stadium.

Murphy-Bromelsick House

Neither a granite obelisk, nor a simple bronze plaque, the Murphy-Bromelsick house, relocated to Hobbs Park near the site of the John Speer farmstead, is a genuine artifact from the era that saw Lawrence rise from Quantrill's ashes, during the American Civil War. Its preservation as a public monument pays tribute to the spirited rebuilding of Lawrence, and to the courage and sacrifice of our early settlers, in an age now obscured by the passing years.

Reflecting the modest structures of the surrounding residential district, the once-crumbling icon was moved from its original location a few hundred yards away, to prevent its demolition and loss as a symbol of the achievement of self-made architects and builders. It’s a vintage vernacular dwelling, the likes of which have virtually disappeared from the local landscape.

Flanked to the south by a mid-20th century baseball stadium and to the north by the city’s old industrial heart, the new memorial is only the second monument to the founding of Lawrence in its nearly 150-year history.