Description Of The Town Of Lawrence, Van Buren County, In The Des Moines Valley, Iowa: Its Hydraulic Power And Manufacturing Facilities

The Lawrence Coal Company

Publication: J B Howell & Company, Printers, 1856, Keokuk

First edition. 8vo. Original salmon-colored, printed wrappers, 11 pp. A rare promotional and description of a town that was never built in the Des Moines Valley in Iowa. To be located on the Des Moines River, thirty miles above Keokuk, Lawrence was meant to be to Keokuk "what Lowell and Lawrence of Massachusetts are to Boston, and it is believed that the natural advantages are such as to relieve this design of even the appearance of extravagance." The text points out the need for manufacturing companies to take advantage of the growing population of the region, as well as natural resources such as coal and other mineral deposits. The water power provided by the river would be harnessed by a proposed dam and lock system. The final page contains a description of the Lawrence Coal Company, leading some to conclude they may have been behind the publication of this pamphlet. The town was apparently never built. Moffit located only the copy at the Library of Congress, and the American Imprints Inventory for Iowa added only the Boston Public Library and Wisconsin Historical Society. OCLC adds Yale, Grinnell College, the Newberry Library, and the DeGolyer Library. Americana Exchange lists a copy offered by Goodspeeds in 1966 and none before or since. Rare. An old water stain to the lower one third of the covers and each page, else a very good copy of a rare document.

Inventory Number: 43932