Lawrence County, Indiana

Lawrence County is a county in Indiana, United States, about 70 miles south of Indianapolis and 18 miles south of Bloomington. It had a population of 45,011 at the 2020 census, an estimated 45,568 by 2024, and covers 451.93 square miles (1,170.5 km2) centred near 38°48′N 86°33′W.

Bedford is the county seat and largest city; its postal code is 47421. The county holds 2 cities, 1 incorporated town and 40 smaller communities across 9 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 18093.

Towns & Villages in Lawrence County

Lawrence County has 43 named places on record: 3 incorporated cities and towns, 9 census-designated places (CDPs), and 31 unincorporated communities with no CDP boundary or local government. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities that the Census Bureau has not delineated.

Two pairs on this list are easy to confuse. Oolitic, the town, straddles Indian Creek and Shawswick townships, while East Oolitic is a separate CDP a half-mile away, entirely inside Shawswick Township. And Guthrie, the small Marshall Township hamlet, is not in Guthrie Township — that township sits several miles east and takes its name from an unrelated pioneer family.

Townships

Lawrence County’s nine townships range from Shawswick, built around Bedford and Oolitic, down to rural Bono Township in the southeast.

ZIP Codes

• 47421 — Bedford (also serves East Oolitic, Judah and Needmore)
• 47446 — Mitchell (also serves Lawrenceport)
• 47451 — Oolitic
• 47420 — Avoca
• 47436 — Heltonville
• 47437 — Huron
• 47467 — Tunnelton
• 47470 — Williams

The county’s smaller hamlets — Bartlettsville, Bono, Bryantsville, Buddha, Coveyville, Coxton, Erie, Eureka, Fayetteville, Fort Ritner, Georgia, Guthrie, Hartleyville, Leesville, Murdock, Peerless, Pinhook, Popcorn, Rabbitville, Red Hill, Redding, Rivervale, Silverville, Spring Mill Village, Springville, Stemm, Stonington, Tarry Park, Thornton, Woodville and Zelma — have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

Lawrence County sits on the Mitchell Plain, a band of karst limestone terrain that runs through south-central Indiana, pocked with sinkholes and caves. Of its 451.93 square miles, 449.17 are land and 2.76 are water, about 0.6 percent, mostly along the East Fork White River, which crosses the county’s southern half near Williams. Part of the Hoosier National Forest reaches into the county’s south and east, and Spring Mill State Park, near Mitchell, preserves caves, a working pioneer grist mill and a memorial to Gus Grissom.

Monroe County lies to the north, Jackson County to the northeast and east, Washington County to the southeast, Orange County to the south, Martin County to the southwest and Greene County to the northwest. Monroe County, Jackson County, Washington County, Orange County, Martin County and Greene County all border Lawrence directly.

Demographics

Lawrence County had a population of 45,011 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the county near 45,568 residents by 2024. Bedford and Mitchell are the two largest communities, together holding roughly two-fifths of the county’s population. Median household income runs $66,468, below Indiana’s 2023 ACS figure of $69,477. Population density works out to roughly 100 people per square mile of land, well below the statewide average, reflecting the county’s rural southern and eastern townships.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 3,987 people, followed by health care and social assistance at 2,605 and retail trade at 2,218, out of roughly 21,556 total employed residents. Bedford has been known for more than a century as the “Limestone Capital of the World”: stone from its Empire Quarry built the Empire State Building, and Oolitic grew up around the Bedford Quarries Company’s own limestone works. In Mitchell, Heidelberg Materials completed a major cement plant in 2023, one of the county’s newest large employers. Bedford North Lawrence High School and Mitchell Community Schools anchor much of the county’s public life outside the stone industry. Mitchell’s biggest annual event is the Persimmon Festival, held each September.

History

Indiana’s legislature organized Lawrence County on 7 April 1818, carving it out of Orange County. It was named for Captain James Lawrence, a US Navy officer known for the order “Don’t give up the ship” during the War of 1812. The first county seat, Palestine, was abandoned after disease and a destructive tornado in 1820; Bedford was platted as the replacement seat in 1825, named by local businessman Joseph Rawlins after Bedford County, Tennessee, his previous home.

On 16 September 1861, a train carrying about 600 Illinois Union soldiers derailed into a creek near Huron, killing or injuring an estimated 100 to 150 men, one of the worst rail disasters of the Civil War era. In the 20th century, limestone from the Empire Quarry near Oolitic supplied the Empire State Building and the Pentagon, and Mitchell native Virgil “Gus” Grissom, born in 1926, became the second American in space and later died in the 1967 Apollo 1 launch pad fire.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Lawrence County. US Route 50 runs through Bedford, and State Roads 37, 54, 58, 60, 158, 446, 450 and 458 connect the county’s townships; State Road 37 links Bedford north to Bloomington.

• Bloomington — about 18 miles north
• Indianapolis — about 70 miles north
• Louisville — about 70 miles south
• Paoli — about 20 miles south

Virgil I. Grissom Municipal Airport, just south of Bedford, handles general aviation. Indianapolis International Airport, roughly 75 miles north, is the nearest major commercial airport. No Amtrak line reaches Lawrence County; the closest station is in Indianapolis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lawrence County located?
It sits on Indiana’s Mitchell Plain in the south-central part of the state, about 70 miles south of Indianapolis and 18 miles south of Bloomington.

What is the population of Lawrence County?
45,011 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 45,568.

How big is Lawrence County?
451.93 square miles (1,170.5 km2), of which 449.17 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Lawrence County?
Bedford, platted in 1825, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Lawrence County?
Three incorporated places — Bedford, Mitchell and Oolitic — plus nine census-designated places and 31 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Lawrence County use?
47421 for Bedford; 47446 for Mitchell; 47451 for Oolitic; and smaller codes for Avoca (47420), Heltonville (47436), Huron (47437), Tunnelton (47467) and Williams (47470).

What is Lawrence County known for?
Its limestone: Bedford’s Empire Quarry supplied the Empire State Building, and Mitchell was the birthplace of astronaut Gus Grissom.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Indiana.