Named for three brothers.
Wikipedia says the railroad through the Five Towns was finished in 1869, part of the land was bought by three brothers named Lawrence, and the village, named after them, incorporated in 1897. It was a resort for wealthy families until hurricanes and nor'easters reshaped the shore in the 1890s; Old Lawrence (Back Lawrence) keeps large estates, and Rock Hall dates to colonial times. It covers 4.7 square miles, 18% of it water.
The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 2,300 homes, with a median year built of 1964. 19% went up in the 1950s, 18% before 1940, and 28% after 1980. 69% are single-family detached houses, 6% are two-family, 25% are in buildings of five or more units, and 81% are owner-occupied.
So a typical house here has drain and water lines around 62 years old unless they've been replaced. Slow drains in several fixtures, a gurgling floor drain or rusty water from one tap are signs to have the main line and supply piping checked.
Gas piping.
The ACS shows 76% of homes heat with utility gas, 17% with electricity and only 7% with fuel oil. New gas ranges, dryers and water heaters need properly sized gas piping, and a leak test after any change; we do the gas line work.
On the sewer.
Nassau County's health department lists Lawrence's sewers under the Nassau County Department of Public Works (516-571-6841). A backup that stops at your house is usually in your own line to the street; we clear it and repair or replace the line. If neighbors are backed up too, call the county at 516-571-6841.
Flood risk.
Laying FEMA's current flood map over the Census boundary, about 75% of Lawrence is in the high-risk (1% annual chance) flood zone (60.7% in zone AE, 14.1% in zone VE; shares of the Census area, water included). On a sewered street, a backwater (sewer check) valve on your house sewer line can keep a street-sewer backup from coming in through basement floor drains. We install them. If your water heater or gas appliances ever sat in flood water, have them checked before relighting.
Bay Park, pump stations and a dike.
The Five Towns NY Rising Community Reconstruction Plan says the Villages of Lawrence and Cedarhurst run their own pump stations that send sewage to the county's Bay Park plant, and both had to treat their own sewage after Sandy until Bay Park came back online. It also lists Lawrence stormwater upgrades and repairs to raise the dike at the Isle of Wight. With that much of the village in the flood zone, a backwater valve on a sewered house is worth a look.
Water: Liberty Utilities New York's Lynbrook system.
EPA's service-area map puts essentially all residents on Liberty Utilities New York's Lynbrook system; your bill is the final word. Liberty's 2026 report on 2025 water for its Lynbrook Operations District says caustic soda or lime raises the pH to cut corrosion of household plumbing and iron is filtered out at 13 of its 20 well sites; total hardness ran 4.2 to 58.6 mg/L, which is soft. Across the whole district, Liberty's state-filed inventory counts 3,700 lead service lines and 15,239 of unknown material, so if your house predates 1940 it's worth knowing what your service line is. In EPA's UCMR 5 testing, the main supplier's highest single PFOA/PFOS result was 5.1 parts per trillion. EPA's 4 ppt limits apply as a running annual average starting in 2029, so one high sample is not a violation, but it's the kind of number a carbon filter is sized against. For a leak at the curb or in the street, call your water supplier. For anything on your side of the meter, call us.
Permits.
Lawrence is an incorporated village, so plumbing permits go through the Village of Lawrence's building department, not the town.
