Originally a 10-mile (16 km) stream, its course now includes man-made lakes created by dams built in the 19th and 20th centuries: Deans Pond (South Brunswick), Davidsons Mill Pond (South Brunswick),Farrington Lake (South Brunswick,North Brunswick andEast Brunswick), Mill Pond (Milltown), andWestons Mill Pond (Milltown, East Brunswick, North Brunswick and New Brunswick). Its lowest section, near the Raritan River, is tidal; it hosts marine wildlife and is regarded as a coastal area.
Itsdrainage basin, the Lawrence Brook watershed, is a 40-square-mile (100 km2) area, identified by theUSGS codeHUC 02030105130.
At the stretch at Weston's Mill Pond, Lawrence Brook crossesRutgers University's Cook Campus, along the vegetable research farm, the equine research farm,Rutgers Gardens, and Helyar forest.
Lawrence Brook is awildlife corridor, a bird migration area and a highly sensitive body of water. Power boats, except with an electric motor, are not permitted on the brook.
Waterfall stemming from Davidson Mill Pond in South Brunswick
This stream was calledPiscopeek by the Unami LenniLenape Indians. Its current name comes from Mr.Thomas Lawrence, a New York City baker, who acquired its surrounding land in the 17th century.[3] Some historical maps show the spellingLawrence's Brook.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Farrington Lake area served as a resort area, with a trolley line running from New Brunswick through Milltown then turning south to eventually end at the State Fair Grounds in Trenton. The lake (named for a mayor of New Brunswick who died during WWI) was formed by a dam built above a lower working dam that powered a snuff mill built in the mid 19th century.
The Lawrence Brook, a 30-mile inland waterway (New Jersey), connects from the Raritan Bay to the lesser known end; splitting apart into two branches in South Brunswick, this is a list of important landmarks in Central New Jersey where the Lawrence Brook is present (sometimes in larger water-body forms).
Davidson's Mill Pond (Goes underneath US-130, and continually reduces in width; continues to Deans Pond North of the Deans Pond Crossing Subdivision [Deans Pond- Marsh; seasonally flooded]
Lawrence Brook (Continues North and Northwest from theCrossroads Middle School; has been artificially drained under theNortheast Corridor Train Track and near the Southridge Woods Apartment Complex. Continues, during flooded seasons, approximately parallel to Freedom Trail in South Brunswick.)
