 The Lawrence History Center (located in what were the offices of the Essex Company) has significant displays on the dam and its creation.The construction of the dams and canals might have been more expensive if not for the easy availability of cheap labor, often Irish immigrants, who worked in what could be appalling and unsafe conditions which contributed to injury and sometimes death.Increasingly from the end of World War II, the economic, social and industrial landscapes within which the mills relied on the dam's power were changing.