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History · Lawton

Lawton’s post office opened in 1902, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

1902first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Lawton began, and where its name came from

When was Lawton founded?

1902

The Lawton post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 943124 years

How did Lawton get its name?

Lawton was named for J. C. Law, an early settler and native of Lawton, Michigan.

Founding year: the first Lawton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Lawton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lawton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Lawton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lawton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Lawton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lawton.

Read it all →

Lawton was platted in 1901. It was named for J. C. Law, an early settler and native of Lawton, Michigan. A post office has been in operation in Lawton since 1902.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Places that used to be

Places now gone

Lawton’s post office has been open since 1902.

Gone or out of use
Lawtonlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lawton’s history

What year was Lawton founded?

The Lawton post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.