Lawton entities making plans to mark the city’s 122nd birthday

Lawton turns 122 years old on Aug. 6, and city entities will be marking the birthday a few days early as they celebrate the community’s history and heritage.

City of Lawton officials are planning a series of events on Aug. 3, set in McMahon Memorial Auditorium, 801 NW Ferris.

The birthday celebration opens with a reception in the auditorium lobby at 5:30 p.m., which will feature a cake cutting ceremony performed by the oldest Lawtonian who was born in Lawton and still lives here.

At 6 p.m., the auditorium will open to host an historical presentation highlighting the area’s indigenous history, Fort Sill, Cameron University, Carnegie Library and the National Guard Armory. Performers will include the Strings Men, a four-person string quartet, and local performers, orchestrated by the City of Lawton Arts and Humanities Department.

Afterward, Mayor Stan booker will present awards for Outstanding Citizen, Outstanding Organization and the Lawton Award in Excellence, with the 7 p.m. ceremony designed to honor those who have made a significant impact on the cultural life of Lawton-Fort Sill. The Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women will be presenting awards at 7:30 p.m.

In addition, proclamations will be presented to the Pioneer Women and the Lawton Rangers, promoting Pioneer Days and the Lawton Rangers Rodeo set for 7:30 p.m. nightly Aug. 9-12 at the L.O. Ranch Arena, 2004 SE 60th. The Rangers will officially kick off their week at 7 a.m. Aug. 5 with their Pioneer Breakfast at the L.O. Ranch Arena. The cost is $5 for an old-fashioned breakfast.

The Rangers will open their rodeo at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 9, providing four nights of PRCA-level events for the crowd. Tickets are available at lawtonrangers.com or at the gate.

Lawton Heritage Association also will be joining the fun, opening the Historic Mattie Beal Home to free tours from noon to 3 p.m. Aug. 5. The house at 1008 SW 5th was built by Mattie Beal, the second person to draw a homestead in the lottery that created Lawton, and with her husband Charles Payne, a local businessman, became noted community leaders in early-day Lawton.

Lawton Heritage Association will focus on another historic aspect of the community Aug. 22 with its Lunch & Learn at the Mattie Beal Home. The featured speaker will be Morgan Reinhart, of Old Home Rescue, who will lecture on the restoration of the stone gateway into Highland Cemetery. That stone arch was built by members of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and Old Home Rescue recently restored it to its original look.

Tickets for the event are $20 and may be purchased through Eventbrite, Venmo @MattieBealHome, or by emailing [email protected].

Lawton was founded on Aug. 6, 1901, by a land lottery held in what is now the city’s downtown. The city is named after Maj. Gen. Henry Ware Lawton, who was killed in action in the Philippine-American War. Lawton received the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Civil War, helped chase down and capture the Apache warrior Geronimo, and was military governor for Santiago before his death in 1899. A statue of the general, created by artist Gary Gardner, is located outside Museum of the Great Plains, 601 NW Ferris.