Celebrate Lawton’s 124th Birthday With A Special Museum Exhibit

Lawton will celebrate its 124th birthday on Wednesday, August 6! And to mark the occasion, the Museum of the Great Plains has set up a special exhibit showcasing the beginning of Lawton through historical photographs and artifacts.

The exhibit is titled "Canvas City 1901: The Birth of Lawton, O.T." It will feature four dozen pictures that document the early days of Lawton from an open field to a "downtown" constructed with tents and later buildings.

According to a post on the museum's Facebook, Lawton was like many frontier communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Lawton was the historic saying of "born grown," meaning it sprang up nearly overnight.

The exhibit also features artifacts that are around 124 years old, and include newspaper clippings, a directory, documents, books and more.

The Museum of the Great Plains will offer free admission on August 6 for Lawton's birthday.

To mark Lawton's birthday, the Museum of the Great Plains will offer free admission from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 6. The exhibit and free admission will celebrate Lawton's founding, which took place on August 6, 1901. Museum visitors will be able to explore the new exhibit of Lawton's history plus other exhibits and activities the museum has to offer.

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The Museum of the Great Plains recently rebuilt the Holland Coffee Trading Post.

In 2024, the Museum of the Great Plains began its project to rebuild its trading post to better offer its living history exhibit. The trading post experienced wear and tear from time and weather, so it was in desperate need of repair. And after over a year of construction, the trading post is finally ready for visitors again!