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"History Comes to Life on the Talking Trail..."

35th Division Park

Originally built for use during the Indian Wars, Fort Sill was a commanding military base outside Lawton, Oklahoma. However, the...

35th Division Park - Talking Trail

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Buffalo Soldiers Monument

The Buffalo Soldier Statue before you titled, “Answering the Call” pays tribute to the African American frontier army troops who played a...

Buffalo Soldier Monument - Talking Trail

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Carnegie Library

The late 19th and early 20th centuries brought a population boom to Oklahoma. As more and more residents put down roots in Great Plains Country...

Carnegie Library - Talking Trail

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Central Fire Station

By the late 1920s, Lawton’s central business district had ballooned, spreading out over almost twelve blocks on the northeast side of...

Central Fire Station - Talking Trail

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Comanche Reformed Church

In the late 1800s, it was thought that there was both a need and an opportunity for more Christian work among the Comanche people...

Comanche Reformed Church - Talking Trail

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Doe Doe Park

Focal point of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in Lawton. Segregation at the led to Lawton’s largest civil rights march on June 16, 1966 attended...

Doe Doe Park - Talking Trail

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Douglass School

Founded in 1907 as a school for African American children. The original one room school was located at First and Gore Blvd and was...

Douglass School - Talking Trail

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Emerson Elementary School

The elementary school in Lawton, Oklahoma first opened its doors in 1902. Like most pioneer schools, the building quickly saw a lot of change...

Emerson Elementary School - Unknown Artist

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Federal Building

Founded in 1901, Lawton was the last of the Oklahoma boom towns fueled by the land rush. From its modest beginnings as a tent city...

Lawton Federal Building - Talking Trail

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First Christian Church

In 1901, the rough and tumble tent city of Lawton was filled with saloons and gambling dens, and, almost certainly, rowdy crowds. Many of the early...

First Christian Church - Talking Trail

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Fort Sill Indian School

The history of Indian education in the Fort Sill area spans over 100 years, from its inception as Quaker run boarding school in 1871 to...

Fort Sill Indian School - Talking Trail

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Frisco Campsite

Oklahoma was hit hard during the Great Depression, and while the symptoms started at the beginning of the 1930’s, the economy hit a...

Frisco Campsite - Talking Trail

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General Lawton Monument

On January 19, 1899, the war hero General Henry Lawton was sent to Manila to fight against Filipino rebels in the Philippine-American war...

General Lawton Monument - Talking Trail

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Goo Goo Avenue

It’s hard to picture Avenue F, running through central Lawton, without railroad tracks, streetlights, and the hum of cars. But did you know that...

Goo Goo Avenue - Talking Trail

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Lawton Ft. Sill Regional Airport

At first glance, the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport looks relatively ordinary. In reality, it is far from it! From a famed architect to a World...

Lawton Ft Sill Regional Airport - Talking Trail

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Lawton High School

Largely due to the distribution of Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache lands, the population in Lawton exploded during the turn of the century...

Lawton High School - Talking Trail

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Little Chapel of Lawton

The past one hundred years or so have brought many changes to Lawton. The sounds of wagon wheels crunching on dusty streets...

Little Chapel of Lawton - Talking Trail

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Mattie Beal Home

Instead of another land rush, the Southwestern Oklahoma land lottery of 1901, offered nearly 170,000 registered hopefuls a chance at...

Mattie Beal Home - Talking Trail

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McMahon Foundation

The turn of the twentieth century brought increasing numbers of pioneers west into Indian Territory. Wagon trains of settlers traveled...

McMahon Foundation - Talking Trail

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Nance-Boyer Hall

The history of Cameron University is rooted in Oklahoma’s statehood. In 1908, the Oklahoma Legislature created six agricultural high schools...

Nance-Boyer Hall - Talking Trail

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National Guard Armory

National Guard Armories go back to the time of local militia units of the Colonial and Revolutionary War eras. The armories were used to store...

National Guard Armory - Talking Trail

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Old First Congregational Church

In the early days of Lawton, Oklahoma, the vast majority of buildings were not buildings at all. Homes, businesses, and even churches humbly began inside...

Old First Congregational Church - Talking Trail

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Patterson Community Center

It’s no secret that individuals can have massive impacts on communities, their legacy living on for generations, leaving permanent marks on the...

Patterson Community Center - Talking Trail

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Quaker Indian Agency

The U.S. governments policy to relocate the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribes from the plains onto a reservation necessitated the...

Quaker Indian Agency - Talking Trail

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Red Store

A common type of business in the Southwest, Indian trading posts started appearing in the 1700’s. These hubs of commerce were...

Red Store - Talking Trail

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Rock Island Railroad Station

The Enid and Anadarko line was the first railway to come to the city of Lawton. Built in 1901, the line was integral in connecting the city...

Rock Island Railroad Station - Talking Trail

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Ron Stephens Stadium

Like most of the United States, the Great Depression was devastating for Oklahoma. To relieve the economic hardship, President Franklin...

Ron Stephens Stadium - Talking Trail

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Shepler Park

On March 3rd, 1904, people were engaged in a desperate battle to save their town. Prairie Fires raged...

Gore Boulevard & Shepler Park - Talking Trail

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Town Lot Auction Site

Things were quite different in 1901. At that time, Fort Sill had been established for over thirty years. The Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache...

Town Lot Auction Site - Talking Trail

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Vaska Theatre

From the 1920s through the 1960s, America was experiencing the golden age of cinema. After the devastation of the Great Depression and the...

Vaska Theatre - Talking Trail

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Special Thanks to the Oklahoma Historical Society who funded the Lawton, OK Talking Trail Project via the Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program.

The Lawton Oklahoma Talking Trail strives to strengthen the connections to the community of Lawton by continuing the already impressive efforts of creating a strong sense of place. Our goal is to further those efforts and to share the rich history, culture, and heritage of the community of Lawton. Download the Talking Trail app and come explore the Lawton, OK Talking Trail, and #ExperiencetTheStory today!

Oklahoma Preservation Grants are provided by Oklahoma Historical Society.

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