Auction of Lawton Townsite Lots - Elmer Thomas Park - Lawton, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 34° 37.067 W 098° 23.936
14S E 555102 N 3830822
This relief sculpture shows a closeup of several men bidding on townsite lots for the new town of Lawton in 1901.
Waymark Code: WM1271F
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 03/16/2020
Views: 1
Lawton is the county seat of Comanche County, and lies directly south of the historic Fort Sill military reservation. Lawton is 87 miles southwest of Oklahoma City and is the largest community in southwestern Oklahoma. Lawton was one of three townsites laid out by the federal government in preparation of the 1901 land lottery that opened the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache lands to non-Indian settlement. At the time of the land opening in 1901 nearly 25,000 people arrived to bid on the 1,200 lots for sale in the Lawton townsite.
In Lawton's Elmer Thomas Park, a relief sculpture is on display commemorating this amazing day of August 6, 1901. The relief stands on a stone pedestal. A bronze plaque in front of it tells the story:
Auction Of Lawton Townsite Lots
6 August 1901
On 6 August 1901 lots in the original Lawton townsite were
auctioned to the highest bidder. A crowd of thousands waited
in the broiling August sun for a chance to acquire a lot in
the 320 acre townsite which President William McKinley set
aside when Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa lands were opened
to settlement. The original site was bounded on the north by
Gore Boulevard, on the east by Railroad Street, on the south
by F. Street, and on the west by 11th street. By 31 August all
1422 lots had been sold at prices ranging from $35.00 to $3545.00.
The figure one the right foreground represents on of the
pioneer settlers, E.P. McMahon.
This sculpture by Paul Raye Moore depicts the first day
of the auction and is dedicated in celebration of Lawton's
centennial year. 2001
