Things You Know When You’ve Lived In Lawton Long Enough

There are things about Lawton you don't really understand until you've lived here a while.

You learn them as you live here, but they're things you eventually notice. Nobody is teaching you this stuff.

Great example... There are three Walmarts. One is referred to as "the nice one," and another is always called "the ghetto Walmart." You shouldn't have to ask which one is what... You just already know.

You learn that there are two kinds of people in Lawton.

People who think Fort Sill is the reason Lawton exists...

And people who know Fort Sill is the reason Lawton exists.

There's no middle ground.

You also eventually accept that while they aren't the Rocky Mountains, the Wichitas are just as beautiful when it's not a million degrees out. As a bonus, we get to use all of our mountains year-round, unless there's a spec of snow... Then the roads close.

You learn to explain Lawton's location differently depending on who you're talking to.

If you're talking to somebody from Oklahoma, it's “southwest Oklahoma.”

If they're from Texas, it's “near Wichita Falls.”

If they're from somewhere else, you just say “about an hour and a half southwest of Oklahoma City.”

You also learn that almost everyone in Lawton is here for the same reason.

The military.

Even most of the people who were born here and never served, odds are one of their parents or grandparents served our nation and put down roots here when they retired.

That's just how it all works here.

Lawton's still a little rough around the edges, but the roads are finally getting better, and it's a lot safer than it used to be. It's also a little weird, but in a good way. We all poke fun at it, but we're not going to take that from someone in OKC or Tulsa... Lawton is our town, and after you've lived here long enough, you start realizing that's probably the reason a lot of us like the place.