The Lawton Businesses We Still Talk About

The older I get, the more I'm amazed at how many times we collectively realize we lived through an era of the Good Old Days once upon a time. And that conversation always starts out the same. Someone will mention the name of a place and instantly remember every detail.

It's a funny quirk of the human condition.

A business closes. The building gets remodeled, somebody else moves in, or the whole thing disappears as the years go by... And somebody will still say, "Remember when we used to go there?"

Absolutely.

Old Lawton Businesses People Still Remember

Lawton has lost a lot of businesses over the years that people still talk about.

Hastings is an obvious example.

It wasn't just a bookstore. You could wander around in there for hours, look at movies, music, books and things you probably didn't need, and somehow still leave with nothing... Which is probably why they shut all the doors. Well, that and the internet. Streaming movies and music, books on demand, etc.

Remember Ivan P's?

It doesn't come up often, but everyone who remembers has a big opinion about 'em. Same goes for places like Charley's Drive-In and Taft Grocery.

And it isn't just restaurants and such... Lawton has lost department stores, clothing stores, movie theaters, record stores and all kinds of little businesses that people remember because they were part of their routine.

Some of them disappeared because the business failed. Others simply couldn't keep up with the way people started shopping. And some were casualties of Lawton changing around them.

That's one of the strange things about any town. You don't always realize you're living through an era of history while it's happening.

You just pop in and order the food. You buy the thing. You meet somebody there, and one day it's gone.

Twenty years later, somebody mentions the name and you're instantly there again.

Lawton Restaurants, Stores And Theaters We Still Miss

No offense to the Patriot 13 IMAX, but every time I walk into the theater, I start thinking about Jack over at the old Carmike 8. Anytime someone says "Let's have barbecue," I remember how good the woodchips over at Woody's were. I can't tell you what I'd give to have a pint at Gertlestones again with the old crew who have almost all moved away.

I'll bet you could name a business the rest of us completely forgot about, and that's the fun part.

What's the Lawton business that's been gone for years that you still miss?