# Lawton, Michigan

Lawton is a village in southeastern Van Buren County, Michigan, United States. The population was 1,900 at the 2010 census.

## History

The Village of Lawton came into existence in 1848 when the Michigan Central Railroad reached this destination. Nathan Lawton who the village is named after, was from Waterford, New York and had purchased property when it became available when Michigan received statehood. Upon the railroad reaching here in 1848, Mr. Lawton donated several acres of land for the construction of a depot that was originally named Paw Paw Station. In 1851 when a post office was being established the name of the town was named for Mr. Lawton. Though Nathan Lawton never lived here two of his sons, George and Charles moved here and made this town their home.
Around 1860 a few local men including both of the Lawton brothers began experimenting with growing grapes. In 1868 A.B. Jones delivered the first grapes that were taken to market in Lansing MI. From there the grape industry took off and is now one of Southwest Michigan's largest industries with several wineries in the area as well as a Welch Grape Juice Factory located in Lawton that has been part of Lawton since 1919.

## Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.36 square miles (6.11 km$^2$), of which 2.32 square miles (6.01 km$^2$) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km$^2$) is water.

## Demographics
### 2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,900 people, 730 households, and 457 families living in the village. The population density was 819.0 inhabitants per square mile (316.2/km$^2$). There were 788 housing units at an average density of 339.7 per square mile (131.2/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the village was 91.0% White, 0.7% African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 5.6% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.8% of the population.
There were 730 households, of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.4% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.07.
The median age in the village was 38.9 years. 25.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.5% were from 25 to 44; 23.1% were from 45 to 64; and 19.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 45.1% male and 54.9% female.

### 2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,859 people, 610 households, and 428 families living in the village. The population density was 823.0 inhabitants per square mile (317.8/km$^2$). There were 668 housing units at an average density of 295.7 per square mile (114.2/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the village was 90.75% White, 1.24% African-American, 0.75% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 3.98% from other races, and 3.23% from two or more races. 11.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 610 households, out of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 27.2% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.0 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $36,250, and the median income for a family was $40,909. Males had a median income of $32,614 versus $25,208 for females. The per capita income for the village was $15,600. 11.5% of the population and 6.7% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 8.2% of those under the age of 18 and 16.7% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

## Notable residents

* Henry Ford (1825–1894), Michigan state senator and Lawton village president (not to be confused with the industrialist Henry Ford)
* Charlie Maxwell Charles Richard Maxwell (1927–2024) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox (1950–52, 1954), Baltimore Orioles (1955), Detroit Tigers (1955–62) and Chicago White Sox (1962–64). Lawton High School 1944, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox. Nicknames included "The South Paw from Paw Paw (given by the Detroit Tigers announcer Van Patrick because of Maxwell's unusually-named hometown of Paw Paw, Michigan), "Smokey," "Sunday Charlie", and the "The Sabbath Smasher", the latter two given in recognition of his propensity for hitting home runs on Sundays.
* W. Rae Young (October 30, 1915 – March 7, 2008) was one of the Bell Labs engineers that invented the cell phone.
The history of cellular phone technology began on December 11, 1947 with a Bell Labs internal memo written by Douglas H. Ring describing the idea of Rae Young of the hexagonal cell concept for a cellular mobile telephone system.[1]
Career Young graduated from the University of Michigan in 1937 with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, Young began working at Bell Labs in what became his lifetime employment. Young did research and development for Bell Labs in the fields of radar, television, communication systems, and top-secret military systems. Young lived and worked in New York City for many years until he and his family moved to Summit, New Jersey from which he commuted by train to New York City.
During 1942 to 1945, Young worked on radar and communication systems for the US Armed Services. In 1945, Young began work on mobile radiotelephone systems in vehicles for coverage of urban areas and along highways. He developed systems for reducing interference between mobile systems that are closely spaced in frequency and location. Young served as chairman of a Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA) subcommittee TR8.9 on systems standards for mobile communications equipment.
In 1947, W. Rae Young proposed what are now called cell phones in a report to the RMA Systems Committee.[2] Coworker Douglas H. Ring at Bell Labs, liked Young's idea about locating many mobile phone towers in a hexagonal cellular arrangement throughout each city so that every mobile phone user would be able to communicate from at least one cell through the telephone system. Douglas Ring credited W. Rae Young with suggesting the hexagonal cell layout and expanded on Rae Young's concept in another internal Technical Memo dated 11 December 1947. In 1951, Young was appointed supervisor of the cellular systems engineering team and later became department head of cellular mobile phone development at Bell Labs.
In the 1950s, Young was transferred to another Bell Labs facility at Murray Hill, New Jersey where he worked on communications systems and formulated requirements for design of telephone switching systems and data-transmission systems. In 1962, he was transferred to another Bell Labs facility at Holmdel, New Jersey.
In 1964, W. Rae Young was made an IEEE Fellow “for contributions to mobile radio and data communications systems”.
After working for Bell Labs for 47 years, he retired in June 1979.
Family Rae Young Jr. was born in Lawton, Michigan, a small rural town. He was the eldest of 4 children: 3 boys and a girl. Rae's father William Rae Young Sr. was a medical doctor. Rae's mother Elizabeth Emerson was also college educated and was descended from the Ralph Waldo Emerson family.
In February, 1937 Rae Young Jr. married Mary Lou Traywick (1915–1975) during their senior year at the University of Michigan. They had three children: Roy, Susan, and Barbara, each of whom earned a doctorate degree.
Rae Young Jr. played piano, clarinet, cello, and bass with the Summit Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra for over 40 years.
Rae's wife Mary Lou died from cancer just before her 60th birthday.
In 1980, Rae met a widow Betty Wood, a retired crystallographer from Bell Labs. For the next 27 years Rae and Betty were constant companions until her death in March 2006. Rae was 92 when he died.