Grant County, Kansas Map, 1899.
Lawson, Kansas, was a small settlement founded in south-central Grant County in 1886. It is extinct today.
Located about 15 miles southeast of Ulysses, the small town gained a post office on August 26, 1887. Other businesses soon followed, including a general store, a lumber yard, and a real estate and loan company. Some of its earliest settlers included Dr. E. H. Burks, J. E. Hickok, W. D. Pierson, C. H. Stain, and E. O. Smart.
It had a population of about 45 in 1910, and its nearest shipping point was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad at Hartland in Kearny County, about 25 miles to the north. At that time, the railroad had not yet reached Ulysses.
Afterward, Lawson did not continue to grow, and its post office closed on February 28, 1925.
There is nothing left of the old settlement today.
©Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated December 2025.
Also See:
Ulysses – Born Twice & Still Kicking
See Sources.