Lawton's surfaced in 1944 with the formation of Lawton Machine.  Located in the rich, fertile farmlands
of east central Illinois, the company served farmers by machining parts and providing repair service for agricultural equipment.  In addition to the farm-related business, which has continued to expand and still today an important aspect of Lawton's, the company secured a significant contract for machining parts for the street car industry.

Today, Lawton Machine is the design and manufacturing entity.  The company provides full time employment for fifteen area residents, and maintains its physical facilities in Paris.  Expansion into the road equipment market in the eighties required additional space, and Lawton Machine moved in 1989 to its present location, a 30,000 square foot facility located on Illinois State Route 133 west.

Following the physical move to the new facility, Lawton's Machine & Equipment was formed and charged with the responsibility of studying markets and coordinating with design to develop products for the marketplace.  This new entity has been responsible for the development of the Lawton "double-acting" hydraulic cylinder, expansion of road equipment products, and the entry into the baler market.

In each and every product brochure designed, produced and distributed by Lawton's Machine & Equipment, the words "durable and dependable" are in the forefront.  And for good reason, too!  Recently, a client of a Lawton Dealer was bidding road equipment for a governmental body, and the client subsequently contacted an existing Lawton Customer as to the availability of replacement parts.  The response, "we've used this snow plow for three years and have not required any replacement parts."  So today, you'll see a new slogan on our materials, "the people who build it right the first time".  We feel the slogan is a direct result of the Lawton commitment to quality.  The Lawton family is proud to have earned such a reputation, but is totally aware of the responsibility it carries.  "While these responsibilities are viewed by us as opportunities, we will continue to aggressively seek improvement for our existing products as well as exploration for new," - Jim Lawton, President of Lawton's Machine & Equipment.  Oh, by the way, Lawton's do inventory a full complement of replacement parts, but the track record of Lawton manufactured equipment clearly reflects that the needs will be minimal at best.

Today, Lawton products are working for customer in several states.  Whether it be a QUICK BALE 7100 consistently generating 2,200 pound bales of corrugated or snow plows taking the routine punishment of snow and ice removal, the Lawton customer base is strong and diverse.  While we are pleased to establish relationships, our treasured "long time customers" are held in special esteem.  Customers who have been with us for many years have been instrumental in the development and upgrade of our equipment.  We, at Lawton's listen to marketplace needs, and its evident that the input of our treasured customer has been "on target".  Our customers were instrumental in developing the "option packages" that are available throughout all the Lawton product line.  These options provide the customer the ability to virtually design equipment for his own specific needs through the modification of existing base products.  Such product flexibility allows the customer to get maximum use of the newly purchased equipment for an investment significantly less than the cost of "custom" designed equipment.

We at Lawton's are appreciative of the position we've earned in the marketplace.  Regardless of growth,
Lawton's objective to subscribe to the virtues of providing the customer the highest quality product, reasonably priced will be paramount.  Rather than embark in new directions, the "fine tuning" of our service and new product introductions will be our motivations.  We have served the consumer for nearly fifty five  years guided by the principles of customer satisfaction.  "This, we will not change" - Jim & Russ Lawton.