Quality of Life
Tracks of the Past/Highway of the Future

CONTEMPORARY OSAWATOMIE

PEOPLE AND PLACE: Osawatomie is nestled between two rivers: the Marais des Cygnes (Marsh of the Swans) on the North and the Pottawatomie on the South. The Marais des Cygnes is part of the Osage River system. Osage and Pottawatomie are both names of Indian tribes that lived in the area. The city’s name is a compound of these two names. Today the city has more than 4600 residents in a county with a total population of about 29,000. It is governed according to the city manager-home rule form of government including a Mayor and eight-member city council. Access to the city is provided by a four lane highway opened in the fall of 2003 and a nearby county airport for private aircraft. In addition to the highway and airport, rails and over-the-road truck service are available for freight traffic. Osawatomie is just minutes from major metropolitan areas: 35 minutes from the city of Olathe, Kansas; about 45 minutes from Overland Park, Kansas and 75 minutes from the Plaza district in Kansas City, Missouri. All areas are accessible by multiple lane highways and thoroughfares.

EDUCATION: Unified School District #367 serves Osawatomie offering education for grades K-12. Total enrollment for the 2003-04 school year was 1,230 students in four schools: Trojan Elementary; Osawatomie Middle School; Trojan High School and Swenson Early Childhood Education Center. About 60% of the district’s teachers hold Masters or higher degrees. The average class size is 16.4 students and approximately 70% of the students pursue post-graduation education. Internet access is available in all classrooms. The faculty of USD #367 has received the Kansas Master Teacher of the Year three times; Kansas Teacher of the Year twice, and once each Kansas Reading Teacher of the Year, Kansas Social Studies Teacher of the Year and Kansas Counselor of the Year.

Because of its East Central Kansas location, the city is convenient to a number of major public and private universities and community colleges in Kansas, including University of Kansas, Ottawa University, Baker University, Haskell University, University of St. Mary, Benedictine College, Johnson County Community College, Fort Scott Community College and St. Mary College.

RELIGION: A diversity of faiths is represented in the community including several Protestant churches, one private Protestant church school and one Catholic Church.

HEALTHCARE: Medical and other related healthcare services available in the city include: a clinic of medical doctors, physician assistant(s) and nurse practitioner(s); a chiropractic physician; an optometry eye care clinic; a mental health clinic and a state psychiatric hospital. Miami County Medical Center, affiliated with Olathe Medical Center, is ten minutes from Osawatomie on Highway 169. The hospital provides a full array of emergency, inpatient and outpatient services.

HISTORIC OSAWATOMIE

1. Before Statehood:

Not only is Osawatomie a city forging its future, it is one that boasts a significant place in the history of the State and the Nation. Established in 1854 in the then newly declared Kansas Territory, the city was one of the centers of the struggle popularly referred to as “Bleeding Kansas.” The struggle arose from the law creating the Kansas Territory and the Nebraska Territory declaring that each could petition to join the Union as either a slave or free state, as decided by the vote of the territorial citizens. The result of the popular choice proviso was that activists from Southern slave states and Northern free states began packing the Kansas territory with their respective proponents. The most famous abolitionist to be enticed to Kansas was John Brown. In 1855 he joined five of his sons who earlier had moved to the Kansas Territory. The following year, 1856, he defended the town against a raid by pro-slavers, now known as the Battle of Osawatomie. He lost one son in this fight. John Brown actively engaged in recruiting abolitionists and in the border skirmishes until 1859, when he left Osawatomie, with some of his sons, and began his march to Harper’s Ferry. His plan, generally, was to gather recruits for his “army” along the way, raid the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry to equip his soldiers and then march south to free slaves. He and his band made it to Harper’s Ferry where, on October 16, 1859, they took possession of the United States Armory. The President sent in a “storming party” of 12 marines, led by Robert E. Lee. They joined with the local army and took the Armory and captured John Brown and the twenty plus men who were with him.

In the subsequent trial, John Brown was found guilty of treason and conspiracy against the State of Virginia (now West Virginia) and hanged. But his determination to abolish slavery and his dedication to that cause proved prophetic.

Sites in Osawatomie that commemorate the border wars and John Brown include the Soldiers Monument, dedicated in 1877 and erected to honor the five men killed in the Battle of Osawatomie (1856) and the John Brown Memorial Park and State Historic Site. Located at 10th and Main Streets, the park is the site of the Battle of Osawatomie and a museum that interprets the history of “Bleeding Kansas” employing the actual log cabin and furnishings used by John Brown and his family, including his sister and brother-in-law, Florella and Samuel Adair. The museum is open 11:00 A to 5:00 P, Wednesday-Saturday and 1:00 P to 5:00 P on Sundays.

2. After Statehood

1. Railroad: While the Kansas Territory was fighting to determine whether it would be slave or free, other events just as momentous were unfolding, most notably the building of the intercontinental railroad. Kansas became a state in 1861; the Civil War ended in 1865 and a great migration to the West began, much of it by rail. Osawatomie became a railroad center and was a major terminal for the Missouri Pacific Railroad for more than a century. Today, the railroad’s influence is best appreciated at the city’s Railroad Depot Museum. The depot is a reproduction of the one that was used for passengers and freight for many of those 100 years of regular railroad service. The Museum is open 1:00 P to 4:00 P, Tuesday-Sunday.
2. Bridges: Osawatomie, a city of rivers, has constructed stunning bridges to cross them. Indeed four of the City’s bridges are on the National Register of Historic Places:
1. The Asylum Bridge: a unique metal truss bridge built by the Kansas City Bridge Co. of Kansas City, Missouri in 1905. It is a pin-connected reverse Parker Truss structure, 219 feet long and 16.5 feet wide. No other example of this design has been located to date. It spans the Marais des Cygnes River at First Street and was once a principal entry onto the grounds of Osawatomie State Psychiatric Hospital. It is now closed to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
2. Carey’s Ford Bridge a/k/a “the 347th Street Bridge:” another mental truss bridge built by the Kansas City Bridge Co. between 1900 and 1924. This bridge continues in use today crossing the Marais des Cygnes on the East edge of the city.
3. The Creamery Bridge: Currently in use, this is a concrete bridge designed by James Barney Marsh. It is one of two such bridges in Osawatomie. Both are notable for the triple “rainbow” arch construction. The Creamery Bridge, spanning the Marais des Cygnes at Eighth Street, was built in 1930. The highest arch soars 140 feet into the air.
4. Pottawatomie Bridge: This is the second Marsh rainbow arch bridge in Osawatomie and is still inuse. As its name indicates, this one spans the Pottawatomie River on Sixth Street. The highest arch of this bridge is 120 feet. This bridge and its sister—the Creamery Bridge—are two of only eight Marsh Arch triple span bridges remaining in Kansas.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CONTEMPORARY OSAWATOMIE OR A “DRIVING TOUR” BROCHURE OF HISTORIC OSAWATOMIE, CONTACT THE CHAMBER AT 913-755-4114 OR BY E-MAIL.