This post was originally written for Johnson County Library in 1985. It has been edited for length and clarity. See also a booklist of items referenced for this article.
Johnson County’s earliest history is hazy at best. When the first white settlers reached the area, the Kaw were living to the North and Northwest, and the Osage were living to the South. The Native American population of Johnson County was nomadic and small. The white settlers arrived around 1700. They were French traders ascending the Missouri and its smaller tributaries such as “la Riviere de l’Eau Bleu” – the Blue River. The French phase of this region’s history is only now beginning to receive attention.
In 1803, Johnson County was ceded by France to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. Two Native American treaties in 1825 transferred the area first from the Osage to the federal government, and then from the U.S. to the Shawnee Tribe. The Shawnee people endured forced removal to Kansas from present-day Ohio and Missouri. By 1854, there were about 900 Shawnee living in Kansas, mainly in Johnson County although their reservation extended much further west.
Three missions were established to serve the Shawnee. The largest was the Shawnee Methodist Mission and Indian Manual Labor School. Originally established in 1830 in Wyandotte County, it was moved to its present Fairway site in 1839. The founder and superintendent was the Rev. Thomas Johnson, who gave his name to the county. A Baptist mission and school was founded in 1832 near 53rd and Walmer in Mission. The first printing press in Kansas was located there. The Quakers also set up a mission and school near 61st and Hemlock in Merriam.
Traders and travelers had been going from the Midwest to Santa Fe since the mid-1700s, but it was not until the 1820s that a profitable trade was established. The Santa Fe Trail was surveyed in 1825. During the 1840s emigrants began going overland to Oregon and California. Beginning in Westport and Independence, wagons followed numerous routes through Johnson County on their way West. Near Gardner the trails divided: the Santa Fe Train continued to the Southwest, while the Oregon and California Trails went to the Northwest. A favorite campground and rendezvous point was Lone Elm near 167th and Lone Elm Road. In the spring hundreds of wagons could be found camped there.
The nearby settled areas of Missouri and the travel trade created a ready market for Johnson County’s agricultural products. Many Native Americans had large farms and comfortable homes, but in 1854, the reservation was terminated with the creation of the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. Many Shawnee originally opted to remain, but by 1871 most had left for Oklahoma. The missions had all closed by this time.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act set the stage for the conflict between free soil and pro-slavery advocates known as “Bleeding Kansas.” Johnson County, organized in 1855, was initially pro-slavery as it was near Kansas City and Westport, both pro-slavery strongholds. It was also inhabited by slave-owners such as the Rev. Thomas Johnson and Shawnee Chief Joseph Parks. However, barring some attacks on free soil advocates such as the Quaker missionaries, Johnson County was spared much of the violence that wracked the territory.
Kansas was admitted to the Union in 1861 as a free state and the full force of the Civil War fell on Johnson County. William Quantrill and other southern-sympathizing guerillas constantly raided towns and farms throughout the area. Shawnee, Olathe, and Gardner were among the hardest hit. Kansas also raided into Missouri. To end this violence federal authorities took drastic action in 1863 with the issuance of “Order No. 11” which forcibly removed disloyal Missourians from the Eastern side of the border, depriving the guerillas of sustenance and manpower. Southern resistance ceased with the 1864 Union victory at the Battle of Westport. Following the war, Johnson County seems to have settled down as a prosperous agricultural region.
Shawnee rates as the county’s oldest town. It was originally a Shawnee Tribe settlement. The Shawnee Council House stood to the west of 52nd Terrace and Switzer. The cemetery and Meeting House site is just east of 59th Terrace and Nieman. The town was the first county seat in 1857.
Olathe became the county seat the following year. The story goes that when Dr. John T. Barton sought a name meaning beautiful for his new town, his Shawnee guide said, “Olathe.” Horace Greeley in 1859 pronounced the area around Olathe comparable to the Garden of Eden.
Other towns dating from before the Civil War are Spring Hill, Aubry, Gardner, and De Soto. Many towns dating from this era have vanished including Oxford and McCamish. Once thriving Monticello saw the the start of “Wild Bill” Hickok’s career in law enforcement when he became township constable in 1858.
Courtesy Johnson County Museum collection on JoCo History
A new round of growth started with the coming of the railroads after the Civil War. Lenexa, named for the daughter of a Shawnee chief, was founded in 1869 as Brickley. Merriam was founded in 1860 as Cambelltown. It soon became Glenwood and was finally named Merriam after a railroad executive in 1880. Stanley, Stilwell, and Holliday were all named for railroad executives.
A third period of growth came after 1900 when the automobile and interurban railroad made the county more accessible to Kansas City. The way was now open for Johnson County to become a suburban area. In 1906, William Strang opened the Missouri & Kansas Interurban Railway (the “Strang Line”) which ran from Kansas City to Olathe. He founded Overland Park as his headquarters and named it for its park-like setting and the fact that the trolley ran completely “over land” with no bridges. Overland Park was the last city in the county to be incorporated (1960). It is also the county’s largest city.
Mission Hills was developed by the J.C. Nichols Company beginning in 1912. This area was conceived as a community of fine homes, revealing the same concern with beauty and detail seen in the County Club Plaza across the state line. Development of Fairway, which took its name from the many golf courses that surrounded its residential areas, was started in 1938. Development of Prairie Village, named for the Prairie School, was begun in 1941. Leawood was also started during the pre-war period. Both of these more Southerly areas had to wait until after the war to see substantial development. Leawood takes its name from Oscar Lee, one of the former landowners. By the late 1940s, Johnson County was well on its way to becoming what some have called Kansas City’s “bedroom” due to the great number of workers that lived in the county but worked across the state line.
The name “Shawnee Mission” as applied to the Northeast section of the county as a curious history. It had been applied to the three missions, but fell into disuse after their closing. In 1921, the citizens of Shawnee and Mission Townships, which were the local government in that section of the county, voted to form the “Shawnee-Mission Rural High School District,” deriving the name from the two townships. This school is now Shawnee Mission North and the district is now Unified District 512. When the postal service decided to build a main post office in the late 1950s for northeast Johnson County, they were reluctant to use the name of any one city. Instead they chose “Shawnee Mission” from the school district that served the area. The historical association of the name was also a factor. The post office opened in 1962.
After World War II, Johnson County’s growth reached unprecedented levels. In 1940 the county population was 33,327. By 1950, it had reached 62,783. In 1960, it was 143,792 and in 1970 it had risen to 220, 073. The 1980 census showed that 270,269 people lived in the county. In the 1970s, subtle changes were beginning to occur. During the decade the number of people who held jobs within the county doubled and the number of persons who lived and worked in the county rose from 39% to 51%. The number of businesses in the county rose from 2,762 in 1970 to 8,443 by 1983.
Johnson County is ceasing to be Kansas City’s bedroom and is entering a new stage of development. While remaining very much a part of a major metropolitan area, Johnson County is increasingly taking on its own identity and seeking a degree of autonomy in business, education, and cultural pursuits.
The county has a number of museums and other historic agencies to help you learn more about your history including the Shawnee Methodist Mission, the Johnson County Museum, and Johnson County Library.
-Jerry C. Roy, Johnson County Library
August 31, 1985
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