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Osawatomie, KSPhoto: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Osawatomie Township

Osawatomie Township dates to 1854, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Creamery Bridge and the Asylum Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1963 on, and the census since 1880.

1854founded
2on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Osawatomie Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Osawatomie Township began

When was Osawatomie Township founded?

1854

Osawatomie Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 681 in 18802020 census: 694172 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1858.The full story ↓

What stands out about Osawatomie Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Osawatomie Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Osawatomie Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Osawatomie Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewKansas - Oberlin through Republican Riv…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Indianapolis
1858–1863
Mount Nebo
1868–1871
Obrien Station
1884–1885
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
O'Brien
Gone or out of use
Fairview Elementary SchoolschoolIndianapolis SchoolschoolUnion Valley Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Osawatomie Township
Green ValleyIndianapolisLessendenMount Nebo

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Osawatomie Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Osawatomie Township.

Read it all →

Osawatomie's name is a compound of two primary Native American tribes from the area, the Osage and Pottawatomie. The name was said to have been thought up by Ely Moore, an Indian agent and former Congressman, in order to settle a dispute on what to call the new settlement. The Pottawatomi had occupied large parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, but in 1838 they marched the Potawatomi Trail of Death and eventually arrived at Pottawattomie Creek, one edge of the modern-day location of Osawatomie, which had been provided to them by treaty. The small tribe did not stay long in Osawatomie and was eventually broken up. The other edge of the town is the Marais des Cygnes River, part of the Osage River system.

ChaptersBattle of OsawatomiePresidential visits

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Osawatomie Township, 1854 to 1963

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854
    FoundingOsawatomie Township is established
  3. 1858Post officeThe Indianapolis post office opens
  4. 1863Post officeThe Indianapolis post office closes
  5. 1868Post officeThe Mount Nebo post office opens
  6. 1871Post officeThe Mount Nebo post office closes
  7. 1884Post officeThe Obrien Station post office opens
  8. 1885Post officeThe Obrien Station post office closes
  9. 20th century
  10. 1905BuiltAsylum Bridge is built
  11. 1917In the archiveKansas - Oberlin through Republican River
  12. 1931BuiltCreamery Bridge is built
  13. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Osawatomie Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Kansas - Oberlin through Republican River1917Kansas - Oberlin through Republican River
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Map of Miami Co, Ks, USA2005Map of Miami Co, Ks, USAMap
On the map

Osawatomie Township on the map in 1963

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Osawatomie Township.

Osawatomie Township on the 1963 USGS map1963Osawatomie sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Osawatomie Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Kansas - Oberlin through Republican River
Retake this viewKansas - Oberlin through Republican River, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Osawatomie Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Osawatomie Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Creamery Bridge
Creamery Bridge, built 1931Asylum Bridge, built 1905
SitesStructures
Creamery BridgeBuilt 1931
Asylum BridgeBuilt 1905

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Osawatomie Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,645

Between 681 and 4,645 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Osawatomie Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Osawatomie6 historic placesB+Stanton Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townValley TownshipIts storyCMound TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOsage TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCutler TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPottawatomie Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Osawatomie Township’s history

What year was Osawatomie Township founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata. Osawatomie Township’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1880 counted 681 people here.

What is on the National Register in Osawatomie Township?

Two places: the Creamery Bridge (listed 1983) and the Asylum Bridge (1990).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.