Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1855.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Osawatomie’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Osawatomie is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #35 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Osawatomie’s overall grade.
Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Osawatomie’s 14.3 sits above most of its state (71% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 6 listings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.4 points). Two sources give 1854.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Osawatomie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Passages that mention Osawatomie, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A centenary of Catholicity in Kansas, 1822-19221921 · page 189Read the page →
Read the text
The history of Osawatomie and vicinity is very interesting. Long before the town was established in 1855, destiny had marked the place. A small band of Pottawatomie Indians from Indiana settled there in 1837 and gave their name to the creek that empties into the Marais des Cygnes near Osawatomie. There were many Catholics amongst these Indians, and. learning that there were Black-robes among the Kickapoos near Fort Leavenworth, they sent a request for a priest to visit them.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A centenary of Catholicity in Kansas, 1822-19221921 · page 89Read the page →
Read the text
Father Schacht 's visit to Paola and his continued interest in the place led the settlers of the surrounding country to plan the erection of a church either at the latter place or at Osawatomie. It seems that Osawatomie was chosen for the site and the rock was hauled there for the foundation but on account of defect in title to property the church was never built and the stone was disposed of for other purposes. It is supposed too that the atmosphere of the place was hostile, as Osawatomie,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Osawatomie, 1854 to 1947
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Osawatomie. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Lawrence sheet · 1:250,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Osawatomie.
Every building
Osawatomie, building by building, 1905–1913
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1854, according to Wikidata. Osawatomie’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1880 counted 681 people here.
How does Osawatomie rank for history?
Osawatomie is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #35 of 151 in Kansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Osawatomie?
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the John Brown Cabin (listed 1971, the first), 1 site, and 1 object.
How old are the homes in Osawatomie?
30% of Osawatomie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.4 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1953.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1917
