Constructed between 1869 and 1880, Olathe's Martin Van Buren Parker House is a two and a half-story wood frame Victorian stick style mansion. The home was restored in 1981 and still features the original iron cresting on the rooftop. However, the original window shutters were too rotted to be reused and were not replaced. Other missing or rotted wooden elements were replaced with items milled using the original for reference. The mansion was listed in the Register of Historic Kansas Places and the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 for its significance in architecture and commerce.
The house at 562 W. Park Street was built in 1901 for Franklin R. Lanter, a local businessman who dealt in lumber and coal. The architect was George P. Washburn of Ottawa, Kansas. The late Victorian, two-story frame house is transitional Queen Anne/ Free Classic style. Lanter, who served as mayor and postmaster of Olathe, lived here until the 1910s. At one point the house was divided into apartments. While the Lanter House was listed in the Register of Kansas Historical Places in 1985, it was not added to the National Register until 2007. The beautifully restored home is a private, single-family residence once again and was nominated by its owners in 2007 for its architectural significance.
The Isaac O. Pickering House has overlooked West Park Street since the 1880s and took ten years to build. The Italianate style home has Queen Anne and Second Empire architectural elements including its tower above the main entrance and Eastlake decorated front porch. Pickering was a Civil war veteran and prominent local lawyer and politician who lived in the house until his death in 1923. His descendants owned the home - called "Old Liberty Hall" - until 1960. The wood frame house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The house was gutted and neglected and came close to being condemned before a new owner in 2011 began restoring the building. He finished restoring the exterior in 2015 and turned his attention to the interior.
This bronze sculpture is dedicated to all of the children whose lives were lost due to the harsh conditions on the overland journeys westward. A pioneer boy, a girl and their dog run through an arch. It was sculpted by Kansas City artist Kwan Wu. Rocks in the fountain beneath them represent the streams that children crossed on the overland trail. Sculptor Kwan Wu was born and trained in China, but since immigrating to the United States and settling in the Kansas City area he has sculpted two major works depicting the western trails for Olathe, Kansas.
The Albert Ott House, at 401 S. Harrison Street, is a Victorian home built in 1894 in what later became the Millbrooke neighborhood. The house was built on a large tract of land that contained his father's mill business and his father's home. The Queen Anne style house is wood frame construction on a limestone foundation. Albert Ott and his bride had the house built and were still living in it in the 1940s. Albert and his brother, Charles owned a dry goods store in Olathe and helped run the roller mill. The Albert Ott House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 for its significance in architecture.
The Museum of Deaf History, Arts, and Culture is the only public museum in the US dedicated to the experience of being Deaf and telling the story of Deaf history. It began as a small collection of William J. Marra, a teacher at the Kansas School for the Deaf. The collection was first housed in the basement of a hall at the school, and eventually grew large enough to move into its own facility across the street. The William J. Marra Museum was located inside the Deaf Culture Center, which opened in 2005. The building has since been renamed the Museum of Deaf History, Arts, and Culture.
Established in 1865, the tombstones and plots at the Olathe Memorial Cemetery tell the story of Olathe's and Johnson Country's history. Six of the city's first ten citizens are buried here, as are early mayors, business leaders, veterans who fought during the Civil War which occurred only four years after the town's founding. The cemetery's headstones share information about family histories and Olathe's ties to the Civil War, Santa Fe Trail, World Wars, women's suffrage, and the New Deal. The historic burial site stands as the city's oldest public cemetery, and it remains active today.
The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm tells the story of an early pioneering family and stagecoach transportation in 1860s Kansas. The historic site is significant as the only remaining stagecoach stop along the old Santa Fe Trail. Today it acts as a living history museum, complete with stagecoach rides. Various exhibits and activities showcase frontier life and the Civil War era.
This stagecoach sculpture designed by local Chinese-born artist Kwan Wu, reflects the ethnic diversity of the 19th-century American West. The sculpture was funded by private donations to mark Olathe’s 150th anniversary.
Statue of pioneer family marks the junction of the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. It depicts a man in frontier clothing kneeling in prayer. He holds a Bible in one hand, and his other hand rests on a walking plow. His wife stands beside him with her head bowed in prayer. She cradles their young son in one arm and rests the other hand on her husband's shoulder. This statue became a centerpoint of MidAmerica Nazarene University when erected in the campus Prayer Circle in 1994.
This family-centered farmstead and rural heritage park opened in 1978, offering a way to explore the historical and traditional single-family rural farms that previously dominated the landscape as it gave way to suburban sprawl. The farmstead was renamed in 1985 after Deanna Rose, the first Overland Park police officer was killed in the line of duty.
This museum was established in 2010 and opened in 2014 as the educational centerpiece of Prairiefire, a 58-acre mixed-use project that integrates residential and retail space with restaurants and entertainment. Guests to the museum enter the Great Hall which includes an interactive exhibit of dinosaurs along with a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was discovered by Kansas native Barnum Brown. The Great Hall also includes rotating exhibits and an interactive display where dinosaurs come alive through augmented reality. For those who purchase tickets, the Discovery Room engages children 3-12 years old with exhibits and programs in the natural sciences. Children and the adults that accompany them can assemble a Prestosuchus, a life-sized cast of a Triassic reptile, and dig up fossils in a re-creation of a paleontology field site, among many other activities and resources. In 2024, the museum completed plans with the National College Baseball Hall of Fame to share exhibit space.
Here marks the current location of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah is one of the oldest Reform Jewish Congregations in the nation and the oldest synagogue in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is a center for locals of all ages in the Jewish community of Overland Park, Kansas. Founded in 1870 by a handful of pioneer families, it has historically had the largest number of members among local Jewish congregations. Towards the end of the 19th century, B’nai Jehudah became a founding member of the Union for Reform Judaism establishing its ambition to seek social improvement. The congregation has since been known nationally for its vision, leadership and progressive thinking. There is an unparalleled richness and diversity in the life of the congregation and an enthusiasm for social justice and committing to the needs of others.
This monument was dedicated in 1963, making it one of the first memorials in the United States to recognize the history of the Holocaust. At the end of World War II, Holocaust survivors moved around the world to rebuild their lives. Given the large Jewish community in Kansas City and global family networks, some survivors moved to the Kansas City metropolitan area. With the support of the Jewish community and others throughout Kansas City, local Holocaust survivors led the effort to raise funds to create this memorial to the six million Jews who were victims of the Holocaust. Fundraising began in the late 1950s and President Harry Truman spoke at the memorial's dedication ceremony on June 9, 1963. The monument was one of the first of its kind in the United States and originally stood on Holmes Road until the decision was made in 1988 to move to its present location on the grounds of the Jewish Community Center.
The Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center (AHC) was formerly known as the Johnson County Museum of History. The museum first opened in 1967 in the old Greenwood School in Shawnee. In 2017, the museum was moved to a new location in Overland Park, in an award-winning renovated building. The large galleries tell the story of Johnson County’s history through interactive exhibits.
This mid-century modern home was designed by civil engineer Bob Campbell and constructed between 1967 and 1968. Campbell lived in the home with his family, who shared his optimism that the design represented the future of architecture. Campbell and other engineers believed that the Schwedler dome, which utilizes a series of meridional metal ribs to support the roof, offered numerous advantages in providing a strong and spacious design with minimal materials. In retrospect, the design was impractical to construct at scale and hard to maintain, so few other houses were built in this style. Campbell's family home remains a neighborhood landmark after 50 years and his granddaughter occasionally holds open houses. The home is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the family hopes to convert the structure into a rental so more people can see Bob Campbell's futuristic vision.
Built in 1915, the Strang Carriage House was constructed for railroad magnate William B. Strang, the founder of the city of Overland Park and the first electric rail line. The carriage house was used to house the personal vehicles while his chauffeurs lived on the second level. Many of the surrounding projects built by Strang have since been demolished, but his old carriage house remains as one of the oldest buildings still standing in Overland Park. The building was renovated in 1998 and now serves as the site of the Overland Park Historical Society.
Construction of this interurban railway depot began in 1905 under the direction of William B. Strang, Jr., who is widely recognized as the founder of Overland Park, given the central role of his interurban railroad that connected this area to the growing city. Strang's Missouri & Kansas Interurban Railroad was also known as the "Stran Line" and this depot became the first commercial building in what would become Overland Park, Kansas. The first interurban rail car arrived in March 1906. The Overland Park Historical Society (OPHS) purchased this structure and plans to create a museum and community space that will feature a trolley car, exhibits, a conference room, an educational center, and archival facilities.
The Rio Theatre opened as Overland Theatre in 1946 and was one of over two dozen midwestern theatres that were part of the Dickinson Theatre chain established in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1920 and later headquartered in Lawrence. Architect Robert Boller, of the well-known Boller Brothers firm, designed the theatre in the Moderne Style. The theater has been well-preserved and is known today for its striking retro neon lighting, glass blocks, and pastel-colored tiles. In 2000, the theatre reopened as the Rio Theatre, an independent movie house. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Built in 1906, the Strang Line Car Barn worked to house and repair trolleys for the Missouri and Kansas Interurban Railway, while also providing power to the electric track. Established by the founder of Overland Park, William B. Strang, the car barn operated until 1940 when the rail line was shut down and abandoned. Eventually the tracks and much of the surrounding infrastructure was demolished, but the original car barn remains. Today the building is occupied by a furniture store.
The Loomis District consists of four structures, three homes, and one shed, each built at different times from the late nineteenth century through the early twentieth century. Emily Loomis purchased this land in 1882 and had the grand farmhouse built four years later. Unusual for the time, the property and home were listed in her name rather than her husband's name. Her oldest son moved to another part of Kansas to develop a farm while his youngest, Charles Loomis, became a doctor. Charles added to the property and built a home for his family. But, by the 1920s, the Loomis family began to sell portions of the land until finally selling the remaining property before World War II. Each structure enjoys a unique architectural style that reflects the era for which they were built. Moreover, the collection of houses amidst the suburban landscape speaks to Meriam's gradual change from a rural, farm location to that of a Kansas City suburb.
“The Bear Pit” is a bronze sculpture located outside of the Merriam Visitors Bureau in Kansas. The sculpture, which is part of a larger system of fountains, was designed and installed in 2006 by Kansas City sculptor Kwan Wu. It was inspired by Merriam Park, an amusement park designed by George Kessler that was located where the Visitors Bureau is today. The sculpture commemorates the park’s legend of three bears that would escape their dens each night and wander the park.
David Gee Campbell moved from Tennessee to Shawnee, Kansas, in 1860 and built this home for his wife and children. Sources indicate that Campbell was a slave owner prior to coming to Kansas and suggests that the people he had once enslaved may have also made the journey to Kansas with the Campbell family. During the Civil War, in 1864, Campbell moved the home from Shawnee to this location, a settlement known once as "Campbellton" which later became Merriam. Campbell had the foresight to donate land to the railroad, and its development increased the value of his property while also supporting the rapid expansion of the town. The Campbell home, the oldest home in the town, survives as the Merriam's origins before the train arrived and the community became a suburb of Kansas City.
Park created the town of Shawnee's 150th anniversary in 2006. It commemorates Shawnee’s place on the mid-19th-century Santa Fe, Oregon, and California wagon trails and Fort Leavenworth Military Road. It features two sculptures by local artist Charles Goslin depicting that history.
This historical marker shares the history of William Quantrill’s Raid and its connection to Shawnee. The raid is best known for the tragic slaughter of innocent men and the burning of Lawrence, but residents of Shawnee were also victimized by Quantrill and his raiders. This historical marker outside of Shawnee's City Hall shares two attacks on Shawnee which occurred on October 17, 1862, and a second that occurred just prior to the more famous Sack of Lawrence in the summer of 1863.
Shawnee Town 1929 is an outdoor living history museum devoted to portraying life in a small Midwestern farming community in the 1920s. The family-friendly museum has a working truck farm as well as a recreated small-town center with historic Shawnee businesses. Interpreters guide visitors on tours and through interactive demonstrations. The mission of the museum is to allow visitors to experience what a typical day was like in the 1920s in the farming community of Shawnee.
The bungalow home located here was constructed in 1927, a time when Shawnee was a growing Kansas City suburb. The area was previously the site of an independent town, and prior to that, it was part of the 1.6 million-acre Shawnee Territory. The Shawnee were forced from the area in the mid-1850s, an era when the national debate over the extension of slavery came to the Kansas frontier. Along with the violence and uncertainty for landowners during Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War also slowed the town's development. However, by the late nineteenth century, Shawnee developed into a burgeoning agricultural town, especially once streetcars connected Shawnee to Kansas City thereby leading to suburban growth. By the 1920s, Craftsman-style bungalows like this became popular throughout the nation. It is also important to remember that suburban residential communities were intentionally segregated spaces with a network of laws and lending practices that restricted home sales to white residents. While Kansas high schools were open to all by law (other than Sumner High School in Kansas City Kansas), elementary schools were segregated in Kansas City which further exacerbated patterns of residential segregation that persist to this day in some parts of the metro area. This home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places owing to its preservation, allowing it to serve as a model of the Craftsman-style bungalow that was popular at the time.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
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This drive from Olathe to Shawnee includes some of the leading landmarks of Johnson County. The tour includes several museums along with historical markers, monuments, and homes that are significant for their age as well as the families who lived in them.
