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This plaque reads: "Rev. Thomas Johnson, a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Founder of the Shawnee Mission; Rev. William Johnson, Missionary to the Kansa Indians, and members of their families were buried here from 1839 to 1930. Plaque furnished by the Old Mission United Methodist Church 1988."

This small cemetery includes the grave of Reverend Thomas Johnson, the namesake of Johnson County, along with his wife and numerous descendants of the Johnson and Wornall families. The cemetery also includes the graves of missionaries and teachers who worked at the nearby Shawnee Indian Mission site and is maintained by the Kansas State Historical Society.

Shawnee Methodist Mission Cemetery

Explore sites associated with the history of Roeland Park, Kansas. This tour traces the area's history from its beginnings as part of the Shawnee Indian Reservation through its pioneer period and suburban settlement in the early 20th century. 

In 1904, Kansas City livestock dealer Herman Beers purchased about 40 acres at present day County Line Road and Mission Road in Roeland Park, Ks. This land was platted into a neighborhood called Shawnee Place and it is the oldest neighborhood in Roeland Park, Ks. In 1905, Beers granted an easement across his land to William Strang's Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad, commonly known as the Strang Line, which placed a station at about 47th and Washita St. (47th Terrace and Reinhardt today). The Shawnee Place neighborhood and surrounding area came to be known as the community of Washita after the Washita Station. The land immediately to the south of Washita was owned by the Roe family and was used for a variety of purposes over the years. The Santa Fe trail had crossed part of this land and wagon ruts were visible well into the 20th century. In 1922, it was the site of a 10-day carnival called Boosterville, which included a camp of 1200 tents, aviation demonstrations and appearances by the governors of Missouri and Kansas. Later it became home to a summer camp for the YWCA.However, this spot is most remembered as the location of the Old Mission Golf Course, which operated from 1929 through 1955 on land leased from the Roe family. The clubhouse and pro shop building was located on the Strang Line at what is today the 47th Terr. cul-de-sac adjacent to the Washita Station. The Old Mission Golf Course was a fee course, which meant that you didn't have to be a member in a country club in order to play, you just had to pay the greens fee. For this reason it became very popular with golfers all over Johnson County and Kansas City, Mo., the vast majority of whom couldn't afford a country club membership. Moreover, the course had easy access via the Strang Line.In 1932, the FBI arrested notorious gangsters Francis Keating and Thomas Holden, the so-called Keating-Holden Gang, on the Old Mission Golf Course. Keating and Holden were associates of gangsters Machine Gun Kelly and Frank Nash and had robbed numerous banks across the Midwest. The FBI had a tip that the two were hiding out in Kansas City, which at the time was under the influence of the Pendergast political machine and a safe haven for gangsters. Knowing that Keating and Holden were obsessed with golf, undercover agents staked out the Old Mission Golf Course until July 7, 1932, when they showed up and were arrested. As an added bonus, wanted bank robber and kidnapper Harvey Bailey was with them and was also arrested.In the late 1940s, the Roe family was under pressure to sell what remained of their once extensive family farm. In 1947, they sold off a section of the land and the golf course was shrunk to 18 holes. They gifted much of the remaining land to the Catholic Church for the construction of St. Agnes Church and School and Bishop Miege High School. The Shawnee Mission School District purchased a portion for the Old Mission Jr. High School as well. The rest of the land was sold to developers in 1955 and the course was closed. The Fairway Manor neighborhood of Roeland Park is located on the former golf course.

In 1906, entrepreneur William Strang completed the Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad, which ran from Rosedale, Ks to Olathe Ks. The Strang Line, as it came to be known, connected what was then the largest city in Johnson County, Ks. with Kansas City, Ks. and Kansas City, Mo. In an effort to create customers for his new rail line, Strang help found towns along the route, most notably Overland Park in 1906. The community of Washita grew up around the Strang Line station built at 47th and Washita in today's Roeland Park, Ks. Washita was most famous as the location of the clubhouse for the Old Mission Golf Course, which served the community from 1929 to 1955.

Washita Station on the Strang Line and the Old Mission Golf Course

After the Civil War, the former buildings of the Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission became the center of a small community called Red Clover. The original mission buildings were turned into stores, a blacksmith shop and private residences. New arrivals built a few homes nearby. In 1983, School District 92 was organized to serve the northeast corner of Johnson County including modern day Westwood, Westwood Hills, Fairway, Mission Hills and Roeland Park. The residents of this area were a mix of new settlers and remnants of the Shawnee Indians, who did not choose to relocate to Oklahoma. These residents built a small one room schoolhouse on the site of today's St. Agnes Catholic Church. It would serve this community for the next 40 years. In 1909, William Strang platted the townsite of Southridge to the west of Red Clover. Southridge sat on Strang's Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad, AKA the Strang Line, and he began an aggressive campaign to attract people from Kansas City, Mo. to move to the new town. The population of the area began to grow around Southridge as well as the community of Washita, just east of Southridge. In 1913, the trustees of School District 92 decided to move the school to Southridge. Voters approved a $6000 bond to build a modern 8-room schoolhouse at what is today 4900 Parish Dr., on land the district purchased from farmer John Roe. Hence they named the new school Roesland. The new school, while primitive by today's standards, was a huge improvement over the previous one-room schoolhouse. The different grade levels now had their own rooms. The district dug a well for the school and provided gas lighting. Each room had a wood stove for heat. Such "modern" amenities as a globe, a flag pole and a phonograph were also provided for the students. The school sat on the Strang Line and students, parents and teachers from outlying areas of the district were able to take the trolley to school. The school became a meeting place for the community and residents would gather here for school board and PTA meetings as well as special "phonograph" concerts.As the area's population increased over the years, the school district has repeatedly added on to Roesland or torn it down to build a bigger school. In 1926, just 12 years after it was built, the original school was demolished and the district built a new school. In 1939, that building was renovated and an addition constructed. The district added another addition in 1948. In 1979, the district tore down and rebuilt half of the school. This school was completely demolished in 2006 and the current school opened in 2008 and serves about 350 students from Roeland Park.

What is now known as Roesland Elementary School has served this community for over 150 years. It's origins stretch back to the years after the Civil War, when a small community called Red Clover grew around the old Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission. There a one-room school house called the Shawnee Mission School was built on the site of today's St. Agnes Church in Roeland Park, Ks. As the population of the area grew, the school was moved to its current location in 1914 on land purchased from the Roe family, hence the new name Roesland School. The new Roesland School District built a modern 8-room school, which has been torn down and rebuilt several times since.

Roesland Elementary School

In 1925, Harold and Peggy Bown moved from Kansas City, Missouri to the rural Johnson County community of Southridge in order to be closer to Harold’s parents, who had moved nearby years earlier. Southridge was platted in 1909 and was one of the planned towns of William Strang along his Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad, which ran from Olathe to Rosedale, Ks. Harold had been the manager of a grocery store in Kansas City and decided to go into business for himself. The Bowns built the Southridge Market to serve the needs of the growing community of Southridge on the Strang Line. Previously, Southridge residents had to take the Strang Line or drive into Rosedale near today's KU Med Center in order to shop for groceries. The family originally lived in the apartment above the store but eventually purchased a house nearby. The Bowns were prominent in the community and were active in various civic organizations and the Southridge Presbyterian Church, which was located just to the north.      The Bowns sold the store in 1940 but would remain lifelong residents of Roeland Park. The new owner ran a butcher shop in the 1940s. However, when the Roeland Park Shopping Center opened in 1951 with a supermarket, it put the corner Southridge Market out of business. Over the decades, successive owners adapted the building for a variety of businesses. The various generations of Roeland Park residents have different memories. Older residents will remember when it was a convenience store called The Little Store in the 1950s and 1960s. It had a soda fountain, pinball machines and penny candy. In the late 70's and early 80's it was a record store. It has also been a hair salon and hobby store. Today it is the Buena Vista Art Studio, which provides painting and drawing courses for the community. In front of the store is a statue called "Penny Candy," created by local artist Melanie Stone, who has fond memories of buying candy at the Little Store.

The building now known as the Buena Vista Art Studio has been part of the Roeland Park community for nearly 100 years. In 1925, Kansas City grocers Harold and Peggy Bown moved to the then village of Southridge, a stop on the Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad, the "Strang Line." Here they built the Southridge Market, which provided groceries, vegetables and meats. It is the oldest commercial building in Roeland Park and has served the neighborhood in a variety of capacities over the decades.

The Southridge Market

Most of the land of today's Roeland Park was part of the grounds and farm of the Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission, which is today a state historic site. In 1854, this land was granted to the Shawnee Methodist Mission in a treaty between the Shawnees and U.S. Government, which opened up most of the Shawnee Reservation to settlement. This land subsequently became the personal property of the mission's superintendent, Rev. Thomas Johnson and his heirs. When Johnson was murdered during the Civil War, the land was divided amongst his children. Johnson's daughter Eliza had married Kansas City, Missouri Pioneer John Wornall in 1854. Their family inherited 85 acres a half mile west of the mission site after Johnson's death and this was divided into three farms for the Wornall Children after the death of their parents.In 1906, entrepreneur William Strang completed his Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad, commonly known as the Strang Line, from Olathe, Ks. to Rosedale, Ks. He began purchasing tracts of land along the route to develop into towns to help support his railroad. The first was Overland Park, founded in 1906. In 1909, Strang purchased the three farms of the Wornall heirs totaling 85 acres and platted out the community of Southridge, named for the south bluffs overlooking the nearby Turkey Creek valley. It was located on the remnants of the Santa Fe Trail, which crossed Southridge at what is today 51st Street. The Strang Line loosely followed the route of the Santa Fe Trail. What is today 51st Street. was originally called Santa Fe Trail Blvd. Buena Vista St. was originally called Wornall Ave, after the Wornall family farms.Strang began advertising Southridge as a bedroom community for nearby Kansas City, Mo. Advertisements promoted the benefits of clean air, space and cheap land on which to build. Those without automobiles needed not worry, the Strang Line provided easy transportation to Rosedale, Ks., where riders could easily transfer to Kansas City's streetcar system. Strang brought in potential buyers on the Strang Line on the weekends and took them on tour of potential homesites. Despite the early promotions, Southridge was slow to grow. However, by the mid 1920s, a small community had developed supported by the nearby Southridge Market, the Southridge Presbyterian Church and Roesland Elementary School. In 1951, the Southridge community became part of the City of Roeland Park, Ks., The Southridge neighborhood occupies the original townsite plat.This spot marks the location of the Southridge Station on the Strang Line. It also doubled as a community building in the early years. Residents would meet here to discuss community issues and it was the first home of the Southridge Presbyterian Church. in the late 1930s as automobiles became more prevalent and Johnson County developed its bus system, traffic on the Strang Line dwindled and the line declared bankruptcy. The Southridge Station was eventually torn down to make way for Southridge's first gas station.

This is the location of the Southridge Station on the Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad (the Strang Line). In 1906, entrepreneur William Strang purchased completed his Kansas-Missouri Interurban Railroad (the Strang Line), which ran from Olathe, Ks. to Rosedale, Ks. He purchased tracts of land along the route in order to found communities, which would help support his railroad. The first of these was Overland Park, founded in 1906. The Second was Southridge, founded in 1909.

The Southridge Station

Missionaries Isaac McCoy and Johnston Lykins had worked with bands of the Shawnee and other tribes in Indiana and Michigan before their forced removal to the Indian Territory in what is today the state of Kansas. Unlike most, who simply wanted the Native American tribes moved out of the way of American expansion, McCoy believed that it was the best hope to preserve some measure of their languages and cultures. He had witnessed first hand the devastating impact that close contact with American settlers on the frontier had on the way of life of Native Americans and believed that their removal was their best chance for survival. In his eyes, the creation of the Indian Territory would give them the political power to fight for their rights. He even envisioned a new state made from the Indian Territory, where each reservation would become a county. He spent years trying to get the different tribes to work together to this end to no avail.In keeping with this philosophy, instruction at the mission was in the Shawnee language with the help of interpreters. In 1834, Missionary Joatham Meeker arrived at the mission with a printing press. He had devised a new syllabary, which allowed him to put Shawnee and several other Native American languages into written form. Students at the mission as well as numerous adults were soon taught to read and write in their native language. The missionaries disseminated this new syllabary throughout the Indian Territory and published books in various languages including Shawnee (mostly bible translations and religious tracts). The mission also published the first newspaper in what would be the State of Kansas called the Siwinowe Kesabwi "The Shawnee Sun." The paper covered religious topics and news of the day on the reservation. Some of the Shawnee, who had learned to read and write, contributed to the paper.In 1838, Dr. Francis Baker became superintendent of the mission. He would eventually build a Baptist church at what is today 55th and Walmer in Mission, Ks. Here he shepherded a small congregation of Shawnee Baptists and preached against the corrupting influences of alcohol and slavery on the reservation. Barker was an abolitionist, which set him at odds with many of his neighbors, including the Shawnee Methodist Mission, which not only condoned slavery, but encouraged the Shawnees to adopt it. Barker is known to have purchased the freedom of as many as 9 enslaved people, some of whom later worked at the mission. The mission was rumored to be the first stop on the Underground Railroad out of Westport on the way to Topeka, Canada and freedom.    When the Shawnees signed a new treaty with the federal government in 1854, a fund was created for their education. This fund was awarded solely to the Shawnee Methodist Mission. Moreover, the treaty resulted in the majority of the Shawnee moving to a reservation in what it today Oklahoma. Without financial support from the government and with few pupils, the Shawnee Baptist Mission was closed and abandoned in 1855. The mission's buildings were burned during the Civil War.Dr. Barker and Bedford Drisdom, a man whose freedom he had purchased, moved their families to Lawrence, Ks. where they became some of the original settlers. Dr. Barker later played a role on the Underground Railroad in Lawrence. During Quantrill's attack on Lawrence, the Bushwackers specifically sought out Dr. Barker and raided his home. However, Dr. Barker had passed away 6 months earlier. Bedford survived the raid by hiding in a ditch outside his home. Later he helped found the 9th Street Baptist Church in Lawrence, which exists to this day.

The Shawnee Baptist Mission was founded in 1831 by Isaac McCoy and his son-in-law Johnston Lykins near what is today 49th and Nall Ave in Roeland Park, Ks. Unlike the nearby Methodist and Quaker Missions, the Baptists sought to help the Shawnee and other tribes become self-sufficient through a gradual change to western Christian society without abandoning their culture. To this end, they promoted teaching in individual villages and operated a day school at the mission, which never totaled more than 40 students at a time. There was an emphasis on teaching in the Shawnee language. When the Shawnees signed a new treaty with the federal government in 1854, a fund was created for their education. This fund was awarded solely to the Shawnee Methodist Mission. Moreover, the treaty resulted in the majority of the Shawnee moving to a reservation in what it today Oklahoma. Without financial support from the government and with few pupils, the Shawnee Baptist Mission was closed and abandoned in 1855. The mission buildings were burned during the Civil War.

The Shawnee Baptist Mission

The Shawnee Baptist Mission was founded in 1831 near present day 49th and Nall in Roeland Park, Ks. It was a day school and in addition to religious instruction, it taught a small number of Shawnee children to read and write in their native language as well as the skills needed to become a subsistence farmer such as agriculture, blacksmithing and carpentry. The mission also established the first printing press in the Indian Territory and created books (mainly religious tracts) in several different native languages.In 1838, Dr. Francis Barker became the superintendent of the mission. He built a small church about a half mile southwest of the mission next to an existing Shawnee graveyard. It was located on the Santa Fe Trail shortly before it turned south towards Olathe at the point where the California Road branched off to the west. Dr. Barker was an abolitionist, which set him at odds with the missionaries at the nearby Shawnee Methodist Mission. He purchased the freedom of as many as 9 enslaved people, some of whom later worked at the mission and became members of this church.The mission closed in 1855 and its buildings and church were abandoned. The mission buildings were destroyed during the Civil War. The site of the church and graveyard can be found the 1874 Historic Atlas of Johnson County, which marks the church as an abandoned building. It is unknown what eventually happened to the church or graveyard. They do not appear on subsequent maps.In 1929, Baptist Churches from all parts of Kansas held a convention in Kansas City, Kansas celebrating 100 years in the Indian Territory and later the State of Kansas. To celebrate this milestone, the Olathe chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned a stone commemorating the Shawnee Baptist Mission and placed it at the site of the Baptist Church and Shawnee Graveyard. The text of the stone has lead to confusion for modern historians and local residents."To commemorate Baptist Mission to Shawnee Indians. Founded 1831. First Printing 1833. Moved to this site 1848"In actuality, the mission itself never moved from its original location and the stone sits on the site of the later church.

In 1929, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization placed a stone commemorating the Shawnee Baptist Mission at what is today 55th and Walmer St. in Mission, Ks. It was placed here by mistake, since the actual mission site was near 49th and Nall in neighboring Roeland Park. However, this was the location of the mission's church and graveyard. The church was built in 1848 adjacent to an existing Shawnee graveyard by Dr. Francis Barker, the last superintendent of the Shawnee Baptist Mission. Here he lead a congregation of Shawnees, freed former enslaved people, who worked at the mission and the white missionaries and their families. When the Shawnee Baptist Mission closed in 1855, the church remained but was destroyed during the Civil War.

The Shawnee Baptist Mission Church and Graveyard

The Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, had a long-standing relationship with a number of Native American Tribes, including the Shawnee. Starting in 1804, they had operated a Shawnee mission on the tribe's reservation in Ohio. In 1834, church missionaries accepted an invitation from the Shawnee to build a new mission and manual labor school on the tribe's new reservation in what is today Johnson County. When the missionaries arrived in 1835, they leased 320 acres for the operation of the school and supporting farm. At first, the school operated out of two log cabins. As with the neighboring Shawnee Baptist and Shawnee Methodist Missions, instruction at the school included academic subjects such as reading and writing but also the practical skills needed to survive as a subsistence farmer on the edge of the wilderness, such as farming, blacksmithing, and carpentry. Girls were instructed in the domestic arts. The school averaged 40-50 students, mostly drawn from the Shawnee, and some were sent from other nearby reservations. Similar to other mission schools, cultural assimilation was promoted at the school with instruction in English, along with the expectation that students and Indian staff abide by Quaker religious and cultural mores. Students lived with the missionary's families. Religious instruction was supplied by these families and attendance in Quaker meetings. Students were primarily from the Shawnee Tribe but other area reservations also sent their children to school here. The tribe also sometimes entrusted the school with the care of orphans. Some of the most prominent Shawnee at the time were educated here, including Chief Charles Bluejacket, who would later have a 200-acre farm in Shawnee, KS. The mission was supported by a large farm that was worked by the missionaries and the students.In 1844, a flood on the Kansas River and Turkey Creek wiped out a large number of the Shawnee Tribe's farms and brought starvation to areas of the reservation. The Quakers appealed to their brethren back east for support. The money raised allowed the mission to distribute food and supplies to those devastated by the flood and also paid for the construction of 30'X60" three-story log school house. The building was constructed of native oak and walnut, which the tribe helped drag to the site from the government sawmill several miles to the north.The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 opened up the Kansas Territory to settlement and led to a new treaty between the federal government and the Shawnee Nation. That treaty allotted 200 acres to each member of the tribe that they could either keep or sell. Many sold their land and moved on to a new reservation within the Cherokee Reservation in present-day Oklahoma. Many chose to keep their land and remain, but they struggled to keep their culture and autonomy as settlers flooded into the new Kansas Territory.The Kansas-Nebraska Act also decreed that the legality of slavery in the Kansas Territory would be settled by popular vote. Political violence spread throughout eastern Kansas as the pro and anti-slavery forces clashed in a period known to historians as Bleeding Kansas. The Quaker missionaries were firmly on the side of the anti-slavery movement. When pro-slavery men, many from Missouri, elected a pro-slavery legislature and drew up a pro-slavery constitution, anti-slavery Free Staters elected their own legislature and wrote a constitution banning slavery. The Quaker missionaries joined this effort, and one was even elected to the rebel Free State legislature. Pro-slavery forces attacked the mission in 1856 in an attempt to drive the Quakers out of the territory. They threatened the missionaries and students before ransacking the mission buildings and stealing everything they could. The attack crippled the school's operations, and it was forced to close for nearly a year.The political violence was also devastating to the remaining Shawnee in the Kansas Territory. The Shawnee were often caught in the middle and indiscriminately targeted by forces on both sides. This intensified during the Civil War, and most of them either sold their land or abandoned it before moving to the reservation in Oklahoma. By 1870, the vast majority of the Shawnee had left Kansas. With diminished government support and few students, the Shawnee Quaker Mission closed for good in 1869. The main mission building survived until 1915 when it was sold to developers, who used its lumber in the construction of area homes. The surviving headstones from the mission's cemetery were moved to the Shawnee Tribal Cemetery in Shawnee, Ks. In 1923, the Daughters of the American Revolution marked the approximate site of the mission school at today's 61st and Goodman in Overland Park, Ks. with a commemorative stone. The only other trace of the mission that remains is nearby Hadley St., named for Quaker missionary Jeremiah Hadley.

Quaker missionaries first established a mission and school among the Shawnee Tribe in Ohio around 1808. After the Shawnee were compelled by the federal government to move to their reservation in present-day Johnson County, Kansas, tribal leaders invited the Quakers in 1834 to establish a new mission. The Quakers arrived in 1835 and leased 320 acres from the tribe for the planned school and farm. The mission operated at first out of log homes, and later, a three-story log schoolhouse was built at this location. In 1923, the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a stone here to recognize the historical significance of the mission school, which was located approximately at the modern-day intersection of 61st and Goodman Streets in Overland Park. The Shawnee Quaker or "Friends" Mission operated through 1869.

The Shawnee Quaker Mission (1835-1869)

Born in 1823 in County Meath, Ireland, John Roe immigrated to the United States in 1850. Five years later, he married Mary Roseanna Clarke, the daughter of Irish immigrants. In 1857, John was granted a homestead patent in Daviess County, Missouri, where the couple soon moved and started a family. They eventually had six children. John farmed corn and raised cattle. The farm prospered, and the family purchased additional land, including hundreds of acres in Saline County, Missouri.    In 1882, John purchased 260 acres in northeast Johnson County, Kansas, from Alexander Johnson, the son of Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission founder and county namesake Thomas Johnson. Roe began a cattle ranch for both the Kansas City and Chicago markets. When the cattle were ready for market, they were driven down what is today Johnson Drive to the rail terminal in Merriam. Over the next few years, Roe purchased more land from the Johnson family until he owned about 1600 acres, including most of the land of what is today Roeland Park.    In 1890, the Roe family moved to Johnson County, Kansas, and John began construction of the family home at what is today the northwest corner of Johnson Drive and Roe Blvd. The two story, sixteen room Roe home, named “The Cedars of Merriam,” was a fixture of the area for more than 60 years. John Roe was an advocate for the development of northeast Johnson County and lobbied the county government to build good roads and bring utilities such as natural gas and electricity to the area. In 1906, he granted an easement across his property to the Missouri &amp; Kansas Interurban Railroad (known locally as the Strang Line) recognizing the centrality between infastructure and development.   After the death of John Roe in 1920, the cattle operations ended, and the Roe children found themselves “land rich and cash poor.” Little by little, they began to sell off pieces of the farm to pay the taxes on the rest. They also began giving sections away, including five acres for the construction of St. Agnes Church and School and the original Roeland Park pool site at 47th and Roe Lane. In 1937, developer Charles Vawter purchased 280 acres north of the Roe home for a development he named Roeland Park in recognition of the influence of the Roe family. In 1951, the name was chosen for the newly incorporated City of Roeland Park, which occupies much of the original Roe farm.     The Roe family home was torn down in 1958 to make way for a cloverleaf interchange at Johnson Drive and Roe Boulevard.

Now part of an interchange connecting Johnson Drive and Roe Boulevard to Highway 169, this was the location of the home of John and Mary Roe, namesakes of Roeland Park. The home was known locally as the "Cedars of Merriam" and was built in 1890. The estate was a fixture in the area until it was demolished in 1958 to create the highway interchange. The Roe family sold 280 acres to developer Charles Vawter in 1937. Vawter named his development Roeland Park, and fourteen years later, that name was chosen for the newly incorporated suburban city.

Roe Family Homesite

In 1892, Bohemian immigrant John Tesar purchased 50-acres from the descendants of Thomas Johnson, who owned most of the land of what is today Roeland Park, Ks. Here he and his wife Magdelina, started a dairy farm and had their daughter Anna May in 1893. They built this home, completed in 1896, on the crest of a hill overlooking their farm. Ana May would have attended the original Shawnee Mission School (today Roesland Elementary), then located in the small hamlet of Red Clover on the grounds of the former Shawnee Methodist Indian Mission a quarter mile to the east.At the time, this area of Johnson County was very rural and isolated, despite its close proximity to Kansas City, Mo. However, this was about to change. Entrepreneur William B. Strang built the Kansas Missouri interurban railroad (the Strang Line) in 1906, a quarter mile north of the Tesar Farm. In 1909, Strang purchased land from the heirs of Thomas Johnson and John Wornalll and platted out the Southridge subdivision immediately north of the farm. Strang began promoting his real estate venture by using the Strang Line to bring in prospective buyers from Kansas City. Tesar joined Strang and other large land owners in the area such as John Roe in petitioning the county government to improve area roads and bring public utilities to the area. The Tesars became prominent in the new community of Southridge. They were founding members of the Southridge Presbyterian Church and John was a founding member of the Roesland School board and was frequently elected to county offices such as Mission Township Constable. Anna May married and her husband moved into the home. They started their family here and helped manage the family dairy business.As the area began to develop in the first half of the 20th century, little by little housing developments began to surround the Tesar farm. By the time of John's death in 1948, it was an island in a sea of suburbia. Today Roeland Park's Shawnee Hills, Mission Park and Buena Vista Heights neighborhoods occupy the northern half of the Tesar Farm. The Fairway Office Park occupies the southern portion.The Tesar Home, which has been remodeled and expanded several times over the years, is the only reminder of these prominent early residents. It is the oldest home in Roeland Park, Ks.

In 1896, Bohemian Immigrant John Tesar and his wife Magdelina purchased a 50-acre property at the southern end of what is today Roeland Park, Ks. Here they operated a dairy farm for decades. The Tesar family became prominent in the nascent community of Southridge (today Roeland Park). They were founding members of the Southridge Presbyterian Church and John was on the board of Roesland School. The Tesar home, built around 1896 is the oldest surviving home in what is today Roeland Park. It has been renovated and expanded multiple times over the years.

The Tesar Home

The Shawnee Chief Pa-Ka-tas-Ka-Kah, better known by his American name Joseph Parks, was born in 1797 in present-day Michigan. Nothing is known about his early life beyond his own account of those years. Parks shared that he was raised in the household of American General Lewis Cass, where he learned to speak English and live by European-American customs. As a young man, Parks was employed as an interpreter for the army under General Cass. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 decreed that the native peoples of the eastern United States were to be removed to reservations in a new Indian Territory in what is today Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. General Cass was charged with overseeing the removal of the tribes. He commissioned Joseph Parks to lead about 400 members of the Hog's Creek Band of Shawnees in Ohio to their new reservation in what is today Johnson County, Kansas. They arrived in their new home in 1833.Since Parks was familiar with both the Shawnee and American language and culture, he acted as an intermediary for the tribe. His connections led to opportunities for trade and acquiring real estate. He became a prominent businessman in the nearby town of Westport, which was founded the year of his arrival at the reservation. Parks would eventually own property and businesses in Westport and even became a founding member of the town's Masonic Lodge. Parks was known both as an intermediary and businessman and a defender of the rights of the Shawnee. He used his experience and influence to lobby the federal government to protect the reservation from the encroachment of American settlers, who attempted to squat on Shawnee land, sell whiskey, or otherwise abuse or take advantage of the tribe. It is important to note that Parks differed from many Shawnees, as he firmly believed that their tribe and others should abandon their traditional way of life and become settled farmers.When the U.S. Army recruited Shawnee men to fight the Seminole Tribe in Florida, which was resisting its forced relocation, Parks enlisted. In the ensuing First Seminole War, he was promoted to captain for his leadership and bravery in the conflict and the fact that all of his men returned unharmed. After that war, he was known as Captain Joe Parks.In 1844, Parks built a large log home on his farm at 4824 Rainbow Blvd, in Westwood Ks. He was an associate of Rev. Thomas Johnson, head of the nearby Shawnee Methodist Mission. He himself became a member of the branch of the Southern Methodist Church established by Johnson on the reservation. Moreover, like Johnson, Parks was pro-slavery and was known to have owned 8-10 slaves on his plantation. According to one story, when two of Parks' slaves escaped, he tracked them all the way into Iowa, a free state. When he captured them and attempted to bring them back, the authorities in Iowa stopped him and threatened to arrest him for kidnapping if he didn't release them.The Parks home was located along the Santa Fe Trail just outside Westport, so it naturally became a destination for many travelers and merchants who wanted to do business or simply meet the famous Native American leader. He was eventually elected a Chief by the tribe. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 opened up the Indian Territory, now Kansas Territory, to settlement, Chief Parks led a delegation of the Shawnee to Washington to negotiate a new treaty. That treaty granted each member of the tribe 200 acres that they could either sell or keep. They also had the option of moving to Oklahoma. It granted Parks himself 1310 acres, covering much of today's Rosedale, Westwood, and Westwood Hills.Parks was the largest Native landowner in the new Territory of Kansas. When he passed away in 1859, his land was divided among his descendants. Little by little, over the next 60 years, the descendants sold off the land to developers. The home itself was torn down in 1905. Parks and his wife, a Wyandot, whose Wyandot name by some accounts was named Olathe and was that city's namesake, were both buried in the Shawnee Tribal Cemetery in what is today Shawnee, Kansas.

This is the site of the former home of Pa-Ka-tas-Ka-Kah, commonly known by his American name, Chief Captain Joseph Parks, who was one of the most influential members of the Shawnee Tribe living on their reservation in what is now Johnson County. In 1833, in accordance with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Parks led about 400 members of the Hog Creek Band of the Shawnee Tribe from their former reservation in Ohio to their new reservation in the Indian Territory in today's Johnson County. In 1845, he built a large log home just west of Westport on the Santa Fe Trail. He became an influential Chief of the Shawnee Tribe and a prosperous businessman. The Chief's reputation grew nationally, and his home was a frequent destination for travelers on the trail. In 1854, Parks helped negotiate a new treaty that granted each member of the tribe 200 acres of the reservation that they could keep or sell as they wished. The treaty also granted 1310 acres to Parks, with land in today's Rosedale, Westwood, and Westwood Hills communities. After his death in 1859, the land was divided amongst his descendants, who gradually sold all of the land in sections to developers.

Chief Captain Joseph Parks Home

Jeff and Joy Stehney didn’t set out to create a barbecue restaurant. After attending a barbecue competition in 1990, the couple fell in love with the food and camaraderie they found there, and simply wanted to extend that experience by starting a barbecue competition team. Purchasing a smoker and gathering a few friends, they did just that, dubbing themselves “Slaughterhouse Five.”The Stehney’s team won so many contests that people started asking them to cook barbecue for weddings and other special events. Jeff and Joy refused at first; they were in the restaurant industry and knew how much work creating their own establishment would be. Then they met Joe Don Davidson, founder and owner of the Oklahoma Joe's Smoker Company, on the competition circuit, and decided to risk it. They opened the first Oklahoma Joe’s restaurant with Davidson in 1996 in Stillwater, OK.The next year, Jeff and Joy purchased a gas station at the corner of 47th Avenue and Mission Road in Kansas City, Kansas, not far from their home, when the owner of the station decided to close the fried chicken counter he’d been operating inside. In 1997, Joe Davidson sold his smoker business. The Stillwater restaurant closed shortly after, and Jeff and Joy bought out Davisson’s share of their Kansas City restaurant. Joe’s Kansas City BBQ was born, and the Stehneys been the only owners since then.Jeff and Joy aren’t interested in becoming the biggest barbecue restaurant in the city, and they’re aware of their unique role in the Kansas City barbecue tradition, which stretches back over a century. They now own three Joe’s locations and The 180 Room, a private dining and event space, and still love showing up to work each day, drawn by the same flames and flavors as their first competition.

An iconic green-and-white gas station at the corner of 47th Avenue and Mission Road in Kansas City, KS, has been an essential Kansas City barbecue stop since 1997. Jeff and Joy Stehney originally opened this barbecue joint that year as the second restaurant in the Oklahoma Joe’s franchise, which they co-founded with Joe Don Davidson in Stillwater, OK. But when Davidson sold his business, the Stehneys bought his share of the company and started Joe’s Kansas City BBQ, a new and unmissable part of Kansas City’s long barbecue tradition.

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Roeland Park History Tour

Shawnee Methodist Mission Cemetery

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