Olathe, Kansas
Olathe ( oh-LAY-thə) is a city in and is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. Located in northeastern Kansas, it is also the fourth most populous city in the state, with a population of 125,872 at the 2010 census. Olathe is also the fourth-largest city in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is bordered by the cities of Lenexa to the north, Overland Park to the east, and Gardner to the southwest.
History
19th century
Olathe was founded by Dr. John T. Barton in the spring of 1857. He rode to the center of Johnson County, Kansas, and staked two quarter sections of land as the town site. He later described his ride to friends: "...the prairie was covered with verbena and other wild flowers. I kept thinking the land was beautiful and that I should name the town Beautiful." Purportedly, Barton asked a Shawnee interpreter how to say "Beautiful" in his native language. The interpreter responded, "Olathe."
Olathe was incorporated as a city in 1857.
While Olathe was not the first city established in Johnson County, it quickly became the largest and was named the county seat in October 1859. The city's early days were filled with violence, as pro-slavery forces from nearby Missouri often clashed with local abolitionists. These conflicts were known on a large scale as Bleeding Kansas.
