Olathe, Kansas

Olathe, Kansas
City and County seat
Olathe City Hall (2010)
Flag
Location within Johnson County and Kansas
KDOT map of Johnson County (legend)
Coordinates: 38°52′58″N 94°49′13″W / 38.88278°N 94.82028°W / 38.88278; -94.82028[1]
Country	United States
State	Kansas
County	Johnson
Founded	1857
Incorporated	1857, 1868[2]
Government
• Type	Mayor–council
• Mayor	John Bacon
Area [3]
• Total	62.65 sq mi (162.27 km2)
• Land	61.89 sq mi (160.30 km2)
• Water	0.76 sq mi (1.96 km2)  1.21%
Elevation [1]	1,037 ft (316 m)
Population  (2020)[4][5]
• Total	141,290
• Density	2,300/sq mi (870/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes	66051,66061,66062,66063
Area code	913
FIPS code	20-52575 [1]
GNIS ID	485633[1]
Website	olatheks.org

Olathe is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Johnson County.^[6] In 2020, 141,290 people lived in Olathe.^[5] It is the fourth biggest city in Kansas.^[7]

History

19th century

Olathe was created by Dr. John T. Barton in Spring 1857. He came to the center of Johnson County, Kansas. He later told about 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."^[source?] Purportedly, Barton asked a Shawnee interpreter how to say "Beautiful" in his native language. The interpreter responded, "Olathe."^[8]

Olathe was incorporated in 1857.^[9] It was not the first city in Johnson County. Because it grew very quickly, it became the county seat in October 1859.^[8] Growing hatred across the United States about the issue of slavery led to many fights between abolitionist settlers and nearby slave state Missouri. These fights would grow, and they would become a part of the bigger fight known as Bleeding Kansas. When Kansas became a state in 1861, it was a free state. When it became a state, violence stopped. Peace, however, would continue to elude Olathe for many years to come. In 1861 Union officials and local military forces created a military post in the city. It had one company of soldiers, and it had the local militia.

On September 6, 1862, William Quantrill led guerrilla Confederate soldiers in an attack against Olathe. A half dozen people died, and most of the city was destroyed. Quantrill captured the outpost, and he tried forcing the men to fight for the Confederacy.^[10][11][12] Kansas militia continued to stay in the Olathe military post for the rest of the Civil War.

Confederate soldiers would try to attack Olathe two more times. The first time happened on August 20–21, 1863 as Quantrill was going through on his way to Lawrence, Kansas (see Lawrence Massacre). The second raid happened on October 24-5, 1864, when Confederate Major General Sterling Price with 10,000 men went through on their retreat South (see Price's Raid).^[13][14][15]

When the Confederates surrendered, the military post was ended in August 1865.^[16]

21st century

In 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau said Olathe was the 24th fastest-growing city in the United States.^[17][18] The same year, CNN/Money and Money magazine said Olathe was #11 on its list of the "100 Best Cities to Live in the United States."^[19]

On February 22, 2017, Adam Purinton said racial things and shot at crowded Austins Bar and Grill in southern Olathe. He shot and injured three people. One person died. The victims were Alok Madasani, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, and Ian Grillot. Purinton was later arrested in Clinton, Missouri. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. This shooting got international attention because two of the victims were Indian.^[20]

Geography

The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of 62.65 square miles (162.26 km²). Of that, 61.89 square miles (160.29 km²) is land and 0.76 square miles (1.97 km²) is water.^[3] Olathe has two public lakes: Lake Olathe and Cedar Lake with 45 acres (0.18 km²).

Olathe's Black Bob Park is named after Hathawekela Shawnee Chief Black Bob.^[21]

Weather

Olathe has a humid continental climate. It has cold winters and hot summers. Temperatures range from an average high of 39 °F (4 °C) and low 20 °F (−7 °C) in January to an average high of nearly 90 °F (32 °C) in July. The temperature reaches 90 °F (32 °C) an average of 36 days per year and 100 °F (38 °C) an average of 3 days per year. The minimum temperature falls below freezing (32 °F) on average of 102 days per year. It does not go below 10 °F (−12 °C) very often.

The area gets about 40 inches (1,000 mm) of precipitation during an average year. Most of the rain happens in May and June.

People

2020 census

The 2020 census says that there were 141,290 people, 50,070 households, and 37,409 families living in Olathe. Of the households, 71.6% owned their home and 28.4% rented their home.

The median age was 36.3 years. Of the people, 73.9% were White, 6.0% were Black, 4.5% were Asian, 0.5% were Native American, 0.1% were Pacific Islanders, 4.8% were from some other race, and 10.3% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.4% of the people.^[4][23]

2010 census

The 2010 census says that there were 125,872 people, 44,507 households, and 33,274 families living in Olathe.^[24]

Economy

The headquarters of Garmin, a company famous for making GPS systems, is in Olathe.^[25]

Biggest employers

The city's 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report says that the biggest employers in the city are:^[26]

Sister cities

• Ocotlán, Jalisco, Mexico

Friendship cities

• Maebashi, Gunma, Japan

References

Other websites

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olathe, Kansas.

Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Olathe.

• City of Olathe