Brief History from Kansas
State Historical Society:
Johnson County was
one of the original 33 counties organized
by the Territorial Legislature in 1855. It
was not until
September 17, 1857, that the county
was officially organized by Reverends
Thomas Johnson and William Johnson;
Johnston
Lykins; Isaac McCoy; Jonathan
Meeker; Thomas E. Mulvane; William
Williams; Rynear Morgan; William Holmes;
J. D.
Allen; J. C. Forest; and L. F.
Bancroft. Named for Reverend Thomas
Johnson, it contains the cities of
Countryside, DeSoto,
Edgerton, Gardner, Lake Quivira
(part), Leawood, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission,
Mission Hills, Olathe, Overland Park,
Prairie
Village, Shawnee, Spring Hill
(part), Westwood and Westwood Hills.
The founding of
Shawnee Methodist Mission and Indian
Manual Labor School in 1839 was one of the
most important events
in the early county history. The
Shawnee Methodist Mission was used as the
basis for the novel, Seven Trees,
by Janice Young
Brooks.
The first church,
other than the Mission, was established in
Shawnee in 1840 and was known as the "Old
Log Church."
The first county fair was held in
Edgerton/Gardner (date unknown), and the
first school districts were all formed at
the same
time through a state law.
The outwitting of
Missourians at the Battle of Bull Creek
has become legendary in the county. The
battle occurred on
September 1, 1856.
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