Brief History from
Kansas State Historical Society:
Pottawatomie County was
organized on February 20, 1857, by Michael
Floersch; Jacob Henry Haid; Andrew Noll,
Michael
Repp; Emil Ebert; Franz Anton Dekat;
and Gabriel Zoeller. Named for the
Pottawatomie Indians, this county contains
the
cities of Westmoreland, Olsburg,
Belvue, Emmett, Havensville, Wheaton,
Louisville, Manhattan (part), Onaga, St.
George,
St. Marys and Wamego.
Pottawatomie County was
one of the early sites of the Kansas
Pacific Railroad in 1867, and saw the
building of Tuttle Creek
Reservoir in the 1950s. In 1961 the
proposal of the National Prarie Park was
given. Even though the park did not gain
approval, the lands still exist. The
building of the Jeffrey Energy Center,
commencing in 1974, has increased the
valuation of
the county from less than $50
million to a quarter billion dollars.
The first church was the
St. Marys Mission founded in 1848. The
next church was probably the Catholic
church in Flush
which served as a station for the
mission. The first county fair was held in
1907, probably at Onaga. The fair is now
combined
with the 4-H fair. The first schools
were at St. Marys Mission. The first
public school district was organized in
Louisville
Township but the date is uncertain.
St. Mary's was established
as a girls academy in 1869 after American
Indians were moved out of the area. The
college was
chartered in 1870. The boys school
opened in the 1880s and granted its first
degrees to three young men in 1882. Among
the
well known students to attend St.
Mary’s was Spencer Tracy. The future movie
star lived at the boarding school after
his father
was transferred to the Kansas City
area from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The
college closed its doors in 1931 during
the Great
Depression. It became a seminary in
the 1930s.
Pottawatomie has been home
to many interesting public figures. Jess
Willard, heavyweight boxing champion of
the world
(1915-1919), was raised at Emmett
and operated a livery stable there. He was
known as the "Pottawatomie Giant." Walter
Chrysler was born in Wamego while
his father was employed as a machinist for
the railroad. Wiley Taylor, originally of
Louisville, and Frank Bushey, of
Wheaton, were early big league ball
players. Ernie Quigley, St. Marys, was a
noted sports
official both in college and major
league baseball in the 1940s and 1950s.
Robert Kaul, who practiced law in Wamego,
served
as a district judge and a Kansas
Supreme Court Justice (1965-1977). Delmas
C. "Buzz" Hill, of Wamego served as a
federal
judge. Richard Rogers, born and
raised in Wamego, currently (1987) serves
as a federal judge.
The Oregon Trail, one of
the biggest westward trail routes, runs
through Pottawatomie County. Numerous
movies and books
have been made about the trail.
The county holds such
interesting sites as the Indian Pay
Station, the Old Dutch Mill, Wamego, the
Coffey Archeological Site
on Tuttle Creek, the Vermillion
Archeological District, and St. Joseph's
Church, known as the "Pearl of the
Prairies".
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