Olathe, Kansas

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

History

19th century
Olathe was created by Dr. John T. Barton in Spring 1857. He came to the center of Johnson County, Kansas. Purportedly, Barton asked a Shawnee interpreter how to say "Beautiful" in his native language. The interpreter responded, "Olathe."

Olathe was incorporated in 1857. It was not the first city in Johnson County. Because it grew very quickly, it became the county seat in October 1859. 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.William E. Connelley, Quantrill and the Border Wars (Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Torch Press, 1909), pp. 234, 271. This book may also be found on the Internet Archive website, at https://archive.org/stream/quantrillborderw00connuoft/quantrillborderw00connuoft_djvu.txt .Capt. James Christian, report, The War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899), Series II, Vol. IV, p. 721.John W. Noble, letter, The War of the Rebellion, Series II, Vol. IV, pp. 721-2. 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).Connelley, pp. 397-8.First Lieut. Cyrus Leland, report, The War of the Rebellion (1883), Series I, Vol. XXII, Part I, pp. 591-2.Brig. Gen. W. H. M. Fishback, report, The War of the Rebellion (1893), Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, p. 619.

When the Confederates surrendered, the military post was ended in August 1865.Maj. Gen. John Pope, report, The War of the Rebellion (1896), Series I, Vol. XLVIII, Part I, p. 351.

21st century
In 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau said Olathe was the 24th fastest-growing city in the United States.  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."

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.

Geography
The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water. Olathe has two public lakes: Lake Olathe and Cedar Lake with .

Olathe's Black Bob Park is named after Hathawekela Shawnee Chief Black Bob.

Weather
Olathe has a humid continental climate. It has cold winters and hot summers. Temperatures range from an average high of  and low  in January to an average high of nearly  in July. The temperature reaches  an average of 36 days per year and  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  very often.

The area gets about  of precipitation during an average year. Most of the rain happens in May and June.

 Source: Monthly Station Climate Summaries, 1971–2000, U.S. National Climatic Data Center Month  Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec  Year Notes: Temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation includes rain and melted snow or sleet in inches; median values are provided for precipitation and snowfall because mean averages may be misleading. Mean and median values are for the 30-year period 1971–2000; temperature extremes are for the station's period of record (1939–2001). The station is located three miles (5 km) east of Olathe at 38°53′N 94°46′W, elevation .

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.

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

Economy
The headquarters of Garmin, a company famous for making GPS systems, is in Olathe.

Biggest employers
The city's 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report says that the biggest employers in the city are:

 # Employer # of Employees1Olathe Unified School District4,5002GARMIN International2,7233Farmers Insurance2,6004Olathe Medical Center2,5005Johnson County2,1476Convergys9507City of Olathe8658Honeywell (Bendix/King)8509Mid-Central Sysco78010TransAm Trucking750

Sister cities
 25px Ocotlán, Jalisco, Mexico

Friendship cities
25px Maebashi, Gunma, Japan

References

Other websites

 City of Olathe 

Category:Cities in Johnson County, Kansas
Category:County seats in Kansas
Category:1857 establishments in Kansas Territory