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2.2 Johnson County History
The first inhabitants of Johnson County were the Shawnee and Kansas Indians who found a
plethora of bears, beavers, mink, otters, and wolves for sustenance. In 1825, the Shawnee
reservation was set aside for these Indians and by 1844 the reservation had more than
1,600,000 acres.
The county was officially established in 1855. The first battle of the Civil War that occured
within Johnson County was the battle of Blow-hard. Among Johnson County’s colorful past was
the raid on Olathe by C.R. Jenison, followed by Quantrill. Quantrill next raided Shawnee -
nearly burning the entire city down.
After the Civil War years, Johnson County grew at a rapid pace. In 1870 the population was
13,000 and by 1910 it had risen to 18,288. After WWII the population had grown to 63,000 and
by the 60s that figure doubled. After the opening of Interstates 35 and 435, rural areas were
opened to new development, ultimately increasing the employment number for businesses by
200%. 1
2.2.1 County Geography/Topography
Johnson County borders Leavenworth and Wyandotte Counties to the north, the State of
Missouri to the east, Miami County on the south, and Douglas County on the west. The area is
approximately 480 square miles. Johnson County lies partly within the Attenuated Drift Border
division of the Dissected Till Plains (Glaciated Region) and partly in the Osage Cuestas division
of the Osage Plains (Schoewe, 1949). Much of the area consists of gently rolling uplands with
hilly areas along the streams. North-flowing streams tributary into the Kansas River, such as Kill
Creek, Cedar Creek, Mill Creek, and have steeper gradients and greater local relief than eastflowing
and south-flowing streams. Relief of 150 to 250 feet is common within a mile of the
north-flowing streams in their more hilly parts. Local relief along the east-flowing tributaries of
the Missouri River and the south-flowing tributaries of the Marais des Cygnes River within a mile
of the stream generally is less than 150 feet.
Figure 2.3 reflects a map of the Johnson County planning area:
2.8