Osawatomie and the surrounding area are home to eight historic structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
The Osawatomie Musem Foundation appreciates Mark Govea for providing most of the photographs for this webpage.
Adair Cabin (John Brown Cabin)
John Brown came to Osawatomie in October 1855, after five of his sons, who had come in the spring, had appealed to him for help against harassment by Proslavery elements. While in Kansas, he was involved in a number of incidents that kept feelings stirred up in the eastern Kansas counties in the so-called “Bleeding Kansas” era. The “battle” of Osawatomie on August 30, 1856, was one such skirmish. Although he lived in Kansas for only about 20 months during his entire life, John Brown’s activities have been closely associated with the state. The Samuel Adair Cabin, usually called the “John Brown Cabin,” was frequently visited by Brown and occasionally served as his headquarters.
John Brown Museum – Kansas Historical Society (Website)
National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form Reg No 71000319 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-4220-00002 (PDF)
Asylum Bridge
The great evolution of truss bridge construction began in the United States soon after the publication of Squire Whipple’s historic work on stresses in 1840. Prior to this the design work was essentially that of trial and error, experience and judgement. The Warren and Pratt trusses were rational designs and lent themselves readily to the system of analysis postulated by Whipple. They were, therefore, readily and rapidly accepted and formed the foundation for a greater part of American truss design. The Parker truss with its polygonal top chord is a variant of the Pratt truss. This arched top chord made for a stronger bridge while using the same amount of material. Although the Asylum bridge is being classified as a Parker it obviously shows some differences. The top chord curves downward rather than upward and the towers at each abutment give it a cantilevered appearance. This design is unique to Kansas and a study of bridge inventories from other states has not revealed any similar example. It is being proposed as unique not only to Kansas but to the United States. As the only such example it is worthy of listing. The bridge is also important to the history of the state in that it is a physical remnant of a period in the state’s history when the erection of such a structure had significant economic importance to a community. The existing tensions simmering in the locality could be brought to a boil by actual and perceived political maneuvering attendant to all such major construction.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Reg No 89002187 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-4220-00011 (PDF)
Carey’s Ford Bridge
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
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Carey’s Ford Bridge 
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Carey’s Ford Bridge 
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
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Carey’s Ford Bridge 
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Carey’s Ford Bridge 
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
Carey’s Ford Bridge 
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Carey’s Ford Bridge
Carey’s Ford bridge, built in 1909, consists of a main camelback span which is 159 feet long and 15.5 feet wide. The two warren pony spans are 37 feet above the water level. The members of a truss bridge are designated either as chord members or web members. Chord members are those mainly defining the outlines of the structure and they are termed lower or upper chord members depending on whether they are found at the bottom or the top of the structure. Members between the chords are web members. They are called posts or ties if they sustain compression or tension respectively. In the instance of the Carey’s Ford bridge, as with all camelback trusses, the web members are alternately vertical and inclined. The inclined members are in tension and the verticals in compression. In the case of the two pony trusses, the diagonals carry both compressive as well as tensile forces.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Reg No 89002179 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-0000-00192 (PDF)
Congregational Church (Old Stone Church)
Old Stone Church 
Old Stone Church 
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Old Stone Church
The Congregational Church of Osawatomie, built 1858-1861, is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under both Criteria A and C. The building is associated with the early development of Osawatomie and the Border Warfare days, events that made a significant contribution to our history. It also embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period and method of building construction. It illustrates how, even in a· period of political and social unrest over the slavery question and the poverty of a territory torn by that conflict and drought, a group could come together to build a house of worship for themselves and their community. A few people banded together during this period of great adversity to build a church “as nearly like the earlier churches in New England as their builders could remember and had the skill to execute … classic in spirit if not in detail, and … designed with an honesty, integrity and puritanical simplicity … characteristic of the congregations which built them.”1 It still stands today with most of its original materials intact.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Reg No 12001239 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-4220-00003 (PDF)
Creamery Bridge
The Creamery “rainbow arch” (or “Marsh arch”) bridge in Osawatomie retains its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, feeling, and association. It is associated with the life of James B. Marsh, pioneer in steel and concrete bridge construction. The bridge embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type and method of construction that is no longer used, and, as such may yield information important to the history of engineering. Although 72 rainbow arches are currently known to exist in Kansas they are quickly becoming a thing of the past due to the ever-changing needs of modem transportation. Of these 72, only eight have three spans.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Reg No 83000434 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-0000-00237 (PDF)
Pottawatomie Creek Bridge
The Pottawatomie Creek “rainbow arch” (or “Marsh arch”) bridge south of Osawatomie retains its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, feeling, and association. It is associated with the life of James B. Marsh, pioneer in steel and concrete bridge construction. It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type and method of construction that is no longer being used and, as such, may yield information important to the history of engineering. Of the 72 known rainbow arch bridges in Kansas only 8 possess three arches.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Reg No 83000433 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-0000-00238 (PDF)
Soldiers Monument
The 1877 Soldiers’ Monument in Osawatomie, Kansas is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its statewide significance in the area of social history for its association with the commemoration of an event that contributed to the history of the city, the state and the nation. This monument was erected 21 years after the second Battle of Osawatomie and nearly 18 years after the execution of abolitionist and defender of Osawatomie John Brown. Brown and five other battle participants – Theron Parker Powers, David R. Garrison, George W. Partridge, Charley Keiser, and Frederick Brown – are recognized on the monument.
Although the monument commemorates the battle and those killed, it symbolized from the beginning the cause that John Brown stood for – an end to slavery through violent confrontation. Brown was and is a controversial figure in American history, and historians continue to reinterpret his actions and his impact on the struggle to end slavery. Even before his execution and martyrdom at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia in 1859, he elicited strong opinions from both his supporters and detractors. This monument is a physical reflection of the rhetoric sympathetic to Brown that pulsed throughout the community and the state.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Reg No 12000386 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-0000-00238 (PDF)
William Mills House
The William Mills House (ca. 1902-1904} is being nominated to the National Register under criteria B and C for its historical association with William McKee Mills (1851-1929} and for its architectural significance. Mills was involved in the oil and gas drilling industry in southeastern Kansas from his arrival to the state in 1884 until his death in 1929. He is most noted for locating the Norman No. ·1. Oil well in Neodesha, Kansas in 1892, which effectively opened the Mid-Continent oil field for drilling. The William Mills House is the largest and most ornate extant residence in Osawatomie (est.1855). Mills had the $49,000.00 home constructed at the height of his career. Its late Queen Anne styling reflects standard design trends of the period. The building maintains a moderately high degree of interior and exterior architectural integrity but its condition is slightly deteriorated.
Mills, a Pennsylvanian, emigrated to Kansas in 1884 following the collapse of the Pennsylvania oil industry in that year. By 1886 he had secured drilling leases on thousands of acres of land in southeastern Kansas, making his first strike that year in Osawatomie, hitting a large gas deposit and small oil deposit. This well provided enough gas for Mills to begin supplying the community of Osawatomie with gas in 1888. Mills sold his interests in Kansas oil lands in 1894, concentrating his activities on the development of gas wells in southeastern Kansas · until financial difficulties ·forced him to sell most of his business holdings in 1908 and 1913. He continued to derive some income from the gas industry until his death in 1929.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Reg No 86003291 (PDF)
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory 121-4220-00006 (PDF)