Neosho County, KS
The land of which Neosho County is now a part was an Indian hunting ground for the Osages and other members of the Sioux Tribe when first visited by the white man. In 1838, a treaty was made whereby the New York Indians traded their lands in Wisconsin for 1,824,000 in Kansas, lying just north of the Cherokee Neutral Strip and the Osage lands, being 320 acres for each member of the Senecas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, Oneidas, St. Regis, Stolkbridges, Munsees and Brothertowns.Neosho County was established under the name of Dorn County by the so-called Bogus legislature held at Shawnee in 1855, as the Territorial Capital before Kansas became a state. Dorn was split into Neosho and Labette Counties in 1861. The name Neosho had been used by the Kansas Indians many years before white settlement. George Sibley of the Santa Fe Trail survey team mentioned the Nee Ozho River in his journal entry of August 5, 1825. Ne means "water" and osho means "stream in" or "stream with water in it."
The Osages described the color of Neosho as "Water-Like-the-Skin-of-a-Summer-Cow- Wapiti." Pioneers sometimes referred to the river as Noshow because it occasionally went dry in the summer.
Explore Neosho County
St. Francis Cemetery
St. Francis Cemetery, located half a mile east of St. Paul, is by succession the oldest cemetery in Neosho county known to have been used by white people. When the Jesuits first came to the Osage country in 1847
St. Paul, KS CemeteriesChanute Art Gallery
The Chanute Art Gallery houses over 1,700 square feet of outstanding art and sculpture pieces. The gallery owns a permanent core collection of over 500 works of art which includes 25 mediums, representing 125
Chanute, KS ArtsHistoric Homes Tour
Discover Chanute's rich historical heritage. Explore tree-lined streets made of hand-laid brick and note the architectural and cultural significance of many of Chanute's historic downtown buildings and elegant homes. A printed brochure of 24 sites dating mostly from 1890 to 1907
Chanute, KS ToursSt. Francis Hieronymo Church
In 1847, the Mother Church of the Diocese of Wichita was set up in one of the government-built log structures at the Catholic Osage Mission. The missionaries dedicated the church to the patronage of St. Francis Hieronymo, a Jesuit, who had been canonized by the Church as a saint on May 10, 1839
St. Paul, KS Historic ChurchesTioga Hotel
The Tioga was built in 1929 by J.W. Pratt and was leased by the Boss Hotel Chain for most of its life. Designed in the Art Deco style, it features gargoyles on each corner. It was one of the state's first fireproof hotels and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991
Chanute, KS Historic HotelsThayer Museum
Citizens of the area, hoping to retain our history, have established the Thayer Museum in the old Thayer Bank building, listed on the Kansas Register of Historic Places. Thayer State Bank opened in 1900 and closed in 1932
Thayer, KS MuseumsMartin & Osa Johnson Safari Museum
Located in the beautifully restored Santa Fe depot, this unique attraction preserves the work of these famous wildlife photographers whose cameras introduced the exotic treasures of Africa and the South Pacific to many Americans in the early 1900
Chanute, KS MuseumsNeosho Wildlife Area
Traveling through St. Paul on Highway 57, a visitor may get different hints of the proximity of the Neosho Wildlife Area. There is the Neosho River, the lowlands to the east and the west, with stilt-like houses, suggesting high waters on occasion.
St. Paul, KS Wildlife Areas