Franklin County – Franklin County Historical Society

October 24: Ottawa Memorial Auditorium Paranormal Investigation

October 9, 2025 Diana Staresinic-Deane

A large brick building trimmed with stone.

Ottawa Memorial Auditorium Paranormal Investigation Friday, October 24, 2025, 7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. 301 S Hickory St, Ottawa, Kansas Tickets: $35 + fees The Ottawa Memorial Auditorium and the Franklin County Historical Society host a one-night paranormal investigation of the OMA. Join us Friday, October 24th at 7:30pm for an evening of history, guided investigations of public and backstage spaces and 30 minutes of free-range investigation. We’ll conclude the evening with a group gathering to discuss our findings. The paranormal investigation is recommended for ages 14 and up.…

October 16: The Farewell Tour: The Death Industry Downtown Ottawa Walking Tour

October 9, 2025 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Victorian-era downtown buildings. Building on far left includes a large sign that reads COFFINS & CASKETS.

The Farewell Tour: The Death Industry Downtown Ottawa Walking Tour Thursday, October 16, 2025, 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Tours begin at Haley Park, 201 S Main, Ottawa, Kansas Death is part of life in any town, and death industry services–undertakers, coffin makers, stone carvers, and concrete vault casters–have been an important part of Ottawa’s downtown since the town was founded. The Franklin County Historical Society’s August Third Thursdays Walking Tour will explore the history of Ottawa’s downtown death-related businesses in buildings along Main Street. Tours are free,…

October 13: Buildings On the Brink Series: 207 S Main & 401 S Main

October 5, 2025 Diana Staresinic-Deane

A large two-story brick building at an intersection.

Buildings On the Brink Series: 207 S Main & 401 S Main Monday, October 13, 7 p.m. Ottawa Memorial Auditorium, 301 S Hickory, Ottawa, KS Have you ever walked by an empty downtown historic building and hoped someone would bring it back to life? The Buildings on the Brink series features stories about downtown buildings that are now thriving, as told by the owners who gave those buildings a new life. We’ll explore the history of those buildings, the vision of their owners, and the trials and tribulations of…

July 20: Morning at the Mission: A Program and Tour at the Historic Ottawa Indian Mission & Burying Ground

June 11, 2024June 11, 2024 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Illustration. A woodframe meeting house stands within a wooden fence. Grave markers are visible to the left. Small houses and people are scattered among the trees and fields. Wagons and horses are parked along a dirt road. A stone pillar with a plaque reading Ottawa Indian Mission and Burying Ground: Graves of J Meeker, Founder, Chief Comchau, Notino, The Medicine Man, J. Tecumseh Jones Founder of OU in the foreground.

Morning at the Mission: A Program and Tour at the Historic Ottawa Indian Mission & Burying Ground featuring Kalisha Dixon Pheasant, Chief of the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma John Mark Lambertson, Historian Saturday, July 20, 2024, 9 a.m. 3375 Osborne Terrace, Ottawa, Kansas, 66067 Tickets: $25 in Advance; $30 at the Gate Current Ottawa University students free with student ID at the gate Founded by Jotham Meeker after the 1844 flood destroyed much of the original 1837 mission site, the Ottawa Indian Mission was home to the Ottawa of Blanchard’s Fork…

April 6: 5K Run For History Fun Run/Walk

March 13, 2024March 24, 2024 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Silhouettes of runners. Text reads 5K Run For History.

5K Run For History Fun Run/Walk Saturday, April 6, 2024 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Old Depot Museum, 135 W Tecumseh, Ottawa, KS 66067 Feel the spirit of the trains beneath your feet as you trace the paths of the AT&SF and the MoPac railroads during our Second Annual 5K Run/Walk, which kicks off at the Old Depot Museum! Whether you set your best time or enjoy a stroll with your friends, your $25 registration fee will help support the Franklin County Historical Society. Register by March 23 and receive…

Now through October 1: Countywide exhibit celebrates history makers

September 1, 2023September 1, 2023 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Franklin County Historical Society’s newest exhibit celebrates Franklin County citizens who exercised their right to protest, run for office, and made a difference! They Raised Their Voices: Rabble Rousers and History Makers exhibit panels are on display throughout the county in or near each history maker’s hometown. In this countywide exhibit, you’ll discover everyday people who advocated for desegregation, abolitionism, women’s suffrage, and good schools. You’ll meet a special agent who hunted down Confederate spies, a Freethinker who published her own Atheist newspaper, and a rancher who spoke out against the…

January 29: John Brown and Lane, Kansas, subject of 86th Annual FCHS Meeting presentation

January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Foreground: Portrait of John Brown showing a man was graying hair, sharp facial features, a white shirt with collar, and dark jacket. Background: historic map showing Franklin County in the center.

John Brown and Lane, Kansas presented by Grady Atwater 86th Annual Meeting of the Members of the Franklin County Historical Society Sunday, January 29, 2023, 2 p.m. In person: FCHS Archives & Research Center, 2011 E Logan St, Ottawa, KS Online: Zoom and Facebook Live Handouts for this program: Annual Meeting program Wishlist Kansas-Missouri Border Map John Brown in Kansas Territory Map The Pottawatomie Massacre was over in a matter of hours, but it effects rippled throughout the world. Grady Atwater, site administrator for the John Brown Museum…

July 17, 2022 Program: Architecture of the People’s Houses

May 24, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Architecture of the People’s Houses presented by Murl Riedel Sunday, July 17, 2022, 2 p.m. Ottawa Memorial Auditorium, 301 South Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas Kansas has 105 county courthouses and hundreds of city halls, plus a few more state capitals than you might expect. The manifestation of the greatest ideals occurs in these buildings, where the work of the people’s democracy is in action. The designs of these buildings tell us about the evolution of local government in the state. Larger societal issues, such as the Free State and the Civil…

May 7, 2022: New traveling exhibit tells story of self-rule among Indigenous nations

May 4, 2022May 4, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Group of Kickapoo Indians, standing outside tent, dressed in Euro-American clothing

Image: Members of the Kiwigapawa (Kickapoo) tribe standing outside a tent, dressed in Euro-American clothing. 1909. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/97512086/ A new traveling exhibit explores how Indigenous nations expressed autonomy during their years in “Indian Territory” Kansas. “Living Sovereignty: Sustaining Indigenous Autonomy in ‘Indian Territory’ Kansas” will open at the Old Depot Museum on Saturday, May 7. For generations before European and American settlement, Indigenous nations and tribes embodied sovereignty—the right to self-rule. Maintaining that sense of self-rule and self-government through years of interactions with the…

NEW DATE February 6, 2022: Santa Fe depot architecture subject of virtual annual meeting

March 29, 2022March 29, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

“Santa Fe Depots: Form and Function,” presented by Bob Walz 85th Annual Meeting of the Members of the Franklin County Historical Society Recording Available Update: In deference to our Chiefs fans, we are moving our program to February 6, 2022, 2 p.m. What exactly is a depot and what is it for? Using images of depots along the Eastern and Western Lines of the AT&SF Railroad, Bob Walz will examine the history of the development of Santa Fe depots, from repurposed boxcars to large, ornate depots and everything in…