History of Burlingame, Kansas By John Hill 1803 Louisiana purchase by the United States from France (includes present-day Burlingame) 1806 Zebulon Pike s exploration of the southwest portion of the Louisiana purchase. Zebulon Pike made camp just west of present-day Burlingame 1821 William Becknell made the first trip down the what would become the Santa Fe trail (through present-day Burlingame) 1825 - Colonel George Sibley and his team camped near Bridge Creek (present-day Burlingame) while surveying the Santa Fe trail. 1825 United States moved the Shawnee tribe to NE Kansas (including present-day Burlingame). By the early 1850 s most Shawnees had left this area, but many of their cabins remained. The early settlers in 1854 purchased/occupied many of these structures (including the first settler in the area, John Freel). I826 - John Switzler (who was paid $200 by Col Sibley) built the first crossing on what was then Bridge Creek. It was later renamed to Switzler Creek in honor of John Switzler. 1827 Santa Fe trail mail route opens from Westport to Council Grove (though the entire trail itself had been a trade route since 1821). It ran through present-day Burlingame. 11 Sep 1835 Private Samuel Hunt of the Dragoons dies of measles while protecting the Santa Fe trail route just west of Burlingame. 1846 United States invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican-American War came down the Santa Fe trail and through present-day Burlingame 30 May 1854 Kansas Territory is opened for settlement 1 Jun 1854 John Freel arrives/claims 160 acres and buys a cabin from a Shawnee Indian (on west side of Switzler creek, just north of the trail). Sep 1854 American Settlement Company of New York organized and sent survey team composed of 7 men from NY, PA and OH to select a location for the 1 st Council City settlement. It was to be grand city spread out from where the Dragoon meets Switzler Creek and extending north 2 miles. Town center was to be roughly at Indian Hill Rd/193 rd Road intersection. The first group of settlers decided not to locate here, instead selecting a site north near John Freel along the Santa Fe Trail and Switzler Creek crossing. Oct 1854 Isaac B Titus arrives and buys a Shawnee Indian cabin on south side of Switzler (east of where the Charles Linkenauger stone house still stands). 20 Oct 1854 Phebe Payne (a widow with 6 children) arrives. She stays over the winter of 1854/1855 and settles in a Shawnee cabin NW of present-day town center (just south of Burlingame swimming pool).
20 Oct 1854 Alphonzo Prentis arrives and builds cabin on north side of Switzler (across the creek from Titus) 14 Nov 1854 James and William Stewart arrive from Newcastle, Pennsylvania. James Stewart would become city attorney as well as many other roles. 14 Nov 1854 Ihteil Streit arrives and rents the old Shawnee Cabin occupied by Phebe Payne. Widow Payne later sold her cabin to Abel Polley when he claimed the land. 14 Nov 1854 George Bratton arrives and builds his first cabin just SE of the current railroad bridge. He later moved and built a cabin where the railroad depot used to be. He built the Bratton House hotel in 1858 on Santa Fe avenue (Lot 17, Block 35). 14 Nov 1854 Absolam Hoover arrives and builds cabin northeast of Freel on the west bank of what is now known as Hoover Branch Creek 14 Nov 1854 The disgruntled settlers that left the 1 st Council City arrive at their newly-selected town site just east of SF Trail/Switzler crossing and on 9 Dec 1854 name it Eureka. Most didn t stay that winter, returning to Westport due harsh winter conditions and no water, but 15 20 families did stay and relocated west across Switzler creek. 20 Nov 1854 - George Bratton built his 2nd cabin. It s where old ATSF depot & old/original Bratton boarding house/hotel was. Emma Bratton was born here. As a boarding house, Philip Schuyler, Joe Ramsey & Marcus Rose stayed for a while with the Brattons. 10 Dec 1854 John Aikens arrives and joins the settlers who have decided to stay over the winter. Jan 1855 Thomas O Freel is the 1 st child born in Council City to John W Freel and Mary Ann Potter Freel Feb 1855 Samuel Caniff arrives. In Sep 1855, he buys out Freel s 160 acre claim (which laid west of Kansas St, north of the Santa Fe and west to Osage St). In 1856, Caniff sold the cabin on his claim to James Stewart, Joe Ramsey, Nic Schuyler and Marcus Rose. It would be known as the Bachelor Pad. The location was near the present-day SW corner of Kansas / Lincoln. Feb 1855 Philip Schuyler arrives and buys George Bratton s 160 acre claim for $100. Schuyler also purchase an additional 200 acres which comprises most of south Burlingame 29 or 30 Mar 1855 Albert Streit is 2nd child born in Council City in the Polley Cabin (located near present-day Jones park near south end of football field/swimming pool). 30 Mar 1855 First territorial election held in Titus cabin, though a large group armed Missouri ruffians tried to stop it or at least influence the outcome. 30 Apr 1855 Council City officially established and Eureka town site abandoned; original old cemetery established 1.3 mile west of current-day town center (100 yards south off K-31). The cemetery was abandoned in 1866. Some burials remain, but not stones. 18 May 1855 J Drew and Abel Polley arrive in Council City (make claims on Sect 10, 15, 14 SE 1/4 {W half for Drew; E half for Polley)
26 May 1855 John Denison arrives and stakes claim on Onion creek; moved back to Council City into a cabin James Stewart built because Denison s claim wasn t surveyed correctly. This cabin was located where the Burlingame post office is now. Jun 1855 Lotan Smith begins construction of Council House (completed 12 Apr 1856) a large 2 room cabin built by American Settlement Company of NY to serve as hotel for pioneers. It was a home by many families until they built cabins on their claims. It served as a church and school. Julia F Rogers was born here and James Stewart taught Sunday school here. It was damaged by fire in 1901, parts were sold off later and it was finally torn down by F C Brackney in 1904. The foundation could still be seen as late as 1908. 4 Jul 1855 First celebration on Hollom Rice s grove (on south side of Dragoon Creek, south across from the current-day Osage County Poor Farm). Hollom Rice would later allow Bloody Bill Anderson and his brother to hold up at his homestead. This didn t sit well with the Council City free-staters. May 1856 Schuyler and Caniff sawmill becomes operational at SE corner of Topeka Ave/Santa Fe trail (where city all is now) 1856 Isaac Titus replaces the old Switzler bridge and begins charging tolls to travelers coming in to Council City (present-day Burlingame). This second bridge remained until 1869. 1857 New building by Levi Empy and Henry Smith went up. First wooden home built by Mr Clark just north of town central. Burlingame city survey finished. 1857 Arvilla town site was attempted SE of Council City, but it was abandoned. 1857 City well (or Schuyler well) dug at middle of the Topeka / Santa Fe intersection Jun 1857 First school was built 30 Jan 1858 Council City name officially changed to Burlingame at suggestion of James Stewart (after an earlier visit by Anson Burlingame) 1 Feb 1858 Burlingame Town Company was officially incorporated 1858 George Bratton built the Bratton House hotel in 1858 on Santa Fe avenue (Lot 17, Block 35). 1858 City of Burlingame built woolen mill at SW corner of Kansas/Hall. It never became operational and was sold in in 1873 to CC Crumb. It burned down in 1874. 1858 - Philip Schuyler successfully re-routed the trail down Santa Fa Ave. From 1821 1857, the Old route through south-central part of present-day Burlingame was used. 1858 1860: The Santa Fe trail traveled down Santa Fe Ave through the middle of Burlingame. 11-23 Feb 1859 Osage county created from a nine-mile strip in southern Shawnee County and the vast majority of Weller County (southern four-mile strip of Weller was given to Coffey County). Burlingame now resides in Osage instead of Shawnee County.
18 Feb 1860 Burlingame Town Company was granted a charter by the Kansas Territorial Legislature. Philip Schuyler was elected the first mayor. Samuel Caniff, George Bratton, Edwin Sheldon and Joseph McDonald were the first city council members. 27 Feb 1860: Burlingame becomes the official county seat of Osage County. Feb 1860 - Work began on new Osage County Courthouse. It sat just SE of the Schuyler school. The county seat was officially moved to Lyndon in 1878 (after near many years of legal wrangling). 30 Jan 1861 Kansas becomes a state. Burlingame is now part of Kansas instead of the Kansas Territory. 1861 Fort walls built around city well to protect the city. Tore down in 1864 and stones used to build the 1st Baptist Church that was located directly east across the street from the post office/bank. 1861 1865: Most Santa Fe trail travel diverted to the Military Road (Leavenworth to Wilmington) due to the Civil War; bypassing Burlingame for 5 years (though some traffic did continue to use the Burlingame route). 1862 - First Presbyterian Church built just west of the Schuyler school. It was rebuilt at the same location in 1886. 26 Sep 1863 Burlingame s first newspaper, The Weekly Osage Chronicle was established by Marshall Murdock. 1864 First Baptist Church built on Topeka Ave (across from present-day bank/post office) 1865 1866: The Santa Fe trail traveled down Santa Fe Ave once again 1866 Methodist Church was built. Oct 1866 New Burlingame Cemetery opened. Abel Polley was first burial. Old cemetery west of town abandoned though many interments remained. 20 Feb 1867 Martin William Bates is hung inside the Osage County court house for the murder of Abel Polley. He was not found fit to bury in the cemetery; instead he s buried in a pasture about 100 yards west of the Prospect/Fremont intersection. 1867 1869: Most Santa Fe trail travel began taking route through Junction City due to UP railroad. Burlingame saw very little traffic from 1869 on. Nov 1868: Red brick building added on to Schuyler s mill. It would become the Schuyler Bank. The building survived the fire of 1873. The Schuyler Bank Co was dissolved in 1871 and the Burlingame Savings Bank was founded in 1872 (in the same brick bldg.). This red brick building was torn down in 1886. The Burlingame Bank had already moved into their newly-built (in 1881/1882) stone building that was the SE corner of Santa Fe/Topeka until 1992 when an arson destroyed it. 1869 The Burlingame School on the hill was built 15 Sep 1869: ATSF railroad reached Burlingame; considerably reducing Santa Fe trail traffic 18 Sep 1869 First steam locomotive train arrives in Burlingame.
1870 - Santa Fe trail route from Westport to Burlingame officially closed 30 Apr 1873 Fire destroys most of the SE corner of Burlingame; leaving only the Bratton Hotel and the Burlingame Bank. Schuyler s mill and all the wood structures on the block burned. 1874 Charles C Crumb rebuilds old mill (just north of the old location) that he bought in 1873 (which burned in 1874). He outfitted it with equipment from Osage City and operated a very successful flour mill for many years. This 2 nd mill would also burn down in 1899, but he built a 3 rd mill at the same location that opened in 1900. It too was destroyed years later (after 1913 when it was owned by Finch) 1881 - Telephone system installed in Burlingame (initially from the train depot to Lyon s drug store) 12 Mar 1878 County seat officially and permanently removed from Burlingame and awarded to Lyndon (after 8 years of voting and legal maneuvering). 1880 Coal mining becomes a large industry in Burlingame. The last mine wouldn t close until the 1960 s. The prospect of coal mining actually started as early as 1869 and that affected the route the ATSF Railroad would take through NE Kansas. 1880 The Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame Railroad branch railroad put in (abandoned in 1973). 1881 New Bank/City hall stone building erected on the SE corner of Topeka/Santa Fe. It was destroyed by an arson in 1992. 1881 Another mill is opened on Santa Fe Avenue by Chambers, called the Santa Fe Avenue flour mill. 29 Sep 1881 Burlingame s second newspaper, The Burlingame Herald was established by Newton McDonald and George Hoover. 1883 - Philip Schuyler s original stone house tore down on Santa Fe Ave (SW corner of town where Aunt B s restaurant is now) 1885 Burlingame livestock yards opened at SW corner of Chase/Kansas. Closed in 1917. 7 Dec 1890 Fire destroys most of the corner of SE Santa Fe Avenue (including the Bratton House hotel). Lots 12 15 were spared. 19 Mar 1890 Fire destroys a large section of the NE corner of Santa Fe Ave (including the Grand Central hotel and the Schuyler Saloon). Lots 16 20 were destroyed. 1901 Council House (on top of the hill on Prospect) damaged by fire. It was finally torn down in 1904. 1903 Burlingame Electric Light Plant became operational. 1922 - Santa Fe Avenue brick paving begins. Old town well is covered up for good.