Odessa was founded in 1878 when the town's first inhabitants moved into the region. These settlers were primarily Eastern Europeans who had moved to the United States. The town was named after the Ukranian city of Odessa. The first post office…

In 1864 a wooden depot was constructed on this location; however, a fire in 1889 destroyed the depot and the Missouri Pacific lines decided to replace it with one constructed of locally quarried sandstone. The new depot opened for service in…

In 1833 Martin Warren constructed a residence and opened a blacksmith shop at the corner of present-day College Avenue and East Gay Street and unofficially named it "Warren's Corner," which eventually came to be known as Warrensburg. …

In 1912 Walter and Perry Jones paid $26,000 to build what came to be known as the Jones Brothers Mule Barn. The barn played an important role in a thriving mule business that had developed in Johnson County and Warrensburg around the turn of the…

On October 28, 1869, Charles Burden found his favorite dog, Old Drum, shot dead. Burden learned that his neighbor and brother-in-law, Leonidas Hornsby, had killed Drum because he had been harassing his livestock. Burden, with the help of lawyer…

Johnson County Missouri was named after Kentucky U.S. Senator Richard Johnson, who later served as Vice President of the United States under President Martin van Buren. The Johnson County Court moved the location of the courthouse from Old Town…