City History

Burlingame is the oldest surviving city in Osage County.  It was founded in 1854 by settlers from Pennsylvania traveling on the Santa Fe Trail.  Ruts from the wagons on the trail can still be seen about four miles west of Burlingame on Highway 31.  Burlingame is located in Osage County at the junction of US Highway 56 and State Highway 31 where the old Santa Fe Trail crosses the Santa Fe Railroad. 

As you enter Santa Fe Avenue, known as main street to the townspeople now, you will notice the extra wide street.  The 130 foot street allows for cars to park on the sides and in the middle. The streets were made this wide to accommodate the Santa Fe Trail which went down the main street, allowing the large oxen teams pulling covered wagons to make a "U -Turn".  Santa Fe Avenue was laid with the red bricks in the 1920's, and is still covered with bricks to this day. 

The Santa Fe railroad construction began in Topeka in October 1868 and reached Burlingame in 1869.  Each run between the two towns was 28 miles and about 2 and a half hours each way.   In the first year of operation the Santa Fe Railway carried 33,628 passengers, hauled 98,917 tons of freight, had two locomotives, two coaches, one baggage car, and 36 freight cars. By the end of 1870 the Santa Fe had completed tracks through Osage County.

About four miles west of Burlingame on Highway 31, looking to the southwest, one can see the wide ruts of the Santa Fe Trail. A marker is on the roadside indicating the area. Shortly beyond this point, on the north side, is the gravesite of Samuel Hunt, a private in the regiment of Dragoons, who died of natural causes on the Santa Fe Trail on September 11, 1835. The Dragoon soldiers patrolled the trail for robbers, thieves, or any unruly activity. Dragoon Creek, south of Burlingame, was named for these soldiers.

Photo: Martin Lund Lumberyard and John Hopkins Blacksmith Shop located 1/2 block N. of Main St. on Topeka Ave., east side of road.

The first school in Osage County opened here in 1855, taught by thirteen year old Louisa Todd. 1856 saw the opening of the county's first church. In 1857, the name was changed to Burlingame, after Anson Burlingame, an attorney and diplomat from New York. In 1859 Burlingame made a visit to his namesake.

As you enter the main street (Santa Fe Avenue) you will notice the extra wide street (130 feet), where vehicles are parked on the sides and in the middle. The streets were made this wide to accommodate the Santa Fe Trail which went down the main street, allowing the large oxen teams pulling covered wagons to make a "U-Turn". At one time there was a town well in the center of the intersection which was used by both townspeople and trail travelers. Santa Fe Avenue was laid with the red bricks in the 1920's

By 1869 Burlingame served as the first link for the Santa Fe Railway from Topeka. The first revenue producing trip was on May 1, 1869, a distance of 28 miles. At Burlingame passengers from the Santa Fe Railway connected with the Overland Stage on the Santa Fe Trail. The railway system expanded over the years, serving cattlemen and other commercial trade on the Santa Fe Trail. By the 1870's Burlingame was also thriving as a coal mining community.

Numerous European immigrants settled in the area during the late 1800's to involve themselves in the coal mining industry. Those strange looking little gray/red hills dotted about the area are slag piles from the mine shafts located at that site. As more communities across the country switched to natural gas, the coal mining industry faded slowly into the past. The last mine in Burlingame, Bell #4, was operated by Will Isaacs and was still producing coal for ten families when the mine suddenly collapsed just before closing in the fall of 1964. No one was injured, but several thousand dollars worth of equipment remains underground.

Burlingame has had its share of famous people. Marshall Murdock founded "The Osage County Chronicle" newspaper in September of 1863, making it the fourth oldest newspaper in Kansas. In 1872 Murdock left Burlingame and founded "The Wichita Eagle," now the largest newspaper in Kansas.

Dr. Earl Sutherland, a Nobel Prize winner for his scientific work on DNA, grew up in Burlingame as did Kenny (Trebbe) Starr, country & western singer-song writer, now living in Nashville, Tenn., who recorded the No. 1 hit "Blind Man In The Bleachers." He later traveled and performed with Loretta Lynn. Current Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh is also a native of Burlingame.

Santa Fe Railway
May 1, 1869

In the first year of operation in 1869 of the Santa Fe Railway from Topeka to Burlingame it carried 33,628 passengers, hauled 98,917 tons of freight, had two locomotives, two coaches, one baggage car, and 36 freight cars. By the end of 1870 the Santa Fe had completed tracks through Osage County.

See more about Burlingame's history as recorded in the Osage County section of the Cyclopedia of Kansas History published in 1912.