There's a swath of land about 48 square miles in size, falling south from the Kansas River to 108th Street and bordered on the west by Cedar Niles Road and on the east by Ogg Road.

It's pretty, looking at a map of it—splashed with the green of golf courses, parks, a lake, and agricultural land. But its borders aren't marked by signs, and its special place in Johnson County history isn't clear from a map.

To know Monticello Township is to love it, and to know it, you need to talk to its people—especially the fiercely loyal, informed advocates who make up the Monticello Community Historical Society.

A colorful story
Before the township or town of Monticello existed, the area witnessed just about every facet of 19th-century land settlement. It was a stopping point for stage coaches midway between Westport and Lawrence. Two important roads, Territorial Road 5 and the Midland Trail, jagged across it. Steamboats churned the waters of the mighty Kaw, stopping at the Chouteau Ferry Crossing. Civil war tensions created deep divides. Floods and grasshopper plagues, tornadoes and a railroad, all figured into the area's character and solidified the people's grit.

Many of those who live within the boundaries of Monticello Township are relative newcomers, but plenty of residents have roots that are deep and sturdy. Among them are three members of the Monticello Community Historical Society.

Bill Hawkins, of Overland Park, is the society's treasurer and a charter member. His forebears settled in Monticello Township in 1857. Cindy Ashby, society secretary and a charter member, was raised in Monticello Township and attended its Virginia School. Her ancestors were dairy farmers in the township as far back as the 1870s. Bertha Cameron, another charter member who has held most offices in the society, grew up in Monticello Township and still lives there. Both Hawkins and Cameron are descendents of the Garrett family, one of the earliest families to settle the area. Through intermarriage, both have Shawnee ancestry.

But they aren't alone in singing the area's praises or in their determination to preserve what's physically left of its history. A host of people do that through advocacy—speaking up when developers threaten to raze historically priceless structures, lobbying for historically meaningful road names—and through the society, which is a model of living history through its museum, its educational presentations, and its history-promoting activities.

Why the story should be told
History cries out to be remembered because it is, in fact, the story of who we are and why we are. By telling our stories over and over, those stories become part of us, passed on from generation to generation, weaving a web of continuity and caring.

Cheryn Swanson, president of the Monticello Community Historical Society, lived for a long time in Prairie Village but has lived in Monticello Township since 1987.

"We have such a rich history to preserve and share," she said. "We want to draw new people to the society because through it, they can learn what's in their 'back yard' and what happened on this land."

Dolores Wylie, of Shawnee, is one of the society's passionate members. She notes, "Many people are not aware that this has always been a very diverse area. From the area's earliest days, residents included Shawnee Indians, French and Spanish trappers, black farmers, Hispanic immigrants, and whites."

Monticello has evolved over a century and a half, and some changes were barely perceptible. Others, especially recent changes, have come fast and furious.

Ashby notes that Cameron warned her long ago about what was coming in the way of rapid development and annexation, and she refused to believe.

"I couldn't conceive how drastic the change was going to be," said Ashby. "Historic sites were literally vaporized. Farms were gone overnight. An old log cabin was bulldozed and burned while we were working with developers about preserving it."

As the area changed, its history-conscious residents knew they had to act before their stories were lost. According to Cameron, "I was afraid we were going to lose our history with all the annexations."

The annexations began in 1988, when Shawnee and Lenexa began expanding their borders to include pieces of Monticello Township. With the annexing cities not understanding the history or feeling invested in it, there was grave danger that local "markers"—everything from log cabins to roads named for early settlers—would evaporate.

So in 1988, they formed the historical society. The society was chartered on Dec. 8 of that year as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.

A Museum and Research Center
The Monticello Community Historical Society's museum and research center have become a safe haven for past treasures, now lovingly tended. That's because the society is dedicated to "the appreciation, preservation, and celebration of the history and heritage of the Monticello Community, Johnson County, Kansas." The township includes the former towns of Monticello, Holliday, Waseca, Frisbie Station, Wilder, Zarah, and Craig.

Eleven years after its founding, in 1999, the society received ownership of the former Monticello Township fire station at Floyd Cline Hall (83rd and Gleason). It is now known as the Monticello Historical Station at Floyd Cline Hall, the site of meetings and activities for members and the public.

The society publishes quarterly newsletters, offers history-related programs open to the public, stages historical reenactments, and sponsors field trips for members and the community.

The Museum and Research Center, part of the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area, contain artifacts and educational materials encompassing the township's entire rich history. Glass-encased exhibits include logs, barbed wire, section markers, photos of old saloons, a bison bone. They're well-organized by topic: farming, the grange, homemaking (a great old washing tub agitator), social life (the Merry Makers Club), leisure pursuits (a Zarah baseball uniform), business (an antique coffee grinder from the Solomon Coker General Merchandise Store), the Shawnee Indians, and the volunteer fire brigade itself.

The historical society also organizes lively activities and outings because, as Ashby notes, "Every new generation does not understand history, until it's taught to them."

Says Hawkins, "During the summer especially, we pile people onto a school bus and take historic tours of other towns with deep history to enlarge our own understanding." They've already been to Leavenworth, Clinton, and Topeka in Kansas and Jamesport in Missouri.

They stage historic reenactments and many other events appealing to youngsters, such as a special "Day at a One-Room School," when the historic Virginia School was packed with kids learning in the old, traditional ways. Other activities have included Wings of Love (encounters with wild birds), Kansas Day, and "Historical Hauntings" at Old Shawnee Town, which involves old-fashioned Halloween activities like fish ponds, apple bobbing, and shadow puppets.

Membership in the Monticello Community Historical Society is open to anyone interested in history, from anywhere in the county. Educational programs and events are open to members and nonmembers alike.

Membership costs just $25/year or $40 for a family; business, contributing, sustaining, and lifetime memberships also are available.

"The society's only income comes from membership dues, donations, and fundraisers," said Ashby. "We get no regular financial support from any government entity."

Swanson points with pride to the flock of volunteers who enthusiastically give their time to the society's work, for a total of about 2,500 volunteer hours in 2010. Volunteers can serve on a raft of committees: library, historic sites, museum, publicity, membership, programs, hospitality.

Volunteers with special skills are sought, too—people who understand research and genealogy, or have a hankering to restore an old fire engine.

The society's members will assist people in exploring their own family roots, Hawkins notes, whether through a genealogy database he developed containing 10,000 names, or through helping people who have Monticello roots organize family reunions.

Coming events
June 18, 8:00-11:00 a.m., Pancake Breakfast
Sept. 8, 7:00 p.m., "Kansas Germans Struggle Against Slavery in Kansas Territory"
Oct. 1: Historic Walking Tour starting at Mill Creek Streamway Park, Wilder Access Road, walking to the old mill site and Nelson Island.
Oct. 13, 7:00 p.m., "Boots and Stetsons: The Kansas Cowboy."
Nov. 5, 8:00-11:00 a.m., Pancake Breakfast
Nov. 10, 7:00 p.m., "Picture Perfect." Members and guests are asked to bring two photographs, one of themselves as baby/child and one of an ancestor with a short story, history, or anecdote about the pictures.
Dec. 8, 6:30 p.m., Annual Christmas Potluck Dinner

Monticello Community Historical Society
Monticello Historical Station at Floyd Cline Hall
23860 W. 83rd St., Lenexa
(west of Kansas 7)
913-667-3706
monticelloks.org
Open 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays
Closed in December, January, and February
Tours by appointment

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