A Brief History of Overland Park, Kansas

The city was incorporated as a first-class city on May 20, 1960, making it one of the youngest communities in Johnson County. The initial population of Overland Park was 28,085, and by 1995, the incorporated land area was 56.6 square miles. Since 1995, the population has since grown to over 167,000 (2005) with 62.26 square miles of land area. Overland Park is now the second most populous city in Kansas.

The city traces its roots back to 1905, with the arrival of its founder, William B. Strang Jr., who platted subdivisions along a military roadway on 600 acres that he purchased (those acres are now part of the old downtown area). One of those subdivisions was named Overland Park, and was the site for the first airplane flight west of the Mississippi with shows by the Wright brothers, sponsored by Strang, on December 24, 1909.