By September 1, 1854, Thomas Stinson platted the townsite of Tecumseh, having settled in the area within the Kansas Territory.[3] It was settled by pro-slavery partisans in the turbulent days of Bleeding Kansas. It temporarily served as the pro-southern capital of the territory and prospered, even having a newspaper. The town's post office opened in March 1855.[5] In 1886, the brick courthouse was sold for US$500 (equivalent to $17,000 in 2023) and removed.[3] After the Civil War, the town rapidly declined and remained so for the next ninety years.
Construction of the Kansas Power & Light Co. power plant in 1924 and 1925. In 1958, DuPont established a cellophane plant east of town which created a minor boom.[3] As Topeka grew in the 1950s, Tecumseh again started to grow, this time as a suburb of Topeka, with numerous suburban housing subdivisions. In 2018, the Tecumseh Energy Center owned by Westar (later Evergy) closed the plant and the facility was demolished.[6]
Geography
Tecumseh is located in Section 36, Township 11 south, Range 16 east. It is situated south of the Kansas River between Tecumseh Creek to the east and Stinson Creek to the west. Contained entirely within Tecumseh Township, it is about 2 miles east of the Topeka city limits.[7]U.S. Route 40 passes the south side of Tecumseh. A BNSF rail line—running between Lawrence and Topeka—passes north of the town between it and the river.
^ abcdBird, Roy D.; Douglass W. Wallace (1976). Robert W. Richmond & Joseph W. Snell (ed.). Witness of the Times: A History of Shawnee County. Topeka, Kansas: Shawnee County Historical Society. pp. 351–352. ISBN0-916934-03-9.
^"Kansas Post Offices Database". Kansas State Historical Society. Retrieved February 9, 2008. Containing information taken from Baughman, Robert W. Kansas Post Offices, May 29, 1828–August 3, 1961. Kansas Postal History Society.
