Burlingame, KS

Burlingame is an Osage County city with a Santa Fe Trail beginning. The settlement was first established as Council City and served as a stop on the trail; the Council City post office opened on April 30, 1855. The city and post office took the name Burlingame in 1858, honoring Massachusetts politician Anson Burlingame. The 2020 census counted 971 residents. U.S. 56 runs through town about 20 miles south of Topeka, linking the old trail route to the modern highway map.

ATTRJohn P Salvatore / CC0

Burlingame is often described as the oldest continuously occupied town in Osage County, and its civic life still carries that long start. Burlingame USD 454 serves students from elementary through high school, while Allen Community College operates a campus in town that opened in 1991. The city sits in the rolling country around Switzler Creek, with the old trail story underneath the streets and the school and college providing present-day gathering points. Burlingame’s name changed, but its role as a place where people stop, settle, study, and move onward has lasted.