Towanda, KS

Towanda sits above the Whitewater River in Butler County, about nine miles southwest of El Dorado. Rev. Isaac Mooney laid out the town in 1870, and the river valley's spring and stage routes helped make it a trading point before the automobile era. The name is commonly translated from Osage as big village. A 1904 Masonic lodge on Main Street now houses the Towanda Area Historical Museum, with local artifacts and the story of the surrounding farm country. Circle USD 375 is headquartered downtown on Main Street, and the district operates Circle Towanda Elementary and Circle High School here. The river, old main-street buildings, and schools still give Towanda its shape.