Digging deep into the history of Olathe, this documentary filmmaker discovered gems

Gregory Sheffer thought he knew Olathe history.

After all, he grew up in the Olathe school system and earned a history degree from MidAmerica Narazene University in Olathe.

There was, Sheffer discovered, more to know about Olathe’s history. And through a documentary film project, he’s learned a lot more — and so have the people of Olathe.

The project — known as “Olathe – The City Beautiful” — is marking two milestones. The entire series of 20 completed documentaries now has its own You Tube channel, and the last of the documentaries — about Gary Burrell, the Olathe citizen who co-founded Garmin — is expected to be completed this summer.

The documentary project has an unusual background.

A visit Sheffer, a filmmaker and director, made in the early 2000s to the Lone Elm campground provided the initial spark.

The campground, located at 167th and Lone Elm in Olathe, is where many Oregon, California and Santa Fe trail travelers spent their first night west of the Missouri River.

“I knew very little about it,” Sheffer said.

Sheffer began exploring the idea of creating documentaries on Olathe with city and civic leaders.

“I have the ability to tell these stories,” Sheffer said. “They weren’t being told.”

Sheffer said he thinks Olathe is misidentified as simply a bedroom community of Kansas City. Yet, Olathe was founded in 1857, even before Kansas became a state in 1861.

“It really has the most dynamic history of Johnson County,” Sheffer said. “There is a lot of interesting history that has gotten lost.”

Sheffer and the Olathe Historical Society established a list of possible subjects to explore. Unfortunately, it was tough to get the financial backing needed for the documentaries’ start amid the 2008 recession, said Bob Courtney, first vice president of the Olathe Historical Society.

“We felt if we could get one story made, we could develop the series,” Courtney said.

Then the project got a critical financial boost from an Olathe philanthropist: the late Maron Lorimer Moore.

Moore actually chose the first documentary to be made, Courtney said.

“The Bricklayer” is about James Garfield Cleveland Brown, the winner of a brick laying competition held to celebrate the completion of the Kansas City Olathe Highway in September 1925.

There was a specific reason Moore was interested in that story.

“Her dad took her to the competition as a little girl,” Courtney said.

“The Bricklayer” was released in 2010.

Courtney said Moore continued to be supportive of the project.

“About a year after (‘The Bricklayer’ completion) she approached me again and asked, ‘What is your next film? Do you still have your list?’,” Courtney said. “She got us going on the entire series.”

The project did get additional funding over the years, including through grants.

The films feature many well-known Olathe residents such as J.C. Nichols, Buddy Rogers and the Mahaffie family. But the films also include the lesser-known stories of C.H. Hyer, a cobbler who is credited as a major contributor to the creation of the cowboy boot, and Marshall Ensor, an amateur radio pioneer.

The documentary on the Olathe Naval Air Station includes an interview with one of its most famous trainees: John Glenn.

Sheffer thinks history is more than just memorizing facts and old black-and-white photographs.

“History to me is an exciting story,” he said. “It’s vibrant and dynamic.”

While the You Tube channel has been established, the documentaries are available for sale on DVDs.

Courtney continues to present showings of the documentaries to audiences that have ranged over the years from six to 200 people. He estimated that he has made about 150 presentations over the years to more than 6,000 people.

“It’s really been fun for me watching the reaction of people when they say ‘gosh, I didn’t know that’,” Courtney said.

To see the documentaries, go to youtube.com/@olathecitybeautiful/videos.