Osage

History

The first plat of the town was started in 1854 by a Dr. Moore and named after his eldest daughter “Cora”, but the name was never recorded. In 1855 a Mr. Gibbs arrived from Massachusetts, representing wealthy capitalists in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He prevailed upon Mr. Orrin Sage, a great banker from Ware, MA to invest in this community, and later Mr. Sage gave $2,000 and 600 acres of land to the Library Building Fund. Because of his benevolence, the town’s name was changed to Osage in his honor. In the winter of 1855-56, Dr. S. B. Chase of Decorah purchased land in the southwest part of the tract and in the spring of 1856 platted the present City of Osage. He named the east-west streets generally for trees and numbered the north-south streets. He was also responsible for setting out maple trees to line the streets. Even today, Osage is referred to as “the City of Maples”.  Dr. Chase built an elaborate residence and office on Free Street in 1869. That house still stands today and is used as apartments. Ten years after Dr. Chase’s death in 1891, Free Street was renamed Chase Street to honor his many contributions to Osage. Several of the businesses in Osage occupy structures built in the 1870’s. City Hall occupies the former Sage Library Building constructed in 1910 after a $10,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie. The very first library building was built in 1876 one-half block west of the current City Hall/Sage Library building. A Subway sandwich shop occupies the ground floor of the building today and the date of 1876 along with “Sage Library” is seen in the concrete and brick work of the second story. In 2002, a four-block area of Main Street was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. On both sides of Main Street within the district, one to multi-story…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Lincoln Elementary School
  Elementary · Osage · 405 students · 15:1 ratio
• St Ansgar Elementary School
  Elementary · St Ansgar · 320 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• Osage High School
  High · Osage · 313 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Osage Middle School
  Middle · Osage · 268 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• St Ansgar High School
  High · St Ansgar · 171 students · 9.5:1 ratio
• St Ansgar Middle School
  Middle · St Ansgar · 117 students · 19.5:1 ratio