Lane

History

The first temporary settlement near what would become Lane occurred in 1838 when Rev. Robert Simerwell established a Baptist Mission Station "on the south side of Pottawatomie Creek" following the Potawatomie Trail of Death. When the Federal Government moved the Potawatomie (and the Baptist Mission) to the Kansas River valley in the mid-1840s, brothers William, Peter, and "Dutch" Henry Sherman were left as the first permanent settlers. The community was known as Dutch Henry's Crossing because a wagon road forded the creek near the Sherman cabin. When the Missouri Pacific Railroad arrived in 1879, a competing community, called either Emerson or Avondale, was laid out east of Kansas Avenue. Within two years the competition between the two towns ceased, and both townsites had merged into the single community of Lane. Lane is near the site where in 1856, the abolitionist John Brown and four other of his followers hacked five pro-slavery men, one of whom was William Sherman, to death with broadswords near Mosquito Creek and Pottawatomie Creek. The event is commonly referred to as the Pottawatomie massacre.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Lane has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  976
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  957
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  909
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  850
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  843
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  797
• Eastern Bluebird

  Sialia sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  627
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  607