History of The City of Olsburg.

Olsburg lies just a few miles east of the upper end of Tuttle Creek Reservoir on the Blue River. Prior to European settlement, the fertile Blue River valley was continuously occupied and used for millennia by successive waves of Native Americans dating back to approximately 8-10,000 BC.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the area was used primarily by the Konza Indian tribe, which had a major village some 25 miles south near what is now Manhattan. It is believed that the area around Olsburg was sometimes in dispute between the Konza and the Pawnee.

Early explorers included the French in the 18th century. An 18th century French map of the area shows a Konza settlement in the area now covered by Junction City. In 1806 Zebulon Pike passed not far south of the Olsburg area on his first exploratory expedition.

The area around Olsburg was first settled by a few intrepid American settlers who claimed land along the fertile creek and river bottoms. The earliest settlements began prior to 1853 when Juniata Crossing was established on the Fort Riley Military Road. Samuel Dyer, buried in the oldest grave in nearby Carnahan Cemetery was contracted with by the military to operate the ferry at the crossing in 1853. This crossing later became a stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Dispatch route to Denver.

The cultural origins of early settlers in the Olsburg area included families from England, Scotland, and Germany. The earliest founders of Olsburg City were primarily Swedish.

Olsburg itself was platted and officially born in 1880 when the Kansas Central Railroad ran its line through the area and a general store was opened by Oscar and C.W. Fagerberg.

Some descendants of the original settlers of the Olsburg area still own and/or occupy farm and ranch lands in the vicinity.