Downtown Ottawa Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

From the record

One of 21 National Register listings published here for Franklin County · listed in 1972 · category: District.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 15 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
Address. E side of S. Main St. from No. 135 to 3rd St., Ottawa, 66067
When was it listed? June 1972
Category. district
City. Ottawa city
National Register reference number. 72000501 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

78 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 78 fires within 5 miles of Downtown Ottawa Historic District between 2015 and 2020, burning about 311 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 5 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	39
Debris and open burning	23
Equipment and vehicle use	5
Arson/incendiarism	5
Power generation/transmission/distribution	4
Fireworks	1
Natural	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
18 August 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Kansas Forest Service	1192
7 July 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Kansas Forest Service	180164
4 July 2018	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Kansas Forest Service	180156
25 July 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Kansas Forest Service	1057
25 July 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Kansas Forest Service	1052
25 July 2017	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	6.0 acres	Franklin County	2017195
20 July 2018	Fireworks	under an acre	Kansas Forest Service	1035
20 July 2017	Debris and open burning	1.5 acres	Franklin County	2017190

Every fire recorded in Franklin County

Storms near this property

60 of 179 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ottawa, the town this property stands in, in 179 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 75 thunderstorm wind, 73 hail, 18 flash flood, 4 tornado. The reports record 4 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
April 2026	Tornado (EF2)	Ottawa	3 hurt	NWS storm survey revealed a tornado formed a few miles west of Ottawa and proceeded to move ESE through the southern parts of the city of Ottawa. The tornado turned to the ENE as it exited to the city and moved across interstate 35 doing more damage to structures before it ended near the Marais des Cygness River. The tornado produced EF2 damage with estimated winds of 120-125 mph throughout the southern parts of the city of Ottawa and to other structures to the ENE of the city before it ended. There were 3 non serious injuries reported at a home near the end point of the tornado.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	1 hurt, $70,000	Strong winds damaged trees and blew down power lines. Falling tree limbs damaged at least 6 cars. Two churches and several businesses had extensive damage. One person was injured from broken glass.
November 1998	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$2,500,000	no account filed
August 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$1,300,000	Severe thunderstorms moved north across Franklin county producing numerous reports of damaging winds. Five planes were overturned and a business severely damaged at Ottawa airport. Much crop damage was also reported.
July 2003	Hail	Ottawa	$1,000,000	Widespread baseball size hail damaged roofs, buildings, and many car windows in the Ottawa area during an early evening storm.
July 2007	Flood	Ottawa	$300,000	Rain ends but flooding continues into the new month. Many roads are flooded. Emergency manager reports that up to 25 homes have been evacuated with 15 homes flooded in Lane. Homes are evacuated on the west and east sides of Ottawa due to approaching floodwaters. Flood gates closed in downtown Ottawa. Highway K68 bridge crossing the Marais des Cygnes west of Ottawa has 5 feet of water over the bridge. An indirect fatality occurred nearly two weeks later (on the 15th) when a motorist was thrown from his vehicle 4 miles east of Pomona after hitting a hole in the road caused by flood waters earlier in the month. A state report said that flood waters destroyed five houses in the county with 20 receiving major damage, 23 had minor damage and 21 were affected by not considered damaged.
June 2005	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$150,000	Vehicles reported stuck in fast flowing water across many streets in Ottawa. Newspaper reported nearly 4 inches of rain just before and during the flash flooding.
October 1998	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$147,000	no account filed
August 2019	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$100,000	Photos from KOFO radio station. Numerous buildings in Ottawa surrounded by flood waters. Estimated depth of the water 6 to 12 inches deep.
June 2007	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$100,000	Highway 59 closed due to high water.
May 1995	Hail	Ottawa	$100,000	Large hail accompanied by high winds caused widespread damage to roofs, cars and windows.
February 1996	Lightning	Ottawa	$100,000	no account filed
August 2005	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$80,000	Up to a foot of water flowing over streets around Ottawa.
August 2019	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$75,000	Two vehicles inundated by flood waters in Ottawa due to flooding t-storm rains.
June 2007	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$70,000	Bridge crossing Middle Creek under water 2 miles east of 59 highway on Hamilton road.
May 2007	Flood	Ottawa	$50,000	Moderate or greater flooding along the reach of the Marais Des Cygnes river in the vicinity of Ottawa. The Ottawa flood gates are closed. Flooding of lowland areas and county roads occurred.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$50,000	High winds produced scattered damage to power lines, trees and some buildings across most of the county.
March 2004	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$8,000	no account filed
July 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$8,000	no account filed
June 2001	Lightning	Ottawa	$7,000	Lightning struck a storage barn and ignited a fire that damaged the structure and much of its contents.
April 1995	Hail	Ottawa	$5,000	Large hail propelled by winds estimated over 70 mph caused damage to a barn and outbuildings. Heavy rains of three to five inches, most of it occurring in about one hour, caused isolated temporary flooding.
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$5,000	Winds tore down trees and limbs and damaged some roofs.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$5,000	High winds tore down power lines, tree limbs and caused minor damage to some buildings.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$5,000	High winds, hail, and heavy rain once again caused damage in and around the Ottawa area.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$3,000	no account filed
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$2,000	A 4 inch tree limb was broken and shingles were removed from a home near Ottawa.
September 2009	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$2,000	Thunderstorms producing heavy rains caused flash flooding in the city of Ottawa. Eisenhower road in Ottawa had one foot of water flowing over the road. 15th street in Ottawa also had one foot of flowing water across the road.
September 2009	Flash Flood	Ottawa	$2,000	Two Cars were reported to be stalled in high water due a heavy rains from thunderstorms. The high water and stalled cars were at the intersection of 15th and Poplar streets in Ottawa.
September 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	$1,000	A tree as split in half and numerous large limbs were reported down in and near Ottawa.
April 2007	Lightning	Ottawa	$1,000	Lightning struck a tree in the yard of a home in Ottawa and peeled bark off two sides of the tree. The bolt traveled into the ground, where it struck a water line, blew the heads off the in-ground sprinkler system in the yard, and traveled along a fence surrounding the yard. The water line also tracked into the home, where all of the basement windows were blown out, and a few appliances were damaged. There were other isolated reports around town of power outages during the storm.
April 2026	Hail	Ottawa	-	Delayed report of 2 inch diameter hail across the street from the Ottawa High School. Photos were sent via email.
April 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Wind gusts were estimated between 60-65 mph.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Estimated 60 mph gust.
April 2023	Hail	Ottawa	-	Quarter sized hail reported.
February 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Measured at awos in Ottawa.
May 2023	Hail	Ottawa	-	Nickel sized hail reported.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Kofo reported that an 18 wheeler truck was blown off of interstate 35.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Kofo reported a tree fell through the roof of a house and power is out all through the town of Ottawa.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Report of 6 to 8 inch diameter tree limbs down.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Video from twitter shows 12 inch diameter tree limbs broken. Tree appeared to be healthy. Time estimated by radar.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Tree limbs down in Ottawa. Delayed report from Sheriff Office.
June 2021	Flash Flood	Ottawa	-	Water over multiple roadways in Ottawa.
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Large tree blown over, per social media pictures. Time estimated based on radar.
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Public reported power poles and a railroad crossing guard blown down. Time estimated based on radar.
May 2019	Flash Flood	Ottawa	-	Water was running across Highway 59 just south of Ottawa. In addition, multiple roads in Ottawa are impassable.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Social media photos of 6 inch diameter tree limbs down. Time estimated by radar.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Power lines down around city of Ottawa.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Estimated wind gust report.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Estimated wind gust report.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Measured at the Ottawa Mesonet site. 79.9 mph was measured at 10 meters.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Measured wind gust.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Picture received via social media of a large tree on a house.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Power lines were reported down in the city of Ottawa.
October 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Social media report of a 6 inch diameter tree limb down. Dispatch relayed multiple tree limbs and power lines down within the city. Time was estimated by radar.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Numerous small trees and power lines are down throughout the city of Ottawa.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	A 4 inch diameter tree limb fell.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	A couple of tree were blown over.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	A tree fell on a house. No description of the tree was given.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	Two trees blown over and landed on a vehicle.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Ottawa	-	There was an 8 inch diameter tree limb down.

Every storm recorded in Franklin County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Franklin County Courthouse	0.1 miles	1972
Historic Ottawa Central Business District	0.2 miles	2008
James H. Ransom House	0.2 miles	1974
Lyman Reid House	0.3 miles	2017
Dietrich Cabin	0.3 miles	1972
Ottawa High School and Junior High School	0.3 miles	2000

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 72000501 in Record Group 79.
Franklin County	All 21 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.