Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Chetopa, KS

Chetopa is a city in Labette County in far southeastern Kansas, and one of the oldest communities in that corner of the state.

Chetopa began as an Osage village named for Chief Chetopah, the leading chief of the Little Osage band, whose name in the Osage language signifies 'four lodges.'

In 1847 trader Larkin McGhee established a trading post at Chetopah to exchange goods with the Osage Nation, at a time when white settlement on the Osage reservation was officially forbidden.

Chetopa was incorporated in 1857, four years before Kansas even became a state.

On September 18, 1861, Chetopa was the site of one of the earliest Civil War battles in Kansas, when the 6th Kansas Cavalry under James G. Blunt fought pro-slavery raiders led by John Allen Mathews.

The town's first post office opened in April 1867 under the spelling 'Chetopah'; in 1880 Postmaster J.M. Cavaness successfully petitioned to drop the final 'h,' giving the town its modern name, Chetopa.

Chetopa peaked early — the 1890 census counted 2,265 people — and the Nevada and Minden Railway reached town in 1886 after Chetopa donated land for the right-of-way and a depot.

The 2020 census counted 929 people in Chetopa living in 430 households, and about 70 percent of its households owned their homes.

Chetopa has a humid subtropical climate — hot, humid summers and generally mild winters — which is unusual this far north and reflects its position in the green, rainy southeastern corner of Kansas.

Chetopa's children attend Chetopa Elementary School, Chetopa Junior High School and Chetopa High School, all in the Chetopa-St. Paul USD 505 district.