Kansas City Public Library: Black Bob Is All Over This Part Of Johnson County. Here's The Tragedy Behind The Name

Press release from the Kansas City Public Library:

September 3, 2021

Out-of-towners might be a bit shocked when they drive through Olathe, the county seat of Johnson County.

If the name of Black Bob Road doesn’t grab their attention — and perhaps raise their eyebrows — then Black Bob Elementary School, Black Bob Park, Black Bob Bay water park, Blackbob Marketplace, Black Bob Court Townhomes, Blackbob Pet Hospital or Blackbob Park Batting Cages & Mini Golf might.

Olathe is, without question, the Black Bob capital of the world.

So, is that a bad thing?

Thomas Greaves wondered just that in his query to “What’s Your KCQ?,” The Star’s ongoing series with the Kansas City Public Library that answers readers’ questions about our region:

Given the current climate of sensitivity toward traditional names of places, things and team mascots, his is a timely question. Johnson County itself is wrestling with the possibility of renaming Negro Creek, which flows through Leawood’s Ironhorse Golf Club.

“I’m sure that question comes up often,” Tim Danneberg, Olathe’s director of communication and customer services, said of public inquiries about the name’s appropriateness.

Greaves lives in Kansas City but works in Olathe, just off Black Bob Road, which runs north-south from Strang Line Road at about 117th Street to 157th Terrace, where it becomes Lackman Road.

“When I first heard of it, I thought it was one word ‘blackbob’ and the name of some kind of plant or something,” he said in an email. “But when I saw the actual sign, it made me wonder, who was Black Bob, why is the road named that, and in these times, SHOULD it be named that?”

The simple answer is yes — unless you also consider honoring American Indian chiefs such as Tecumseh, Sitting Bull and Geronimo to be offensive.

Black Bob, who was half Miami and half Shawnee, led a band of Shawnee Indians inhabiting the Olathe area in the 19th century. The band, as well as a reservation that filled much of Johnson County, came to be named after Black Bob, so a street in his honor seems entirely logical.

“This issue arises from time to time that perhaps the name Black Bob Road has a racist connotation,” said Chief Ben Barnes of the Shawnee tribe. “That’s absolutely not the case.

“To actually name it after an individual, I don’t see a problem with that whatsoever.”

And, no, his name didn’t come from his skin color, but rather from his bobbed black hair.

Of course, none of this sugarcoats some elements of shame to the Black Bob story. As was the case with most American Indians, mistreatment by the white man was common. And with the Black Bob Band, it rose to the highest level of government.

As the abovementioned pet hospital and batting cages indicate, there is disagreement about one word or two when it comes to Black Bob.

This press release was produced by the Kansas City Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.