A grassroots campaign to change the name of Negro Creek in east-central Johnson County is gathering steam with plans for community engagement in the months ahead.

The small waterway meanders through several neighborhoods and a few small parks in southern Overland Park and Leawood, including portions of the Iron Horse Golf Course.

The creek is one of six geographic places in five Kansas counties, including Johnson County, and 757 sites in the nation with Negro or a related term in their names.

Changing the name will take time with the upcoming community input and with required support for the chosen new name by community organizations, two city governments, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners and state agencies.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a federal agency, has the final say on standardizing geographic names in the nation and typically changes a name only if local support for the change is strong. Once an application for a new name has been submitted, the process can take up to six months for a decision.

Submit questions/inquires/suggestions to [email protected].

Warning, the following document contains graphic descriptions of a violent historical event, includes and references a newspaper article from 1879 which contains offensive language that has been redacted.

Report on the History and the Origins of the Name of Negro Creek, Johnson County, Kansas

• Johnson County moving forward with potential name change to creek many find offensive
• The Best Times
• JoCo Magazine, Page 10
• Historical or just offensive? Johnson County’s Negro Creek is long overdue for a new name
• Johnson County does deep dive into history of Negro Creek ahead of potential name change
• The push is on to change the name of Johnson County creek
• Push continues to change name of Johnson County creek that many find offensive
• Kansas county mulls changing creek’s racially loaded name
• Creek Topo Map in Johnson County KS