RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Coffey County >> OttumwaIndex...

Welcome to Ottumwa ...

Ottumwa is located in Coffey County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Ottumwa, you might consider that their post office opened in 1857.

When the people of Ottumwa refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Ottumwan<2>

Ottumwa is 1,090 feet [332 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Ottumwa lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Communities Also Named Ottumwa ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 2 communities that are also named Ottumwa - they are located in Iowa and South Dakota.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ottumwa.

Communities near Ottumwa ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ottumwa.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Ottumwa. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ottumwa.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ottumwa. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ottumwa.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ottumwa. See our Newspapers Page for Ottumwa.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Ottumwa ...

Looking for more information about Ottumwa? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Ottumwa, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Ottumwa.

Adding Ottumwa to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Ottumwa in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Ottumwa was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Ottumwa post office opened in 1857. The Ottumwa post office closed in 1906.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Ottumwa.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Kansas' counties, including Coffey, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Ottumwa refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Ottumwa may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Ottumwa - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/