Centropolis, one of the oldest settlements of Franklin county, is situated on Eight Mile creek about 10 miles northwest of Ottawa, the county seat, and 8 miles west of Norwood, the nearest railroad station. The first white settler on the town site was Perry Fuller, who established a store in 1855, for trade with the Indians. The business prospered and Mr. Fuller was the prime mover in the formation of the Centropolis Town company in 1856. The men vho formed the organization intended that it should not only be the seat of justice of the county, but also aspired to have it the capital of Kansas Territory. It was therefore named Centropolis at the suggestion of Joel K. Goodin, a member of the association. A number of business houses and dwellings were erected during 1856. The following year the town company built a large sawmill, and during that year Centropolis reached the height of its importance. The first school in the town was taught during the winter of 1855 by William Cator. The first school house was used until 1877, when it was replaced by a good frame building with a capacity of 80 scholars. The first newspaper in Franklin county, excepting that issued by Jotham Meeker at the Indian mission, was the Kansas Leader of Centropolis, which appeared in the spring of 1857. Centropolis prospered up to 1860, but as no railroad reached the town it never lived up to the great expectations of its founders. Today it has several general stores, a money order postoffice, is the supply town for a considerable district, and in 1910 had a population of 117.