The original town of Kaw City was established in Oklahoma Territory in the Ox Bow Bend of the Arkansas River by the Kaw City Townsite Company, which consisted of William M. Jenkins, fifth territorial governor of O.T., N.F. Frazier, C.W. Carey, and W.E. Brown. The first town lots were offered for sale on July 4, 1902. Ideally located on a railroad line at the threshold of the Kaw and Osage Reservations to the north and east and in the midst of a fertile and productive farming and cattle country, the town grew and flourished through its early years. Oil discovery in the 1920s in the Burbank Field brought additional building to the community. On June 23, 1923, major flood waters covered the business district and destroyed the south bridge, harming vital trade. The depression of the 1930s and the loss of many citizens during World War II further damaged the town. The final blow came in 1957 with construction of the Kaw Dam, which would inundate Kaw City. The town purchased the present townsite, and the Old Pioneers and the New Pioneers began to build their new city, taking with them part of the past in the old Santa Fe Depot, which became the Kaw City Museum.