Lane, an incorporated town of Franklin county, is located in the southeast corner on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 15 miles from Ottawa, the county seat. A postoffice was established on March 21, 1855, known as Shermanville, although locally the place was known as Dutch Henry's crossing, one of the Sherman brothers who lived there being known as Dutch Henry, and his name was given to the ford of the Pottawatomie at the place. (See Pottawatomie Massacre.) On Jan. 28, 1863, the name was changed to Lane, in honor of James H. Lane. Subsequently an attempt was made to change the name to Avondale, but it failed. Lane has a bank, a number of mercantile concerns, a money order postoffice with two rural routes, telegraph and express offices, telephone connections, and is a shipping point for a rich agricultural district. The population in 1910 was 272.