Titan Tow & Repair covers Jefferson County, Kansas, around the clock, from Oskaloosa, the county seat, where US-59 crosses K-92, to Valley Falls and the towns around Perry Lake. Out of our Liberty, Missouri, yard come the wreckers, rollbacks and service truck that handle it all: cars to loaded semis on the hook, winch-outs, recovery, and trucks and trailers repaired where they stopped.
Oskaloosa, the county seat, sits at the intersection of US-59 and K-92, approximately 15 miles north of Lawrence. The other towns grew up on rivers and railroads rather than highways. Valley Falls began at the falls of the Grasshopper River, now called the Delaware River; Perry started with the railroad in 1865; Meriden had the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe until the line through town closed at the end of 1996, and a few old rail bridges still stand on private land around it. Ozawkie sits beside Perry Lake, the reservoir that came with the Perry Dam Project, and the whole town moved to higher ground before the reservoir was built.
Perry Lake and Perry State Park are what set Jefferson County apart. They bring campers, travel trailers and boat trailers onto the county's roads, along with the pickups pulling them, and a rig that has sunk at a campsite or slid off a ramp can generally be winched back onto firm ground without a full tow; it helps if nobody has dug it in deeper trying to drive it out. Away from the lake it is small towns and rural roads. For dispatch, name the highway if you are on US-59 or K-92 and your direction from Oskaloosa; near the lake, give the nearer town, Ozawkie or Perry, and say whether you are inside the park.
| County | Jefferson County, Kansas |
|---|---|
| County seat | Oskaloosa |
| Main roads | US-59, K-92, the US-59 and K-92 junction at Oskaloosa |
| Towns covered | 8 |
| Hours | 24 hours a day, every day |
| Dispatched from | 2751 Liberty Landing Rd., Liberty, MO |
| Dispatch | (816) 888-8732 |
Oskaloosa, the county seat, was founded in 1856 and named after Oskaloosa, Iowa. It stands where US-59 meets K-92, and in 1888 its voters elected Mary D. Lowman mayor with a council made up entirely of women, the first all-women city administration in Kansas. The Oskaloosa Independent, the county's official newspaper, is published here. Calling from town, tell us which of the two highways you are nearest and which way out you were headed.
Valley Falls was first called Grasshopper Falls, after the falls on the Grasshopper River, the stream now known as the Delaware River. Settled in 1854 and platted the next year, it has many streets named for women pioneer settlers. The Kansas City, Wyandotte and Northwestern Railway was built to link it with Holton, and Denison grew up on that line. Valley Falls lies south of Effingham and south-east of Holton. K-16 takes traffic across the Delaware here, briefly sharing its route with K-4; near the river, tell us which bank.
McLouth was founded in the 1880s on land owned by Amos McLouth and got its post office in 1882. Since 1957 it has hosted the Threshing Bee and Fall Festival, a celebration of antique farm machinery; if you are hauling a machine to the show and the truck or trailer lets you down, tell us what is on the deck. The town lies north of Lawrence and north-west of Tonganoxie, and its schools share one campus. K-16 and K-92 enter together on Lake Street, then split at South Union Street, K-92 turning north.
Perry got its start in 1865, when the railroad was built through, and took the name of John D. Perry, president of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. It shares its name with Perry Lake and Perry State Park, and Perry–Lecompton High School, home of the Kaws, is in town. North-west of Perry on the Delaware River is Thompsonville, where Mormon settlers made the county's first settlement in 1851. US-24 follows the Kansas River through Perry between Topeka and Lawrence; west of town, K-237 leaves it for the Perry State Park entrance.
Meriden was founded in 1872, and a pioneer settler named it for his former hometown of Meriden, New Hampshire; streets such as Owens and Dawson carry early settlers' names. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe ran through town from an 1873 depot until the railroad ceased operations at the end of 1996; old train bridges remain on private property nearby. K-4 curves past the south-east side of Meriden, which lies north-east of Topeka; tell us whether you are out on the highway or on a town street.
Ozawkie was Jefferson County's first county seat, as Osawkee, in 1855, but it no longer stands on its original ground. When the Perry Dam Project was approved, the government would not relocate an unincorporated town, so residents formed a non-profit and moved Ozawkie themselves: in 1966 it was rebuilt on higher ground west of the old site, and it incorporated a year later. It sits beside Perry Lake, north-east of Topeka and south-east of Holton; K-92 clips the south end of town and then crosses the lake on a causeway.
Nortonville was platted in 1873 and named for L. Norton Jr., a railroad employee, and its post office opened that May. The town lies south-east of Effingham, and Jefferson County North Elementary and Middle School is here; USD 339 merged the Nortonville and Winchester schools, and its high school is in Winchester. US-59 passes the east edge of town; K-4 ends at it just south-east of Nortonville, and US-159 leaves it heading north to Effingham. For dispatch, name the highway and which side of town you are on.
Laid out in 1857 and named after Winchester, Virginia, Winchester is where the county hospital was established in 1956. Jefferson County North High School and the Winchester Public Library are in town; the post office, opened in 1858, closed in 2021. The town lies south-west of Atchison. Starting at US-59 and K-16 to the west, K-192 enters as Delaware Street and passes Covenanter Cemetery, so for a breakdown here name the road and the nearest crossroad.
Yes. Titan Tow & Repair winches campers, travel trailers and boat rigs out of wet ground at Perry State Park and along Perry Lake, at any hour. Tell dispatch the campsite or ramp, what is hitched to what, and how far the wheels have sunk; near the park, say whether Ozawkie or Perry is closer. If the tires are only digging deeper, stop and wait for us, because a rig that is dug in takes more rigging, and more time, to bring out without damage.
US-59 or K-92, whichever you are on. Titan Tow & Repair dispatches to Oskaloosa, the Jefferson County seat, around the clock, and because the two highways cross in town, the highway number and the direction you were heading out of Oskaloosa put us on the right side of the junction. Then give us the nearest crossroad or mile marker and describe the vehicle and its load, which tells us whether a rollback or a heavy wrecker should make the trip.
Titan Tow & Repair, day or night. A pickup, a truck or the trailer behind it, loaded or empty, can go on the hook, and plenty of tire, light and brake faults can be put right at the roadside instead. Tell dispatch what is on the trailer, because an antique tractor on a deck is a different load from an empty trailer, along with the road you are on and which town you last passed.
