Town file
Edgerton, Kansas
Edgerton, Kansas (Johnson County, with a little bit of Miami County, Kansas) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 489, "Psycho Stepmom" (2 May 2024). Edward Hobson, known as Ed, was born in 1942, a big, strong, blonde Dutch-American and a former all-state football player who spent time in the Army between Korea and Vietnam and worked for years as a mill worker at the Ralston Purina factory.
- Town
- Edgerton
- County
- Johnson County, with a little bit of Miami County
- State
- Kansas
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 489
- Approximate location
- 38.769, -94.965
Episode 489 / 2 May 2024 / 168 min / full
Psycho Stepmom
""This is Edgerton, Kansas... It's in Northeast Kansas... This is in Johnson County, and a little bit of Miami County as well."" about 0:04:42
The case: Murder of Chris Hobson (April 1980). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2024
- Population
- 1,901
- Median age
- about 37.5
- Median household income
- $74,741 a year
- Median home value
- $270,300
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $1,080 a month
- Cost of living
- 106.2
- Property crime
- ▼ about half the national average
- Violent crime
- ▼ less than half the average, like a third of the average
History, in brief
- The town had four names before Edgerton: Lanesfield, McCamish, Hibbard and Martinsburg. about 0:05:54
- Judge David Martin owned a farm where Edgerton now stands, so the place was called Martinsburg. about 0:06:21
- In 1870 the railroad was extended there and the town was named for the chief engineer of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Edgerton. about 0:06:26
- The town motto is "global roots, local roots", chosen because the two words rhyme. about 0:05:17
The reviews read out
zero stars
"Unless you like to drive ten minutes for a gallon of milk, this is not the place for you; the only things there are a gas station, a liquor store and a bar, and trains come through about every hour."about 0:07:11
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Lenexa, Kansas16 miles
- Prairie Village, Kansas23 miles
- Oskaloosa, Kansas36 miles
- Burlingame, Kansas47 miles
- Atchison, Kansas56 miles
- Emporia, Kansas71 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.