Lecompton, Capital of Kansas Territory
Tour Stop
Directions: A historical marker [ Waypoint = N38 59.603 W95 23.444 ] for Lecompton, the Capital of the Kansas Territory is located in a roadside rest area at the intersection of US Highway 40 and E 600th Road about 3.5 miles south of Lecompton, Kansas 66050.
- From Pioneer Cemetery in Lawrence, head south on Constant Avenue and take the first left onto W 19th Street.
- At the traffic light, turn left (north) onto Iowa Street.
- After about 1.6 miles, turn left (west) onto W 6th Street (US Highway 40).
- After about 8.1 miles, pull into the roadside rest area at the intersection of US Highway 40 and E 600th Road.
Description: The marker's text reads as follows:
“In 1855, the new town of Lecompton was named the capital of Kansas Territory. President James Buchanan appointed a governor and officials to establish government offices in Lecompton, and construction began on an elegant capitol building. In the fall of 1857 a convention met in Constitution Hall and drafted the famous Lecompton Constitution, which would have admitted Kansas as a slave state. The constitution was rejected after intense national debate and was one of the prime topics of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The controversy contributed to the growing dispute soon to erupt in civil war. The Lecompton Constitution failed, in part, because the antislavery party won control of the territorial legislature in the election of 1857. The new legislature met in Constitution Hall, now a National Historic Landmark, and immediately began to abolish the proslavery laws. The victorious free-state leaders chose Topeka as capital when Kansas became a state in 1861.”
Erected by Kansas Historical Society and Department of Transportation
The current historical marker replaced an older version, Lecompton, Slavery Capital Historical Marker, whose text read as follows:
"Three miles north is Lecompton, famous in the latter 1850's as headquarters of the Proslavery party in Kansas. The "bogus" legislature of 1855 made it the territorial capital and Congress appropriated $50,000 for a capitol building which was never completed. Lecompton was served by stagecoach, steamboat, and ferry. With a land office and other Federal Agencies, it prospered until the downfall of the slave power in Kansas. Gov. Charles Robinson and many free-state leaders were imprisoned there during 1856-1857. Still to be seen is the legislative hall in which the Lecompton Constitution was framed in 1857.
"Fort Titus" home of proslavery leader Henry Titus, attacked and burned by Free-State men in 1856, was 2½ miles north of this marker."
Erected by Kansas Historical Society and Department of Transportation