KSHS Historic Sites

Visit our 16 state-owned sites and discover more about the real people and real stories of Kansas. You can explore by topic--Forts & Trails, Native American history, Civil War, Nature, African American history, and Kansas families; or explore by region.

Cottonwood Ranch Fort Hays Pawnee Rock William Allen White House Marais des Cygnes Massacre Mine Creek Battlefield John Brown Museum Shawnee Indian Mission Grinter Place Constitution Hall Kaw Mission First Territorial Capitol Goodnow House Pawnee Indian Hollenberg Pony Express Station Native American Heritage Museum

Constitution Hall - where proslavery delegates to the Constitutional Convention hotly debated the issue of slavery in Kansas, while the nation watched, in Lecompton.

11.

Cottonwood Ranch - this relatively unchanged English-style home was once a successful sheep ranch, in Studley.

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First Territorial Capitol - proslavery forces tried to guide the fate of Kansas Territory when the first territorial legislature convened in July 1855, in Fort Riley.

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Fort Hays - General George A. Custer, William "Buffalo Bill" Cody and James B. "Wild Bill" Hickok are just a few of the well-known people who made history at this frontier fort, in Hays.

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Goodnow House - Isaac Goodnow was a leader in the free-state movement and founder of the college which became Kansas State University. Isaac and Ellen Goodnow's interest in education and nature is reflected in the collections, in Manhattan.

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Grinter Place - Moses Grinter traded with the Delaware before building this brick farmhouse in 1862. Moses and Annie Grinter, a Delaware, farmed, raised poultry and livestock, in Kansas City.

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Hollenberg Pony Express Station - established in 1858 by Gerat H. and Sofia Hollenberg, Pony Express riders and hundreds of pioneers on the Oregon-California Trail stopped here, near Hanover.

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John Brown Museum - Reverend Samuel and Florella Adair struggled to survive on the Kansas frontier while sharing Abolitionist principles with Florella's legendary half brother, John Brown, in Osawatomie.

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Kaw Mission - this historic stone mission on the Santa Fe Trail was once home to 50 Kaw (or Kansa) boys from 1851 - 1854, in Council Grove.

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Marais des Cygnes Massacre - The nation was shocked when proslavery men gunned down 11 free-state men in May 1858 at this now National Historic Landmark, near Pleasanton.

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Mine Creek Battlefield - One of the largest cavalry engagements of the Civil War was fought on this battlefield, the only Civil War battle fought in Kansas, near Pleasanton.

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Native American Heritage Museum - Once a Presbyterian Mission built in 1845 to educate Iowa and Sac and Fox children, this museum showcases quillwork, baskets, and other artwork of present day descendants of emigrant tribes, in Highland.

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Pawnee Indian Museum - As many as two thousand Pawnee lived in this village of more than 40 lodges. The museum encloses the excavated floor of one of the largest lodges, near Republic.

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Pawnee Rock - Stand atop this sandstone citadel and contemplate the rich history of the Santa Fe Trail and take in the commanding view of the Arkansas River Valley, in Pawnee Rock.

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Shawnee Indian Mission - This 12-acre National Historic Landmark features three historic buildings, period rooms and exhibits. Shawnee, Delaware and other Indian nations attended this manual training school from 1839 - 1862, in Fairway, part of Kansas City Metro.

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William Allen White House - Pulitzer-Prize winning author and nationally known newspaperman, William Allen White, built this home often called "Red Rocks," in Emporia.

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Map of the Kansas State Historic Sites


Visiting State Historic Sites
Hours:

Vary by site

Tours

Group tours by appointment. See Kansas State Historic Sites Guided Tours.

Phone:

785-272-8681

Fax:

785-272-8682

TTY:

785-272-8683

Admission:

Admission varies by site; an annual pass is available for frequent visitors

 

ADA accessible

Email:

historic_sites@kshs.org

Mailing Address:

6425 SW Sixth Avenue
Topeka KS 66615-1099

 

Map


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