What Is Constitution Hall?
This is where Kansas’ constitution was written, and plenty more historic events took place!
What Makes It Historical?
This was originally a commercial building when it was built in the spring of 1855 with Topeka’s first shops, school, theater, and doctor’s office! By October of that year, this multipurpose, frontier Vernacular building was occupied by constitution drafters, who posed a controversial idea inspired by California’s convention: Kansas should enter the Union as a free state!
That didn’t sit well with a lot of folks, including President Pierce and Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, who sent 400 dragoons to Topeka on July 4, 1856 to break up the convention! This was just part of five years of fighting between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces, a time known as the “Bleeding Kansas” period, which foreshadowed the Civil War! Nevertheless, Kansas did enter the Union in 1861 with the new Wyandotte Constitution cementing it as a free state, even making Constitution Hall the terminus of the Lane Trail, a guarded path that not only helped escaped slaves reach freeedom but also supplied free state settlers who’d been blockaded by the South! The building itself would serve as Kansas’ first capitol building from 1863 until 1869!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with the Kansas Historical Society!
- Donate to the Friends of the Free State Capitol!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
429 S Kansas Ave
Topeka, KS 66603
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Visit the outside exhibits any time you like, but inside has not yet been opened for tours!