What Is the Ritchie House?
This museum was the home of abolitionists, John & Mary Ritchie!
What Makes It Historical?
One of the three founders of Topeka, along with Cyrus Holliday and Franklin Crane, Mr. John Ritchie settled here with his wife, Mary, and two kids, on April 3, 1855. Originally settling into a sod house, the Ritchies built up a farm, a Ritchie Co business district, and a developed neighborhood! But that was the tame side of their story!
The Ritchies were next-level abolitionists, called Garrisonian abolitionists. In addition to supporting the complete end to all slavery, they also advocated for racial and gender equality, plus temperance with alcohol. For this reason, when conflicts rose up over whether Kansas would become a free state, the “Bleeding Kansas” period, Mr. Ritchie took up arms with the Free State side! Captured by the pro-slavery side and charged with all kinds of crimes from robbery to murder, he escaped on November 18, 1856 and went into exile in Indiana until spring of the next year.
When he returned, the Ritchies teamed up with some other local families and set up their property as stations on the Underground Railroad! Fleeing folks stayed in their old sod house and in a cave with a spring, so going back and forth looked like regular gathering of water! Mr. Ritchie would go on to brag that he had cost slave-holders over $100,000! He fought in the Civil War, and his wife founded the first Women’s Suffrage Association of Topeka. One last piece of Ritchie legacy was selling land to the Topeka Board of Education, which built three schools, including the Monroe School, center of the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling many years later!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historical Park!
- Donate to the Western National Parks Association!
- 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?
1116 SE Madison St
Topeka, KS 66601
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
The Ritchie House is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM!
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