Constitution Hall Topeka

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Constitution Hall Topeka Here In 1855, antislavery settlers wrote the Topeka Constitution for admitting Kansas into the Union as a free state. It was progressive for its time. Cyrus K.

They stood inspired by the principles of the Declaration of Independence and opposed to proslavery forces in Congress. The Free State or Topeka Constitution was written here in 1855. Constitution Hall is the first stone building erected in the capital of Kansas. Write to us at PO Box 2551, Topeka, 66601, or visit our website. The Topeka constitutional convention brought over forty delegates electe

d from Leavenworth, Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan and free state settlements in between, some walking 60 miles to attend. They had gathered in defiance of appointed proslavery Territorial officials and the "bogus" Territorial legislature elected by citizens of Missouri. The Free State constitution was the first written for a state to be called Kansas. It's position on slavery was radical, to ban slavery and Negro indentures made in other states. It passed in the U.S House of Representatives but stopped by the pro-slavery Senate. Constitution Hall-Topeka is a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program site and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the Free State legislature and early state government, five Topeka churches were established, the first school classes held and the town government met. The administration of President Franklin Pierce permitted federal troops to disperse the Topeka Legislature on the Fourth of July in 1856. For this reason, Pierce was removed from local streets named for the presidents; instead, the name of his political rival Henry Clay was given the street between Fillmore and Buchanan. Constitution Hall was the Quartermaster's Depot on the Jim Lane Trail to freedom in the North. Holiday, signer of the Topeka Constitution, organized the first Kansas railroad convention in its assembly hall. He was later the founder of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. After the six-year struggle over statehood called "Bleeding Kansas," Kansas entered the Union a free state on Jan. 29, 1861. The Civil War erupted three months later. Constitution Hall became the Kansas Statehouse from 1864-1869 while the current Statehouse was being built five blocks south. The Topeka Constitution Hall is among Kansas and Missouri sites important in preserving the stories of freedom struggles on the western frontier in the years leading up to the Civil War.

David Rice Atchison was an important political figure during the Kansas Territory period and a U.S. Senator from Missour...
02/06/2026

David Rice Atchison was an important political figure during the Kansas Territory period and a U.S. Senator from Missouri. He supported the expansion of slavery into Kansas and encouraged settlement efforts by those who shared that view.

During this time, Kansas became the center of intense national debate over whether it would enter the Union as a free or slave state. These tensions led to a period often referred to as “Bleeding Kansas,” marked by conflict and competing political efforts on both sides.

Atchison’s involvement reflects how deeply divided the country was over the future of slavery in the territories, and how those divisions played out directly in Kansas history."

Photo Courtesy of KSH

Andrew Reeder was appointed in 1854 by President Franklin Pierce as the first govenor under the territorial government. ...
30/05/2026

Andrew Reeder was appointed in 1854 by President Franklin Pierce as the first govenor under the territorial government.

He arrived expecting to help organize order in a developing territory, but quickly found himself in the middle of escalating conflict over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state. The territorial government was already being shaped by pro-slavery forces, including fraud and intimidation in elections.

Reeder ultimately refused to support the legitimacy of these actions and opposed the so-called “bogus legislature.” After feeling threatened he escaped Kansas in disguise, using the Underground Railroad networks.

Reeder’s time in office was brief but significant. It highlighted just how divided Kansas was during its territorial period and how unsettled its political future remained.

Photo Courtesy of KHS

26/05/2026

What does “constitution” really mean?
Here, it wasn’t simply created. It was fought over, shaped, and questioned.

23/05/2026

We’re beginning to imagine opportunities for future volunteers.

We anticipate asking for your community service when classroom students are visiting, when special events help tell about Topeka as a new town on the frontier and when the nation struggled for the abolition of slavery. Would you volunteer at the historic Free State Capitol in Topeka?

This was almost lost to time.Buildings like Constitution Hall don’t survive just because they were built well. They surv...
18/05/2026

This was almost lost to time.

Buildings like Constitution Hall don’t survive just because they were built well. They survive because people chose to protect them.

At different points in history, it would have been easier for this place to disappear—to tear it down, to move on. If this place didn’t exist, we would lose more than a building.

We would lose the physical space where early Kansas debates unfolded.

We would lose the setting where decisions were made before Kansas was even a state.

And we would lose a direct connection to a time when everything here was still being decided.

Preservation isn’t just about keeping structures standing.

It’s about making sure the moments that shaped a place don’t disappear with them.

Behind the notices and movement of Constitution Hall was Joseph Miller, the resident tinsmith. To most, he appeared to b...
16/05/2026

Behind the notices and movement of Constitution Hall was Joseph Miller, the resident tinsmith. To most, he appeared to be a craftsman and record keeper. In reality, he also served as militia treasurer and quartermaster, managing the flow of supplies that kept everything functioning.

Miller worked quietly behind the scenes, tracking inventories, handling funds, and ensuring resources reached their intended purpose.

Where others saw transactions and tools, Miller maintained the system that made coordination possible.

Photo courtesy of KHS

At first glance, it read like a routine notice. Constitution Hall was offering “relief” goods to militia members and app...
12/05/2026

At first glance, it read like a routine notice. Constitution Hall was offering “relief” goods to militia members and approved patrons. Instructions were simple: use the north door on the first floor.

But those familiar with the code understood the truth. “Relief” meant Sharps rifles and other military supplies, quietly distributed under the cover of ordinary language.

Even the tone was slightly sarcastic. The notice claimed the supplies were made available after “consulting Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan,” a pointed reference to the pro-slavery national government.

What looks like a basic advertisement was actually something else, carefully coded.

Let the Machine Run.

Until historic preservation research tied to Constitution Hall’s nomination in the National Underground Railroad Network...
09/05/2026

Until historic preservation research tied to Constitution Hall’s nomination in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, the original use of its walk-out basement had been forgotten.

Entered from the back of the building are two original basement storefronts beneath the street-level stores. Hand-hewn “summer beams,” rock foundation walls, and river sand floors tell the real story of Topeka's founding.

In the north room, meat was stored—likely salt-cured in summer and iced in winter. Tin snippings suggest this room was Jake Miller’s tin workshop, where local “militia brides” filled bullets ahead of the Wakarusa War.

In the south room, Daniel H. Horne operated a business advertising “Storage, Commission and Forwarding” from “Basement Constitution Hall.” Historians have found such terms were used to disguise organized assistance given people escaping slavery. In this location, where Horne was a conductor in the region's Underground Railroad, they describe Topeka's role in operation of the Jim Lane Trail to freedom in the North and Canada.

Used by free state settlers for their protection, rifles and ammunition brought to Kansas by Preston Plumb were received in Constitution Hall by Dr. Charles Robinson, the Free State Territorial and later Kansas’ first governor. In the basement is likely where arms were hidden from marauding proslavery militias.

As the first stone building in the new town of Topeka, Constitution Hall became a place of refuge and resistance. Its two basement rooms are touching physical links to the antislavery “Topeka Movement” and the fight for a free Kansas.

When you think of Constitution Hall, it makes you think of… Finish the sentence in the comments.
05/05/2026

When you think of Constitution Hall, it makes you think of…

Finish the sentence in the comments.

Address

427-29 S. Kansas Avenue. Entry Pavilion At 425 S. Kansas Avenue. Mail To PO Box 2551
KS
66601

Opening Hours

00:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+17852607851

Website

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