Jim Lane's Fort, sometimes called Fort Jim Lane, was built in August 1856, in

Holton, Kansas Holton is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,401. History The party that chose the site of Holton started at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in May 1856. A ...

, United States. It was named to honor free-state leader James H. Lane, who helped organize the settlement of several towns in northeast

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

, including Holton. Holton was settled by about fifty free-state settlers at the time the fort was built. The fort, built to serve as a place of refuge for the townspeople, was built of logs. It measured by . The settlers of Holton soon heard that a militia partial to the southern element in Kansas was headed their way, so they moved south to

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

, for the winter. Some of the settlers who left returned in December 1856. It is not known to what extent Jim Lane's Fort was used after this point. It possibly stood until 1872, when Central School was built on the site. A bronze marker was placed on the site in 1970, to explain its significance.Allard, p. 4.

References

{{reflist category:Forts in Kansas Buildings and structures in Jackson County, Kansas 1856 establishments in Kansas Territory