Vinland is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Douglas County, Kansas
Douglas County (county code DG) is located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 118,785, making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence.
Histor ...
, United States.
It is located south of
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
and north of
Baldwin City
Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university.
History
...
.
History
The first settlement was made at Vinland in 1854.
In the earliest days of the community, some called it "Coal Creek", due to deposits of the sedimentary rock in a nearby waterway.
The settlement eventually earned the name "Vineland" (after the orchard of one of the first settlers, William Barnes), which later evolved into "Vinland" after a
clerical error
A clerical error is an error on the part of an office worker, often a secretary or personal assistant. It is a phrase which can also be used as an excuse to deflect blame away from specific individuals, such as high-powered executives, and in ...
. Most of the settlers of the early community were
abolitionists
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The Britis ...
or
Free-Staters from
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, and consequently, they opposed the extension of
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
into
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 ...
.
In 1859, Annie Soule and Martha Cutter helped found a
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
(and an associated
book club), in the hopes that it "would contribute to the 'moral, social, and intellectual improvement of
he settlement'smembers";
specifically, they hoped "to prevent dancing from becoming the only amusement in the community."
The library initially boasted a collection 10 books (which eventually grew to over 2,000), and residents of the small town were allowed to check them out if they contributed an annual fee of 50 cents.
The building that currently holds the collection was constructed in 1900 when the community's book supply grew too large.
[ Today, Coal Creek Library is considered the oldest subscription library in the state.]plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...
ted until the 1860s. A post office was opened in Vinland in 1868, and remained in operation until 1954. In 1912, the population of the settlement was 75, and it housed "a fine agricultural district ... ndexpress and telegraph facilities".[ Today, the Vinland Grange Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.]
References
Further reading
External links
* Douglas County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT
{{Authority control
Unincorporated communities in Douglas County, Kansas
Unincorporated communities in Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
1854 establishments in Kansas Territory