Constitution Hall, in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, is a significant building in the history of

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 ...

and the state of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. The two-story native stone building, with basement, was begun by Loring and John Farnsworth in the spring of 1855. By summer, the Topeka Town Association had agreed to complete the building in exchange for holding the Topeka Constitutional Convention there in the fall. From October 23 to November 11, 1855, the Topeka Constitutional Convention met in the building and produced the antislavery Topeka Constitution. The proposed

Topeka Constitution The Topeka Constitutional Convention met from October 23 to November 11, 1855, in Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, Kansas Territory, in a building afterwards called Constitution Hall (Topeka, Kansas), Constitution Hall. It drafted the Topeka Constitution, ...

would have brought Kansas into the Union as a free state. The

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

approved this constitution in July 1856, but the Southern-dominated

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

refused to fully consider the document. Parts of the Topeka Constitution were incorporated in the Constitution of Kansas (the

Wyandotte Constitution The Wyandotte Constitution is the constitution of the U.S. state of Kansas. Amended many times (including a universal suffrage amendment in 1912), the Wyandotte Constitution is still the constitution of Kansas. Background The Kansas Territory wa ...

) drafted in 1859. Constitution Hall became the Free State, Kansas Territorial-era capitol. The Topeka Legislature that occupied the building drew the wrath of Southerners in Congress. On July 4, 1856, President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

allowed federal troops led by Col. Edwin V. Sumner to disperse the Topeka Legislature. The Free State Kansas Territorial government continued to meet at Constitution Hall, which basement was also used as a storehouse for supplies to sustain antislavery settlement during pro-slavery enforced trade embargo, and for Underground Railroad operations on the Jim Lane Trail.

Capitol of Kansas, 1864-1869

While a permanent state capitol building was being planned, Constitution Hall was used as a part of the lemporary state capitol from 1864 to 1869. In an 1870s photo in the archives of the

Kansas Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of Histor ...

, the temporary capitol is distinguishable from other nearby structures.

Commercial uses, 1869-1997

After the state government moved into the new East Wing of the present Capitol, on December 25, 1869, Constitution Hall held commercial uses and later, residential apartments on the second floor. On July 4, 1903, the Topeka Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

(DAR) placed a commemorative plaque in the sidewalk, at 427-429 S. Kansas Avenue, to mark the location of Constitution Hall. In 1976, the Topeka Chapter relocated the plaque to the façade of Constitution Hall.

Official recognition

In 2001, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

listed Constitution Hall in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. Independent formal investigation of the building, by architectural historian William Seale, PhD, which was funded by the National Park Service in 2003, led to the July 15, 2008 listing of Constitution Hall on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Restoration efforts increased in 2011 and will continue as funding becomes available.

References

External links

{{commonscat-inline Buildings and structures in Topeka, Kansas Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas Former state capitols in the United States Underground Railroad locations National Register of Historic Places in Topeka, Kansas Tourist attractions in Topeka, Kansas Capitols of Kansas Underground Railroad in Kansas