Historic Lecompton
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Historic Lecompton was the Territorial Capital of Kansas from 1854 to 1861.  This period was also known as Bleeding Kansas which was characterized by violent guerilla warfare between those who favored slavery in the future state of Kansas and those who wanted Kansas to be a free state.  The wide spread controversy over the famous Lecompton Constitution, written at Lecompton’s Constitution Hall, resulted in Lincoln’s election as President and spurred the events that led to the Civil War. The Constitution Hall is now a National Historic Site.  Lane University, 1868 – 1902, now the Territorial Capital Museum, was the college attended by Ida Stover and David Eisenhower, the parents of Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Their marriage was held in the chapel of Lane University.

During the Christmas season, the Lecompton Historical Society hosts a fabulous display of over 200 Christmas trees bedazzled in Victorian, antique, vintage and themed ornaments and related décor. It is one of the largest in the Midwest. Lecompton’s quaint downtown includes a restaurant, winery and old fashioned mercantile that also attracts the museum goers. The Democratic Headquarters for the Kansas Territory, built in 1854, is near the Territorial Capital Museum and the original 1892 original jail next to Constitution Hall are open to visitors.