Quindaro Townsite

rdf:langString Quindaro Townsite

rdf:langString Quindaro Townsite

rdf:langString Quindaro Townsite

rdf:langString Kansas#USA

rdf:langString Quindaro Townsite is a former settlement, then ghost town, and now an archaeological district. It is around North 27th Street and the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks in Kansas City, Kansas. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 2002. It was settled by abolitionists in late 1856, with construction starting in 1857. The boomtown population peaked at 600, rapidly settled by migrants. They were aided by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, who were trying to help secure Kansas as a free territory. One of several villages hugging the narrow bank of the Missouri River under the bluffs, the town was a free state port-of-entry for abolitionist forces of Kansas. It was established as part of the resistance to stop the westward spread of slavery. Quindaro's people also aided escaped slaves from Missouri and connected them with the Underground Railroad. After Kansas was established as a free state, there was less unique need for the port and the growth slowed in the commercial district. At the same time the economy in Kansas suffered from over-speculation. In 1862 classes were started for children of former slaves, and in 1865 a group of men chartered Quindaro Freedman's School (later Western University), the first black school west of the Mississippi River. Former slaves continued to gather in the residential community, which became mostly African American by the late 19th century. The area was incorporated into Kansas City in the early 20th century. Western University closed in 1943. The overall town sharply declined with a nationwide economic depression and with the American Civil War. The lower commercial townsite was abandoned and became overgrown. It was rediscovered during archaeological study in the late 1980s, which revealed many aspects of the 1850s town. The only structure surviving from Western University and Quindaro is a full-size statue of abolitionist John Brown. In 1978 the John Brown Memorial Plaza was dedicated. The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act designated it the Quindaro Townsite National Commemorative Site in 2019, allowing the National Park Service to provide technical and financial assistance for preservation and education.