Constitution Hall

 319 Elmore
Lecompton, Kansas
(785) 887-6520

Wednesday - Saturday: 9AM - 5PM
Sunday: 1 - 5PM
Free!

Lecompton Constitution Hall Map
Lane University & Territorial Capitol Museum

Lecompton Constitution Hall State Historic Site
Constitution Hall - Lecompton, Kansas
Constitution Hall State Historic Site

The Lecompton, Kansas building known as Constitution Hall was built by Samuel Jones in 1856. The lower floor served as the United States Land Office and the upper floor was the occasional seat of the District Court, as well as being used by the Pro slavery Kansas Territorial Legislature in 1857.

In January of that year, the second territorial legislative assembly met in this hall. On October 19, the Lecompton Constitutional Convention met and drafted a pro-slavery constitution which would be used for obtaining Kansas statehood. The document would have protected slavery no matter how the people of Kansas Territory voted, but it was defeated at the national level and never went into effect.

Today the first floor of Lecompton Constitution Hall has a small gift shop and a modest museum about the building's use as a Land Office. The upper floor has a few displays but is mostly still used as a meeting hall. Special history related events are often held here on Sunday afternoons.

Operated by the Kansas State Historical Society.

Constitution Hall - Lecompton, Kansas
Constitution Hall

Lecompton land office in Constitution Hall
Recreation of how the Lecompton land office may have looked in the late 1850s.

L. Candy Ruff in Lecompton Constitution Hall
L. Candy Ruff presenting Hell Bent to Lawrence: D.R. Anthony Rides With News of Kansas Statehood
in Constitution Hall on Kansas Day, 2006. Jennie Chinn, Executive Director of the Kansas State
Historical Society is sitting at the upper left.


Original cottonwood floor

An exposed 157 year old wall in Constitution Hall in Lecompton, Kansa
exposed 157 year old wall (prints of this photo)

Constitution Hall gift shop
Gift shop

Lecompton Veteran's Monument
Veteran's Monument honoring local veterans from the first 150 years of Kansas statehood (1861-2011)

Lecompton Town Jail
Lecompton Town Jail which was moved to this site in 2013.

Constitution Hall Map - Lecompton, Kansas
Constitution Hall Map

Lecompton Constitution Hall web site
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copyright 2006-2023 by Keith Stokes