Keeping History Alive in Leavenworth County

The Leavenworth County Historical Society endeavors to tell the one-of-a-kind stories of Leavenworth’s past with exhibits, historical programs, and community outreach initiatives. Since 1965, visitors from around the world have walked through the doors of our home at 1128 Fifth Avenue, the Carroll Mansion Museum, to experience a “step back in time” to the Victorian era of Leavenworth. Renovated from an 1858 four-room farmhouse to a 16-room Queen Anne Victorian, the museum reflects the ideals held by Victorian society about status, education, and economic stability. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house has become a vessel holding our history -- household artifacts, clothing, decorative and fine arts and portraiture. The Society maintains selective standards set forth through board approved policies which seek to preserve that which is essential to the interpretation of our cultural heritage. Substantial collections of photographic images and archived research materials offer a detailed study of early history only to be found in the first city of Kansas.

An Invitation: Connect to Leavenworth History!

Leavenworth County boasts countless historical events, visitors, and residents here since its founding in 1854. Known as the “Pioneer City” of Kansas, it became a launch pad for western expansion in the United States. In this role, Leavenworth welcomed visitors and residents alike, especially in the early days of Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War, and its emergence as a promising manufacturing center. Nationally recognized figures Horace Greeley, Abraham Lincoln, Fred Harvey, Mother Xavier Ross and the Sisters of Charity, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, Charles Henry Langston, and Capt. W.D. Mathews were followed by George Custer, Ulysses S. Grant, Carry A. Nation, and Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Tribe. U.S. Presidents, Ulysses S. Grant, and William F. Taft made appearances in Leavenworth and nationally recognized suffrage advocates, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Army Generals were stationed at Fort Leavenworth: (Eisenhower, Marshall, Bradley, Patton, MacArthur,Sherman, Colin Powell) and gangsters, such as “Bugs” Moran, Tom Pendergast, and “Machine Gun” Kelly paid their debts to society within the U.S. Penitentiary walls. Here in Leavenworth, there is considerable history to be preserved in chronicling individuals and events. The rapid growth of the town from the early settlement days in the steamboat era through the building of railroads, bridges, and manufacturing plants compliment fragments of noteworthy events in history.

These and additional themes can be explored throughout the County of Leavenworth and in extensive holdings at the Leavenworth County Historical Society.

The Society works diligently to provide informative educational programs and exhibits, with a focus on the history of Leavenworth, only found in the First City of Kansas.

 

Living Museum Program

One of the primary educational activities is the “Living Museum” program for third grade through sixth grade students to offer an insight into Victorian life in Leavenworth. Historical characters are portrayed by museum volunteers from the father to the cook, each visiting with the children in character. Contact the museum staff for scheduling and more information.