Atchison County Courthouse
N 39° 33.956 W 095° 07.172
15S E 317929 N 4381727
The gorgeous Romanesque Victorian Atchison County KS Courthouse stands tall over this deeply historic town.
Waymark Code: WMGRBP
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 04/04/2013
Views: 7
The imposing yet elegant Romanesque Atchison Co. Courthouse in downtowen Atchison KS has been serving the citizens of this county as the seat of their county governemt since 1896. Made of local limestone, this building has been built to stand the test of time.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Blasterz have read the supporting documents for the "event" of historical significance. We believe the event of significance is the speech that then-candidate Abraham Lincoln gave across the street on 2 Dec 1859 might be the event referred to.
In Dec 1859 Atchison KT was a major town in the Kansas Territory. It had been the site of some difficult political struggles between the Border Rufffians of MO (pro-slavery activists) and Free Soilers (anti-slavery activists) over control of the town, which would influence whether KS Territory would join the United States in the future as a free state or a slave state.
On 02 Dec 1859 Abraham Lincoln journeys to Atchison while campigning for President, and made a speech "on the issues of the day" at the local Methodist Church (which used to be across the street).
In 1917 the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution affixed a plaque on a glacial erratic pink quartzite boulder (which are regularly found in this area) commemorating this speech. The boulder sits today in a place of pride on the NE corner of the Atchison County courthouse lawn in Atchison KS.
The plaque reads as follows:
"To Commemorate
an Address Given Near this Corner
By
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
On the Issues of the Day the
Night of December 2, 1859
Erected by the Atchison Chapter, D. A. R.
October 2, 1917"
Street address:
423 5th St
Atchison , KS
60002
County / Borough / Parish: Atchison
Year listed: 1975
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering, Politics/Government, Architecture
Periods of significance: 1875-1899
Historic function: Government, Courthouse
Current function: Government, Courthouse
Privately owned?: no
Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 AM
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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