Big Springs, Kansas | |
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 Big Springs along Highway 40 (2008) | |
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  Big Springs  Big Springs | |
| Coordinates: 39°0′47″N95°29′6″W / 39.01306°N 95.48500°W [1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Douglas |
| Named for | Nearby springs |
| Elevation | 1,102 ft (336 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code | 785 |
| FIPS code | 20-06750 [1] |
| GNIS ID | 484942 [1] |
Big Springs is an unincorporated community in northwest Douglas County, Kansas, United States. [1]
The first settlement at Big Springs was made in the fall of 1854. [2] The town was founded by William Harper and John Chamberlain but had always been a popular watering hole along the Oregon Trail. It was named from the mineral springs nearby. [3] [4] On September 5, 1855, Big Springs was home to a free-state convention in which determined men vowed to give their lives to defend their homes from border ruffians from Missouri. The first sermon was preached in 1855 by Reverend W.A. Cardwell in the log home of Ephraim Banning. The first church was built a year later. [5] Also in 1856, the first post office was established, as well as the first schooling took place then in the town hall. The post office was discontinued in 1903. [6] The population did not grow, but hovered around 40 people, as there was no railroad running through the town.
According to the Lawrence Journal-World , Big Springs was the location of T. J. Custard's birth, making him the first American citizen to be born in Douglas County. [7]
Today it has a water tower, tool shop, church and a fire station that is part of the Lecompton Township Fire Dist. 1. Its mailing address is Lecompton.
In 2010, a building on the east side of town caught fire, leaving a restricted area of charred rubble.
It is part of USD 450 Shawnee Heights School District in Tecumseh.
US Highway 40 runs through the community.
Douglas County is located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 118,785, making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. The county was named after Stephen Douglas, a U.S. Senator from Illinois and advocate for the moderate popular sovereignty choice in the Kansas slavery debate.
Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 94,934. Lawrence is a college town and the home to both the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.
Lecompton is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 588. Lecompton was the de jure territorial capital of Kansas from 1855 to 1861, and the Douglas County seat from 1855 to 1858. Anti-slavery Lawrence became the de facto capital during the latter part of this period, when the county seat was moved there. This time period was known as Bleeding Kansas, due to the violence perpetrated by the pro-slavery, and to a lesser extent the anti-slavery, factions in the eastern part of the state. Lecompton was a hotbed of pro-slavery sentiment during the mid-1800s.
Perry is a city in Jefferson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 852.
The U.S. state of Kansas, located on the eastern edge of the Great Plains, was the home of nomadic Native American tribes who hunted the vast herds of bison. In around 1450 AD, the Wichita People founded the great city of Etzanoa. The city of Etzanoa was abandoned in around 1700 AD. The region was explored by Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century. It was later explored by French fur trappers who traded with the Native Americans. Most of Kansas became permanently part of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. When the area was opened to settlement by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 it became a battlefield that helped cause the American Civil War. Settlers from North and South came in order to vote slavery down or up. The free state element prevailed.
Vinland is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. It is located south of Lawrence and north of Baldwin City.
The sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, a town which had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a free state. The incident fueled the irregular conflict in Kansas Territory that later became known as Bleeding Kansas.
The Wakarusa War was an armed standoff that took place in the Kansas Territory during November and December 1855. It is often cited by historians as the first instance of violence during the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict between anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions in the region.
Stull is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1857, the settlement was initially known as Deer Creek until it was renamed after its only postmaster, Sylvester Stull. As of 2018, only a handful of structures remain in the area.
Clinton is an unincorporated community on a peninsula next to Clinton Lake in Douglas County, Kansas, United States.
The timeline of Kansas details past events that happened in what is present day Kansas. Located on the eastern edge of the Great Plains, the U.S. state of Kansas was the home of sedentary agrarian and hunter-gatherer Native American societies, many of whom hunted American bison. The region first appears in western history in the 16th century at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, when Spanish conquistadors explored the unknown land now known as Kansas. It was later explored by French fur trappers who traded with the Native Americans. It became part of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. In the 19th century, the first American explorers designated the area as the "Great American Desert."
Lecompton Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,761.
Palmyra Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 5,760. It was named after a small trail stop on the Santa Fe Trail that was later absorbed into Baldwin City. When it was first established in 1855, it was called Calhoun, until 1858.
Wakarusa Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,318. It was named for the Wakarusa River which flows through Douglas County from Wabaunsee County to the Kansas River near Eudora.
Lecompton Constitution Hall, also known as Constitution Hall, is a building in Lecompton, Kansas, that played an important role in the long-running Bleeding Kansas crisis over slavery in Kansas. It is operated by the Kansas Historical Society as Constitution Hall State Historic Site.
Globe is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. It is located along U.S. Highway 56 in Marion Township. To the west of Globe is the Simmons Point Station.
Lone Star is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. It is located 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Lawrence.
Franklin is a ghost town in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. Established as a proslavery stronghold, the town played a key role in the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict that troubled the territory in the 1850s.
Samuel Jefferson Jones was a pro-slavery settler who held the position of Douglas County sheriff in Kansas Territory from late 1855 until early 1857. He helped found the territorial capital of Lecompton and played a prominent role in the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict.
Municipalities and communities of Douglas County, Kansas, United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Townships | ||