Editing Baldwin City, Kansas (section)

==History==
[[Image:Old Castle Museum.JPG|left|thumb|The Old Castle Museum, the first building constructed for Baker University. To the right is a replica of Kibbee Cabin.]]

===Early history===
Baldwin City began as a trail stop on the [[Santa Fe Trail]] named '''Palmyra'''.  The small community consisted of a harness shop, blacksmith, hotel, lawyer, drug store, two doctors and a tavern.  In 1858, a group of Methodist ministers gathered at Kibbee Cabin and founded [[Baker University]].  Palmyra bought land to the south for the university and surrounding city.  The first post office was established in June, 1857.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/page:1/county:DG/sort:County.county_name/direction:asc |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived) |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |access-date=8 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310055433/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/page%3A1/county%3ADG/sort%3ACounty.county_name/direction%3Aasc |archive-date=March 10, 2013 }}</ref>

A main benefactor of the community was [[John Baldwin (educator)|John Baldwin]] and the town was named in his honor.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ/page/n288 181]}}</ref> Baldwin built a saw mill which was at present-day Fifth and Indiana Streets.  '''Baldwin City''' was incorporated on September 22, 1870.

Baldwin City unwittingly found themselves surrounded by the events that led up to the [[American Civil War]]. Three miles east of Baldwin was the town site of Black Jack where the [[Battle of Black Jack]] took place on June 2, 1856. The night before that battle, [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] stayed in [[Prairie City, Kansas|Prairie City]]. In 1863, [[William C. Quantrill|Quantrill's]] raiders passed within three miles (5&nbsp;km) of Baldwin after the [[Lawrence Massacre|burning of Lawrence]].

===Midland Railway===
In 1867, the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad laid tracks and became the first Kansas railroad south of the [[Kansas River]]. In 1906, the Santa Fe Depot was built and today the [[Midland Railway (Kansas)|Midland Railway]] offers over 20-mile round trip excursion rides to [[Ottawa, Kansas|Ottawa]] via "Nowhere" and [[Norwood, Kansas|Norwood]]. Midland's [[Scouting in Kansas|Scout program]] is one of the few in the country to offer a railroading merit badge and Midland has hosted a [[Thomas the Tank Engine]] attraction the last few years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.midlandrailway.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026002027/http://www.midlandrailway.org/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 26, 2012|title=Historical Excursion Train - Midland Railway Historical Association|website=www.midlandrailway.org|access-date=22 April 2018}}</ref>

===Maple Leaf Festival===
Every year since 1957, Baldwin City has hosted the Maple Leaf Festival during the third full weekend in October.  It began as a way to celebrate a successful harvest and to view the fall foliage.  Today, it is the largest fall family event in the area and features a parade, arts and crafts, quilt show, theatrical performances, history tours, train rides and live music.  Annually it draws crowds of 30,000 or more.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://mapleleaffestival.com/history |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=Maple Leaf Festival |language=en-US}}</ref>