Editing Lecompton, Kansas (section)

==History==
===19th century===
Lecompton was founded in 1854, on a bluff on the south bank of the [[Kansas River]]. It was originally called Bald Eagle, and was renamed Lecompton in honor of [[Samuel Dexter Lecompte]], the chief justice of the territorial Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODXKhgH3e6AC&pg=PA49 | title=Exploring Kansas Highways | author=Heim, Michael | year=2007 | pages=49 | publisher=Exploring America's Highway | isbn=9780974435886 | access-date=April 6, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223151358/https://books.google.com/books?id=ODXKhgH3e6AC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA49 | archive-date=December 23, 2016 | url-status=live }}</ref> In August 1855, the city became the capital of the [[Kansas Territory]] after President [[Franklin Pierce]] appointed [[Andrew Horatio Reeder]] as governor and charged him and his officials with establishing government offices in Lecompton.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Lecompton|url=http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/about-lecompton/|website=Historic Lecompton|publisher=Lecompton, Kansas|access-date=May 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428094044/http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/about-lecompton/|archive-date=April 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The city soon became a stronghold of pro-slavery politics and Southern sympathy, which put it in conflict with nearby Lawrence, which had been founded by [[Free-Stater (Kansas)|Free-Staters]] from Massachusetts.

The first post office in Lecompton was established in September 1855.<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=June 8, 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> The city served as the [[county seat|seat]] of [[Douglas County, Kansas|Douglas County]], until 1858, when it was moved to Lawrence.

In late 1857, a convention met in [[Constitution Hall (Lecompton, Kansas)|Constitution Hall]] and drafted the [[Lecompton Constitution]], under which Kansas would have been a [[Slave states and free states|slave state]]. The constitution was rejected by Congress after intense national debate and was one of the prime topics of the [[Lincoln-Douglas debates]]. The controversy contributed to the growing dispute soon to erupt in civil war. The Lecompton Constitution failed, in part, because the antislavery party won control of the territorial legislature in the election of 1857. The new legislature met at Constitution Hall and immediately began to abolish the pro-slavery laws of what they called the [[Kansas Legislature#Pre-statehood|Bogus Legislature]], the territory's pro-slavery lawmakers since July 1855.

The free-staters briefly attempted to move the territorial capital to [[Minneola, Franklin County, Kansas|Minneola]] through a vote, although the resulting bill was later vetoed by Kansas territorial governor [[James W. Denver]], and ruled void by [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]] [[Jeremiah S. Black]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fitzgerald|first1=Daniel|title=Ghost Towns of Kansas|url=https://archive.org/details/ghosttownsofkans00fitz|url-access=registration|chapter=Centropolis/Minneola|date=1988|publisher=[[University Press of Kansas]]|isbn=0700603689|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ghosttownsofkans00fitz/page/61 61–65]}}</ref> As such, Lecompton remained the ''de jure'' territorial capital until the victorious free-state leaders officially chose [[Topeka, Kansas|Topeka]] as capital when Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861. The [[American Civil War]] began on April 12, 1861.

In 1865, the United Brethren Church established a university in Lecompton. Occupying the Rowena hotel that was originally built for the Territorial Legislature and visitors, the university later built a stone building in 1882 on the foundation of the started, but not completed, capitol building.  Named "[[Lane University]]" after the free-stater [[James Henry Lane (Union general)|James H. Lane]], the university brought professors and students to community.  It thrived until 1902, when Lane University moved to [[Holton, Kansas]] and merged to form [[Campbell College (Kansas)|Campbell College]], which in turn merged with the now-defunct [[Kansas City University (1896–1933)|Kansas City University]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/7920-2/|title=Campbell University/Lane University|work=Lecompton Kansas|access-date=April 18, 2017|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419101345/http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/7920-2/|archive-date=April 19, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.ksgenweb.com/archives/1912/c/campbell_college.html|title=Campbell College|encyclopedia=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History|access-date=January 6, 2016|page=275|first=Frank|last=Blackmar|publisher=Standard Pub. Co.|date=1912|place=[[Chicago]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102075736/http://www.ksgenweb.com/archives/1912/c/campbell_college.html|archive-date=November 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Batesel|first1=Paul|title=Campbell College Holton, Kansas 1880-1913|url=http://www.lostcolleges.com/campbell-college-c1c02|publisher=Lost Colleges|access-date=September 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912055328/http://www.lostcolleges.com/campbell-college-c1c02|archive-date=September 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The bell from Lane University went with the move, and today can be found on the campus of [[Holton High School]]. The Lane University building was then used for the high school in Lecompton until a larger brick building was built just to the south of it in 1926.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/lecompton-high-school-history/|title=Lecompton High School History|work=Lecompton Kansas|access-date=April 18, 2017|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419101353/http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/lecompton-high-school-history/|archive-date=April 19, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>  The Lane University building fell into disrepair.  In the 1970s, the community raised funds to rehabilitate the old building to become the [[Lane University|Territorial Capital Museum]], maintained by the Lecompton Historical Society.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/lane-university/|title=Lane University|work=Lecompton Kansas|access-date=April 18, 2017|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419101806/http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/lane-university/|archive-date=April 19, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>  Two blocks away is Constitution Hall, where the infamous [[Lecompton Constitution]] was written in 1857. Constitution Hall is a museum operated by the [[Kansas Historical Society]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/lecompton-constitution/|title=Lecompton Constitution|work=Lecompton Kansas|access-date=April 18, 2017|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226132509/http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/lecompton-constitution/|archive-date=February 26, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1880s, there was some dissension in the United Brethren Church concerning secret organizations, causing the congregation to split. One group built another church on adjoining land which they named the Radical United Brethren Church. It burned about 1902 and a limestone church building replaced it. The former church was used as the Lecompton City Hall until about 2006, when a newer city hall was built in the old Lecompton Fire Station.  The limestone church building is now a community building and a Douglas County sheriff's substation.  In 2016, the Radical United Brethren Church was placed on the Kansas Register for Historic Places.  With the building's addition to the historic register, Lecompton now has four buildings on either Kansas or national registers. The other three are Constitutional Hall, where two state constitutions were drafted in the 1850s in hopes of bringing Kansas into the union as a slave state; the Democratic Headquarters from the [[Bleeding Kansas]] era; and the Lane University building, which is now the Territorial Capital Museum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/area-roundup/2016/sep/15/lecompton-building-placed-on-historic-re/|title=Lecompton building placed on historic register; Eudora wireless metering moving forward; Baldwin Education Foundation awards grants; final 2016 art walk set for Baldwin City {{!}} Area Roundup / LJWorld.com|website=www2.ljworld.com|language=en|access-date=April 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419003315/http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/area-roundup/2016/sep/15/lecompton-building-placed-on-historic-re/|archive-date=April 19, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

When the frame business buildings on the east side of main street (Elmore) were destroyed by fire in 1916, they were replaced with brick structures. A mural depicting the city as it appeared before the fire is located in the local post office building.

<gallery>
File:Lecompton, Kansas, in 1867, 50 miles west of Missouri River. (Boston Public Library) (cropped).jpg|Lecompton in 1867
File:1st Kansas Democratic Headquarters with Sign.JPG|Former Kansas Democratic Headquarters
File:Lane University.JPG|Former Lane University, now the Territorial Capital Museum
File:Lecompton City Jail.JPG|Former Lecompton City Jail
File:Radical United Bretheren Church.JPG|Radical United Brethren Church
File:The governor's mansion, Lecompton, Kansas Territory LCCN2002735897.jpg|Governor's mansion in Lecompton in 1857
File:Planned Lecompton, Kansas state capitol.jpg|Drawing of planned state capitol in Lecompton
</gallery>

===20th century===
In 1998, the Lecompton Historical Society began restoring the remains of the native limestone Democratic Headquarters Building {{circa|1850s}}. Originally there was a log cabin connected to the west side of this building located on East Second Street. The historic building was moved to Riverview Park, a public park along the south limestone bluff of the Kansas River, overlooking the Kaw Valley basin to the north.

===21st century===
[[File:Downtown Lecompton.JPG|thumb|right|Downtown Lecompton]]
{{As of|2015}}, downtown Lecompton had an antique shop, cafe/diner, art shop, and an automobile restoration garage.  A convenience store/meat market was located on the edge of the city.  The City of Lecompton bought the old Lecompton High School from the local school district and began remodeling it into a community building.