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Leavenworth is home to many amazing attractions and museums, restaurants and shopping, and outdoor activities.  You're sure to find something to write home about!  Visit Leavenworth today!

primitive carousel

Submitted by Visit Leavenworth KS

One of the most interesting attractions in the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum is one you can’t ride.

rex construction

Submitted by Visit Leavenworth KS

(Photo credit: Steven Magner, The Leavenworth Times)

“Carl Theel, owner of Theel Manufacturing and Amusement, has been wanting to build it for 10 years. He is finally doing it.” – The Leavenworth Times, June 9, 1977

carousel

Submitted by Visit Leavenworth KS

Are you making plans to get away this summer, even if it’s just for the weekend? The road to Leavenworth is a short, easy drive, so drop by and discover the “First City of Kansas.”

Leavenworth Getaway by Jamie Ward

Submitted by Jamie Ward, Cornfields & High Heels 

Leavenworth, Kansas: A Getaway 

If you are looking for a city with rich history, a vibrant arts scene, and delicious food, Leavenworth, Kansas, is the perfect place. With its historical landmarks and beautiful riverfront, Leavenworth is a city you’ll never forget. It dates back to 1827 when it was founded as Fort Leavenworth by Colonel Henry Leavenworth. The fort helped travelers on the Santa Fe and Oregon trails, and it quickly became a major hub for trade and commerce.

In 1854, the City of Leavenworth became the first city in Kansas. Several notable individuals have traveled through the city, including Lewis and Clark, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, General Eisenhower, and Melissa Etheridge – to name a few.

For more on this story click here.  

treehouse

Submitted by Visit Leavenworth KS

Looking to spend more time outdoors this summer? Leavenworth County offers plenty of variety for prospective campers, whether you’re the type to rough it or would rather find refuge in a tricked-out treehouse.

Walk with Lincoln

Submitted by Roxie on the Road  

Follow Abraham Lincoln’s footsteps on the Kansas Lincoln Trail

“If I went West, I think I would go to Kansas — to Leavenworth or Atchison.” — Abraham Lincoln, 1860

Carroll Mansion at Christmas Dec 2022

Submitted by Jeff and Crystal Bryant, Our Changing Lives

Three Mile Creek Walking Trail

Submitted by Amy Piper with Follow the Piper

The 12 Days of Kansas Road Trip

On the third day in Kansas, Leavenworth gave to me Three-Mile Creek Walking Trail.

Gators Games

Submitted by Megan Bannister with olioiniowa.com 

KC Destinations' Quirky Tour

 

It’s no secret that I love a quirky destination. I’m never happier than when I have an offbeat itinerary ahead of me, which is why I was so excited to experience KC Destinations’ Quirky Tour.

Z & M Twisted Winery

Submitted by Z & M Twisted Wines and Winery 

Host a private gathering at our winery

Z&M: A Place to Gather

More and more, we as a nation have come to appreciate the need for togetherness. “People who need people,” Barbra Streisand reminds us, “Are the luckiest people in the world.”

Science shows that we’re hardwired for the community, and there’s a growing body of data to show that many of us simply aren’t getting it.

Downtown Leavenworth

Submitted by Roxie on the Road  

12 Best places to visit in Kansas

Leavenworth, the first city in Kansas and freedom’s outpost

Several months after Abraham Lincoln visited Leavenworth, he said, “If I went West, I think I would go to Kansas.” He cited Leavenworth. Lincoln’s opinion matters: Leavenworth is one of the best places to visit in Kansas.

Jeanne Gehret photo of Leavenworth

Submitted by Jeanne Gehret  

Much history about the Anthonys in Leavenworth

This past summer I made my third visit to Leavenworth, Kansas, where there was too much history for me to absorb all at once. Ever since my return home on Labor Day, I’ve been mulling over my discoveries and finding new connections.

D.R. Anthony Home

Submitted by Roxie on the Road  

Susan B. Anthony, a fighter for women’s rights

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations … can never affect a reform. — Susan B. Anthony

 

Daniel Read (D.R.) Anthony moved to Leavenworth in June 1857, where he founded a newspaper.

His younger sister, Susan Brownell Anthony, frequently visited her brother. In 1865, she moved to Leavenworth for several months to help during her sister-in-law’s pregnancy. She also helped edit the paper.

3 Mile Creek Walkway

Submitted by Roxie on the Road  

People know Leavenworth, Kan., as the home of Fort Leavenworth and the Leavenworth federal prison. People should know Leavenworth for its famous residents and visitors. Meet many of these influential people on the Leavenworth walking trails. They include Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Susan B. Anthony, William T. Sherman, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Carry Nation. As an avid walker, I was anxious to explore Leavenworth’s trail system. Starting from the TownePlace Suites, where I was hosted, my walk gave me 10,716 steps.

1918 Spanish Influenza

Leavenworth during the Spanish Flu pandemic 

By Mary Ann Brown, April 11, 2020

Looking back one hundred years ago, U.S. citizens were emerging from the devastation caused by the 1918 and 1919 worldwide influenza pandemic, known as the Spanish flu. 500 million people had been infected, which at the time was about a quarter of the world’s population.  The death toll count was only an estimate with a range of 17 up to 100 million.

CW Parker Carousel Museum

Submitted by Jeff and Crystal Bryant, Our Changing Lives

Bakery Delicateza

Submitted by Melody Pittman with Wherever I may Roam

Frontier Army Museum Our Changing Lives

Submitted by Jeff and Crystal Bryant, Our Changing Lives

Our Changing Lives Harbor Lights Coffeehouse

Submitted by Jeff and Crystal Bryant, Our Changing Lives

Leavenworth, Kansas is an easy day trip from our hometown of Kansas City. On an unseasonably warm winter day, we made our way to the “first city” in Kansas to see some new sights. A good day of exploring requires some fuel, which we found at Harbor Lights Coffeehouse & Cafe. After a short drive, we found a spot in their parking lot and made our way inside. For the rest of the article.....

Our Changing Lives Pullman Family Rest

Submitted by Jeff and Crystal Bryant, Our Changing Lives

Our Changing Lives Jerry at the the CW Parker

Submitted by Jeff and Crystal Bryant, Our Changing Lives

Luigi's Italian

Dining in and around Leavenworth

When it comes to dining, Leavenworth offers options for every kind of palate.  Restaurants here are located in historic as well as scenic settings.

Abraham Lincoln

Fort Leavenworth is the oldest continually operating U.S. Military post west of Washington D.C. It sprung up around the military base, and Fort Leavenworth is the oldest permanent settlement in the state of Kansas. Since 1827 it has borne witness to many of the most celebrated events in American history. It has even played host to some of the nation's significant historical figures, none greater than Abraham Lincoln.

Clarina Nichols

By Bernadette Cahill

On October 15, 1851, Clarina Nichols – abolitionist and women’s rights and temperance advocate – told an audience of a thousand the harrowing tale of a woman who had worked hard all her life and married in her mature years a good but poor man with adult children.

George Francis

By Bernadette Cahill

On October 21, 1867, “A tall handsome man with curly brown hair and keen gray eyes”[1] dressed in “lavender kid [gloves], black pants, closely buttoned blue coat with brass buttons, and patent leather boots,” stepped up to speak at Laing’s Hall, here in Leavenworth.[2]

This was George Francis Train – long famous as a successful world-wide businessman, shipping magnate, author and journalist – who was now a railroad and real estate promoter with presidential aspirations.

D.R. Anthony Home

By Bernadette Cahill

             On Election Day in 1867, Leavenworth’s voters saw something startling: two women touring every precinct and asking for votes.

            The event was so odd because women at the time could not vote and never went near those rowdy, drunken dens of polling and political intrigue.

Susan B. Anthony

By Bernadette Cahill

In 1865, Leavenworth welcomed a prominent temporary resident in Susan B. Anthony. The Civil War still raged, but Congress had just passed the 13th Amendment and as she arrived here at the end of January, it was sent to the States for ratification. This was completed the next December.

By Bernadette Cahill

For 144 years before American women won the vote, their lives were severely constricted. The only political tool they had to win change was the petition and even that was questioned. They were also hamstrung by lack of money, for women had “no right to the disposition of their own earnings.” Further, a contrived philosophy consigned them to the “private sphere,” while men and women supporting women’s restricted role blocked reforms.

Our Changing Lives, CW Parker Carousel

Written by Jeff and Crystal, Our Changing Lives

Winter is one of our least favorite seasons. Sure the snow looks beautiful when it is newly fallen, but even that can become tedious with time. There comes a point that we just need to get out of town, even if only for the day. Fortunately, we have lots of great destinations nearby. A short jaunt would supply us with 4 fun stops in Leavenworth, Kansas. Lets see what we found on a cold winter day.... 4-fun-stops-in-leavenworth-kansas/ 

 

Ron Naylour, CW Parker Carousel volunteer

Ron Naylor, a volunteer carousel engineer, explains repairs needed to the carousel
~Submitted by Tammie Ferguson
 

The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum, which is home to four gorgeous carousels, is closed during the month of January. During this time, staff and volunteers are busy restoring donated horses to add to the museum's exhibits, rearranging and reorganizing the gift shop, meeting, and Carousel rooms, and most importantly, maintaining our treasured 1913 C.W. Parker carousel. 

David Brewer

David Josiah Brewer was a prominent Leavenworth attorney who served as judge for various probate and criminal courts of Leavenworth County, Kansas beginning in 1862. He served as judge of the First District court of Kansas, justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas and of the United States Circuit court. In 1889, Brewer was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison to serve as justice on the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States. He served the Supreme Court until his death in 1910.

Gen Colin Powell

Fort Leavenworth, and its associated educational institutions through the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College welcomed several well-known U.S. military history greats.

The U. S. Army Command and General Staff College at the Lewis and Clark Center

In 2007, the U.S. Army dedicated its new home to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the Lewis and Clark Center. Fort Leavenworth's Command and General Staff College has been in existence since 1881, educating officers such as General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George C. Marshall and General Douglas MacArthur.

Carl Panzram

Although the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth is not open for public tours, it is known throughout the world. https://www.leavenworthks.org/visitors/page/united-states-federal-penite...

Robert Stroud - "Birdman" 

Mother House Sisters of Charity

Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth is one of the Leavenworth community's oldest foundations, founded by Mother Xavier Ross in 1858. Mother Ross not only brought spirituality to the frontier, but also was responsible for educational and health care institutions as well. Saint Mary's Academy, later known as University of Saint Mary was founded in 1859.

postcard of old VA Home in Leavenworth

In 1884, Leavenworth was chosen as the site for a home for disabled veterans. James McGonigle was a local builder and a veteran who had been wounded in the Civil War and also designed the Riverfront Community Center in Leavenworth. At the home for disabled soldiers, McGonigle's firm constructed 17 buildings on 650 acres of land.

Melissa Etheridge singer and songwriter

By Jerry Reinhardt from the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum

William D. Matthews, Kansas Memory Collection

This obituary ran in the Leavenworth Times in 1906. It is shared here with un-changed language for the benefit of historical record.

Fairfield lobby area

Submitted by Jay Jay Goodvin the Iowa Gallivant

We covered a lot of ground in our trip to Leavenworth and we know there’s still so much more to in The First City in Kansas. We hit up museums, shopping, great restaurants, historic landmarks and a lot of sightseeing in town and in Fort Leavenworth. Needless to say, we had a full gallivant and we needed a premium place to call home for a couple of days. Mission accomplished, Leavenworth!

st patricks 2022

Get ready for a green wave on Friday, March 17: It’s the 40th anniversary of the Leavenworth St. Patrick’s Day Parade! The celebration starts promptly at noon, when the procession heads north from the intersection of 4th and Walnut Streets to loop through downtown.

If you’re looking for a good vantage point along the parade route – or, say, a green beer or two to enjoy while you watch – Leavenworth has you covered.

Image of a yellow sign text above woodgrain with words GIS

GIS stands for Geographical Information Systems

Geography refers to anything that can be located in physical space, primarily those features on the earth's surface. Information Systems is a computer-based technology that stores, retrieves, edits, analyzes, and publishes geographic information.

USP

Submitted by Jay Jay Goodvin the Iowa Gallivant

We brake for just about every historical marker we see when we’re gallivanting and we’re never ever going to give up this habit. Never! Luckily for us, we got our brakes checked before our trip to Eastern Kansas because there was plenty of stops along the way to see our favorite pit stops. Museums, military and a failed “escape” highlight our trip to Leavenworth!

First Baptist Church, Leavenworth KS

By Leavenworth County Historical Society Facebook post

First Missionary Baptist Church at 800 W. 7th in Leavenworth, Kansas will celebrate their 166th anniversary in May 2023. 

The church has quite an interesting history.

In May 1857, before Kansas became a state, during a time of border warfare between proslavery and free staters and when a drought caused crop failure and famine, a group of freedmen and women organized a place of worship at the corner of Third and Pottawatomie under the leadership of the Rev. Dennis Jones.