Historic Quindaro Ruins seeks public input for preservation
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - The Quindaro Ruins are one step closer to being restored. The Western University Association of the A.M.E. Church received a $150,000 federal grant to the preservation and interpretation of the historic site and the memory of Western University, the first and only historically Black college in Kansas.
One of the largest underground railroad sites in the country will have new life in the KC Metro. According to those involved in the preservation efforts, Quindaro is the number one requested tour site in Wyandotte County.
“We’ve worked hard to get to this point. A lot of people have come from far and wide to help us clear and clean, brush off the foundations, widen the trail,” said reverend Stacy Evans.
Evans used to be a pastor at a church just down the street from the Quindaro Ruins and said it’s become a place visitors are begging to see.
“People literally knocked on my door from London, from Africa, from New York, wanting to see the ruins,” said Evans.
She said the ruins were built as a Freeport town bridging slave Missouri to free Kansas. Native Americans from the Wyandotte Nation helped people escape slavery and signage with QR codes will help visitors learn more about this history as they walk through the site.
“Native Americans have always asked on the signs along with the English that there also be the Wyandot Nation’s language so we’re hoping to be able to incorporate that as well,” said Evans.
Efforts to preserve a piece of Kansas City’s history continue with making the trail more pedestrian and ADA accessible. They plan to add a surface to accommodate scooters and wheelchairs.
“You can walk, go all the way around and come back out the other side and come back around if you’d like,” said Evans.
Their biggest obstacle is raising money and those involved are still raising funds. Ideas presented in the public input meeting are subject to be included in the concept design. They plan to finish the concept design in May.
The Western University Association is having a community meeting at The Donnelly College Event Center, 608 N. 18th Street, KCKS 66102, from 5:30 to 8 PM on Monday. They will be seeking input for monument repair, signage, trails, and tourism in preparation for the World Cup coming to the Kansas City area in 2026.
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