Quindaro, Kansas

Quindaro, Kansas. , Near this site was located the historic town of Quindaro, founded in 1856 as a port-of-entry for free-soil immigrants into Kansas. The principal founder was Abelard Guthrie, who named the town for his Wyandotte Indian wife, Nancy Quindaro Brown. Other proprietors included Joel Walker, S.N. Simpson, Vincent J. Lane, Charles Robinson, and Sylvester Storrs. The townsite stretched from 17th [Street] to 42nd Street and from Parallel [Parkway] to the Missouri River. The Missouri River was then west of the present location, exposing a rock ledge that formed a natural levee for steamboat landings. The main street of the town was intended to be Kansas Avenue, now 27th Street, but it was never cut through to the river., The town boomed for three years, with much of the building occurring in the valley leading to the levee. Quindaro became a station on the Underground Railway, with slaves escaping from Platte county crossing the river in small boats and secret runs of the Parkville-Quindaro Ferry. The runaways hid with local farmers before taking the long trek to Nebraska and freedom. With the outbreak of the Civil War the town was abandoned by most of the inhabitants. The young men enlisted and their families moved to Wyandotte City for safety. The town's incorporation was revoked by the Kansas State legislature in 1862 and the site was never fully revitalized. Even the ruins have now disappeared.