The small, charming Kansas town of Humboldt, listed as one of the 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2024 by the Smithsonian, may be one of the smaller places to visit in Kansas, but it provides something unique that you won’t find at many larger Civil War battle sites, the impact of the war on individuals and their homes.
I love large battlefields like Gettysburg and Antietam, both of which I saw as a child, but if you are looking for smaller, more personal views of the Civil War, try the Humboldt Civil War Monument Tour. 12 stone monuments are placed around the small town of Humboldt, each representing an incident during the 1861 raid and giving the individual human stories behind the big events. The Humboldt Civil War monuments were erected in 1997.
History of Humboldt
Humboldt KS was founded in 1857 by German settlers coming over from Pennsylvania. On September 8, 1861, it was attacked by a group of pro-slavery guerillas and Osage tribe members. Most of the men had gone to fight in Missouri, so there were only women, children, and older men left in town. Homes were looted and anything of value was stolen.
After that raid, a Home Guard was established, but even with that, when Confederate troops raided the town on October 14, 1861, they were caught unaware and could not defend the town. Most of the buildings in Humboldt were burned down. The Humboldt Civil War monuments tell the story of some of the heroic townspeople as they defended their homes and possessions.
Humboldt Civil War Monuments Self-Guided Tour
Here is a link to the map we were given by a very helpful woman in the City Hall. The monument in the park says that you can get maps at local merchants, but the one merchant we talked to didn’t know anything about giving out maps. This map isn’t perfect, but it is the official one, and we did eventually find all 12 monuments with its help.
Some markers we definitely had to hunt for a bit more than others. A number of the monuments are in someone’s yard, so at some of them, you’ll just read the story, take a picture if you want it, and then get back in your car. A few are in places where you could really get out and stretch your legs.
The main monument is on the northwest corner of the park at the corner of Bridge Street and 8th Street. It explains a bit about the raid and has Lincoln’s famous quotation “with malice toward none.” It’s a well-composed monument and a great photo op. The city chose a lovely place to begin the Humboldt Civil War Monuments tour. This will be a good place to let kids out to run around a bit if they need to. The park has a beautiful gazebo and picnic tables.
As you follow the trail of the monuments around town, you’ll find out interesting facts, such as only one Confederate was killed during the raid and that was while he was trying to remove the Union flag, one of the buildings was saved from burning by wet laundry, and that one town resident saved the family valuables by throwing them down her well with her feather bed. Only one resident was killed and that was because he wouldn’t give up his mules when the Confederate soldiers ordered him to.
You’ll see the Neosho River which is thought to have been part of the escape route for Missouri slaves heading north. There is some evidence that Humboldt may have been part of the Underground Railroad. There are caves along the riverbank that some believe to have been stopping places for escaping slaves. At least two townspeople are thought to have given food and other aid to the help the escaped slaves. Neosho River Park is on the west side of the river. That would be another good place to get out and move around a bit. Even though there aren’t any of the Humboldt Civil War monuments there, it’s a well-landscaped park to spend some time in.
When we were looking for monument 6, on the east side of the river, we turned into what looks like some kind of service yard and drove toward the back where there is an access stairway down to the Neosho River. Doug and I went down and enjoyed a close-up view of the spillway on the river. The stairway isn’t for anyone with mobility issues, but we enjoyed being that close to the water for a few minutes.
Stop 8 on the tour is Camp Hunter. This was established after the raid, kind of like shutting the barn door after the horse has escaped, and various Kansas regiments were stationed there throughout the rest of the war. The location of the camp is now a city park which has playground equipment and overnight RV parking. It has electrical hookups and free Wi-Fi. This is another great location to let the kids run and take the dog for a walk.
A few of the markers are for important buildings or homes in town rather than specific incidents. Stop 9 tells the story of Aunt Polly Crosby, the daughter of slaves, who lived on Sycamore Street and was famous for her food and generosity. Stop 2 tells about the Land Office, definitely an important place as this area was being settled!
The brochure for the Humboldt Civil War Monuments self-guided tour gives a number to call if you would like a guided tour. We hope to be able to do that in the future, but so far, we’ve only done the self-guided tour. Once we have a chance to take the guided tour, we’ll update here!
Good eating in Humboldt
While we were there, we made a point of dropping in to Bijou Confectionary for some fantastic sweets. It’s an exquisite little pink and white store that will probably remind you of boutiques you may have seen in much bigger cities. It definitely has a Parisian feel to it!
The hardest part of visiting Bijou was not being able to take home everything we saw in there! The candies and desserts are beautiful! We took some candy Legos home to our grandkids who are big fans of the little bricks. Doug and I indulged in some macarons, lemon petit fours, and some homemade fudge. Fabulous! Bijou is right across from the park where the first of the Humboldt Civil War Monuments is on Bridge Street, so it’s really easy to step into while you are there.
There are several restaurants in town with good ratings. We weren’t there at a time that was conducive for eating a meal but both Honeybee Bruncherie and Union Works Brewing Co get good reviews. As a Bruncherie, Honeybee is open until 2 and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Octagon City Coffee looks like the place to go to get your caffeine fix.
How to get there
To see the Humboldt Civil War Monuments, head to Humboldt just off of Highway 169 between Iola and Chanute, about 2 hours southwest of Kansas City. It is easy to find. If you are coming from the south, the exit is marked as “Humboldt-Chanute Road.” You’ll take that north. If you are coming from the north, take Hawaii Rd. west.
The monuments could be seen in an hour or, with several nice places to eat and some pleasant and beautiful parks, you could spend most of the day in the pleasant town of Humboldt. The Humboldt Civil War Monuments may not be the biggest of the Kansas tourist attractions, but they provide some context for how “Bleeding Kansas” looked to the people actually involved.
Southeast Kansas is a varied region that many people will say doesn’t look like their idea of Kansas. If you are a history butt, it has some of the best places to visit in Kansas. Humboldt Civil War Monuments is just one of the many Civil War sites in Kansas and one of the lesser known “Bleeding Kansas” incidents.
