Lecompton, Kansas

**Lecompton** (pronounced ) is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States.  In 2020, there were 588 people there. Lecompton had a big historical role in pre-Civil War America as the territorial capital of Kansas from 1855 to 1861.  This time period was known as Bleeding Kansas.

## History

Lecompton was founded in 1854 on a bluff on the south side of the Kansas River. At first, the city's name was "**Bald Eagle**", but the name was changed to Lecompton in honor of Samuel Lecompte, the chief justice of the territorial supreme court. In the spring of 1855, the town became the capital of the Kansas Territory.  President James Buchanan chose a governor and officials to create government offices in Lecompton. The first post office in Lecompton was created in September 1855.

In the fall of 1857 a convention met in Constitution Hall. They drafted the famous Lecompton Constitution, which would have made Kansas become a slave state. The constitution was rejected after angry national debate and was one of the main ideas of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The controversy added to the growing fight that became the civil war. The Lecompton Constitution failed, in part, because the antislavery people had control of the territorial legislature in the election of 1857. The new legislature met at Constitution Hall and quickly started to get rid of the pro-slavery laws.

The free-staters shortly tried to move the territorial capital to Minneola, Franklin County, Kansas through a vote, but the resulting bill was later rejected by Kansas territorial governor James W. Denver, and was made void by Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney General of the United States. As such, Lecompton remained the _de jure_ territorial capital. This was until Topeka became the capital when Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861. The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861.

## Geography

Lecompton is at  (39.042927, -95.395039).  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which,  is land and  is water.

### Climate

The climate in this area is has hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.  According to the Köppen climate classification system, Lecompton has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

## Demographics

Lecompton is part of the Lawrence, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area.

### 2020 census

In 2020, there were 588 people, 247 households, and 166 families living in Zurich. Of the households, 74.5% owned their home and 25.5% rented their home.

The median age was 40.6 years. Of the people, 86.4% were White, 2.4% were Native American, 1.2% were Black, 0.5% were Asian, 2.0% were from some other race, and 7.5% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.7% of the people.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Lecompton, Kansas
- **settlement type**: City
- **image skyline**: Constitution Hall (2).JPG
- **image caption**: 1857 Constitution Hall (Lecompton, Kansas), Constitution Hall (2009)
- **image map**: Douglas_County_Kansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Lecompton_Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location within Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County and Kansas
- **image map1**: Map of Douglas Co, Ks, USA.png
- **map caption1**: Kansas Department of Transportation, KDOT map of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County (:File:Kansas official transportation map legend.png, legend)
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision name1**: Kansas
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Kansas, County
- **subdivision name2**: Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas
- **subdivision type3**: List of townships in Kansas, Township
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1854
- **established title1**: Platted
- **established title2**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date2**: 1855
- **named for**: Samuel Dexter Lecompte
- **area total sq mi**: 1.76
- **area land sq mi**: 1.76
- **area water sq mi**: 0.01
- **area total km2**: 4.57
- **area land km2**: 4.55
- **area water km2**: 0.02
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **elevation ft**: 925
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 588
- **population density sq mi**: auto
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone**: Central Time Zone, CST
- **utc offset**: -6
- **timezone dst**: CDT
- **utc offset dst**: -5
- **postal code type**: ZIP code
- **postal code**: 66050
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **area code**: Area code 785, 785
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 20-39150
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS ID
- **blank1 info**: 2395667