Clinton Lake, Bloomington Park, and the Wakarusa Museum Walking Tour

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James Cooper Steele arrived in Kansas Territory in March 1857. A few years after settling in Bloomington, Steele and his sons built a brick kiln on the Wakarusa River, and began manufacturing their own red bricks from local clay. Unsatisfied with the typical log cabin style of frontier lodging, Steele constructed a magnificent two-story brick house that likely served as both a stop along the Underground Railroad and a meeting place for the local Presbyterian Church.

2. Kansas Avenue

A trip from Bloomington to Lawrence was only 7 miles by Kansas Avenue. Now, after the construction of Clinton Lake, the same trip is 18 miles around the curves of 458 Highway. Kansas Avenue was the main street that ran through the community of Bloomington. Although the majority of the road now lies beneath Clinton Lake, a long stretch of the old roadbed, lined with tall walnut trees, can still be viewed on the grounds of the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum.

3. The Freedom Rings Sculpture

Dedicated in 2009, this sculpture at the entrance to the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum represents the relationship between the efforts of African Americans to escape slavery and the residents of nearby rural communities. Just as the nearby museum shares the histories of Kanwaka, Stull, Old Belvoir, New Belvoir, Clinton, Bloomington, Twin Mound, Sigel, and Richland, this sculpture reflects one aspect of the area before the Civil War when Kansas reflected the nation's divide over slavery. While communities like Leavenworth and Atchison were home to many proslavery settlers, residents from Lawrence to Topeka typically opposed the extension of slavery. Designed by Stephen Johnson and built by Cotter Mitchell, the sculpture features ten large, yellow rings of varying sizes surrounding a tall windmill. A glass sphere rests at the top of the windmill in the sculpture's center. Together, the sphere and the windmill geographically align with the North Star to symbolize the "beacon of freedom" that many of the Wakarusa River Valley communities represented.

4. Bloomington Smokehouse

The Bloomington smokehouse, often mistaken for an old jailhouse by current visitors, was owned by John Frederick Johnson. The smokehouse was built in 1892 from locally quarried stone. A third of the building was used as a smokehouse, while the remaining two-thirds was used as a chicken coop. In addition to the Johnson family, several neighbors from the surrounding communities of Clinton and Bloomington would also use the building to smoke their own meats, often pork and beef.

5. Bloomington Schoolhouse

The former location of the Bloomington schoolhouse now lies under the sandy shore of Clinton Lake. Instead of school children, the area is now frequented by swimmers, campers, and beachgoers. The Bloomington schoolhouse may have been the first integrated school in the region, reporting 23 white and black pupils in 1898. Additionally, the school was taught by both white and black teachers. However, as the original white settlers of Bloomington moved out and new black families moved in, the school saw less integrated attendance. In 1906, Clyde Adams was the last white teacher. In 1915, 18 black students were enrolled, while the white students attended school in the neighboring town of Clinton. In April 1942, Bloomington schoolhouse officially closed. The last class to attend only had 5 pupils.

6. Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum

When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to dam the Wakarusa River and build Clinton Lake in 1972, many local residents feared their history would be washed away as the valley flooded. However, as a response to the threat of lost history, the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum was established in 1983. The Wakarusa Museum aims to preserve the history of the Wakarusa River Valley region. The museum holds a large collection of family histories, photographs, and other related artifacts. Together, these collections bring to life the memory of ten interconnected rural communities located throughout the Wakarusa River Valley. These communities are Kanwaka, Stull, New Belvoir, Old Belvoir, Clinton, Bloomington, Sigel, Twin Mound, Richland, and Lone Star. Many of these communities were either demolished, flooded, or abandoned when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Clinton Lake. According to the museum's website, the Wakarusa Museum is dedicated to, “the communities and the founding settlers for their perseverance of defending their staunch beliefs in difficult times."

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Clinton Lake, Bloomington Park, and the Wakarusa Museum Walking Tour

Created by Public and Digital History (University of Kansas) on May 5th 2023, 4:20:17 am.

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Description

This short walk explores several landmarks around Clinton Lake's Bloomington Beach, concluding at the Wakarusa Museum which interprets the history of the communities of the surrounding area. Before the construction of Clinton Lake, this region was home to the rural community of Bloomington, a town established shortly before the Civil War that reflected the anti-slavery orientation of nearby Lawrence.

Entries on This Tour

Clinton Lake, Bloomington Park, and the Wakarusa Museum Walking Tour

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