Grinter Place State Historic Site

09/13/2024

Stop by from 10-4 tomorrow for our Artist fair!

09/11/2024

In 1831, Moses Grinter was the first Euro-American to settle in the area known as the Delaware Crossing (Wyandotte County). He was also the first to conduct a ferry business in Kansas. Moses and his wife Annie built a two-story brick house north of the crossing. This drawing shows the Grinter ferry on the Kansas River and the Grinter house on the hill. It was in this area where the first non-military post office was established in 1850.

09/04/2024

Join us next Saturday, September 14th, for our fall artist and maker fair!

Artists and nonprofit groups from in and around Wyandotte County will be setting up booths to sell their art and art supplies, and to help educate about local history and historic artforms. Some artists will be preforming demonstrations on their craft throughout the day.

The fair will be open 10-4
The historic Grinter home will be open 10-5

08/15/2024

07/11/2024

Here in eastern Kansas, we are used to hail storms, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and the occasional flood, but what about earthquakes?

Well, on July 11th, 1872, the Wyandotte Herald newspaper covered an earthquake that was felt right here at the Grinter's home in the community then referred to as Secondine:

"On Monday evening last [July 8th] the inhabitants of Secondine were startled by an earthquake. The shock occurred about 10 o'clock P.M. and traveled from Southeast to Northwest. But one shock was felt which lasted from four to five seconds.

William H. Grinter [Moses and Annie's oldest son], from whom we glean the particulars, says that the shock was as severe as the one felt here in 1867. He informed us that the stock on his father's farm was greatly excited, the dogs set up a pitiful howl, the horses neighed and snurted and the cattle ran bellowing in every direction.

He says he sat looking out the window leaning his arms on the same and felt the house vibrating under him. A young man sleeping in the same room was awakened by the trembling of the house and thought some one was trying to pull the bed from under him. We have not heard whether the shock was felt at any other
place."

*Photo of the east bedroom of the Grinter house, as it could have looked in 1872*

07/03/2024

We now have a new site sign at the Grinter Place!

Stop by and see it for yourself this weekend, and take a tour of the historic house while you’re here!

*The site will be closed Thursday, July 4th in recognition of the federal holiday, but will be open regular hours the rest of the week.

05/08/2024

When visiting Grinter Place SHS, you may notice a variety of hidden features that help us to understand the whole history of the home. One of these features, and a favorite to many, is this pair of exterior bricks signed almost 160 years ago.

They were both signed: “Mr. A Zane, May 7th 1865”.

As most sources point to the home being completed by 1865, these bricks are commonly thought to have been a part of an early repair to the northeast corner of the house, possibly completed on or around the signed date of May 7th, 1865.

The Zanes of Eastern Kansas belonged to the Wyandot tribe, who arrived in the vicinity around 1843, and resided nearby to the Grinter home and the surrounding Munsee-Lenape/Delaware communities on what was then part of the Delaware land reserve. Since several Kansan Wyandot men during the 1860’s had the name A. Zane, as recorded by Louise Barry’s index to KSHS publications, the man who signed our bricks could be a mystery.

One possibility may however be a Mr. Alexander Zane, a Wyandotte County resident who served as a Quartermaster Sergeant in the 15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment during the civil war; the same unit that the Grinter family’s oldest son, William H Grinter, also served in.

(Photo of signed brick at NE corner of the Grinter home. “A. Zane May 7th 1865)

04/17/2024

Grinter Place State Historic Site is officially open for the 2024 season!

Hours of Operation are:
Wednesday-Saturday, 10:00am-5:00pm
Sunday, 1:00pm-5:00pm

Come see one of the best preserved mid-19th century homes in Kansas for yourself, and learn about the remarkable Grinter family that lived here for nearly a century!

*Pictured are KSHS volunteers dressed in 1860’s clothing, as the Grinters would have worn after moving into their home in 1862, standing in front of the Grinter house during a living history interpretative program in 2023.*

12/09/2023

Santa and Mrs Claus are here. Come by and see us. We’re here till 12:30.

12/05/2023

Mark your calendars! Santa and Mrs. Claus are coming to the Grinter House. Saturday, December 9th from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon.

10/29/2023

Second Saturday in November.
Saturday Nov 11, 10-12. Refreshments served

Kendall D. Gott is a retired army officer and as well as a retired senior historian of the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth Kansas. He is the author of several studies on American military history and the book Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign February 1862.Writes historical fiction about Kansas.

10/15/2023

10/13/2023

Community T.I.E.S. with Captain Navarro from the KCKPD on Grinter Place SHS, and our event tomorrow. Don’t forget to stop by! Tomorrow will be the last day of our regular season, we’ll be open 10:00 to 6:00.

10/12/2023

10/11/2023

Come celebrate the end of the 2023 season with us!

Saturday, Oct 14th, Grinter Place SHS will be hosting an interactive 1860's Living History event to celebrate our last day of the 2023 season.
Our event will feature scheduled interpretive talks, interactive activities for kids both young and old throughout the day, as well as fundraisers and local vendors provided through the Friends of Grinter.

These are our three scheduled programs for the day:

10:00 -Interpretive nature program: 'Birding for Beginners,' with Wyandotte County Conservation

11:00 -Interpretive historic talk: 'Shopping for Moses, Men's Clothing of the 1860's,' with Eric Smallwood, site administrator at Grinter Place SHS

1:00 -Interpretive historic talk: 'The US Cavalry in Kansas during the Civil War,' with Jake Koch-Interpretive Lead at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

Kids programs will be all day from 10-6, and include coloring worksheets, outdoor games, and chinaware painting.

The Grinter house will also be open for guided tours from 10:00 to 6:00.

If you have any questions, just give us a call or send us a message. We hope to see you there!

10/05/2023

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