Promises made and broken! A town attacked at dawn! Thousands made homeless by war! Soldiers fighting settlers! Each of these stories is a link in the chain of events that encircled Fort Scott from 1842-73. All of the site's 20 historic structures, its parade ground, and its five acres of restored tallgrass prairie bear witness to this era when the United States was forged from a young divided republic into a united and powerful transcontinental nation.

It is the mission of the National Park Service at Fort Scott National Historic Site to preserve, protect and interpret nationally significant historic resources related to the opening of the West, the Permanent Indian Frontier, the Mexican-American War, Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War and the expansion of railroads.

 Directions 

Plane - The town of Fort Scott has a small airport. A larger airport is located in Joplin-60 miles away. The nearest international airport is in Kansas City-90 miles away.

Car - Fort Scott National Historic Site is located in downtown Fort Scott, Kansas. U.S. Highways 69 and 54 intersect here. Fort Scott is about 90 miles south of Kansas City and 60 miles northwest of Joplin, Missouri. It is 4 miles from the Kansas-Missouri border.

Please note that due to construction on Highway 69, the southbound exit that visitors normally use to access the historic site is closed.

Visitors travelling south on Highway 69 will need to exit at 3rd Street, the first traffic light from the north. At the light, turn right and follow 3rd Street for two blocks to Scott Avenue and then make another right. Proceed north for three blocks to Wall. Directly across Wall is the entrance to Fort Scott National Historic Site.

Public Transportation - The town of Fort Scott is served by Jefferson Bus Lines.