City Adds Information Kiosks to Historic Grover Barn

The City of Lawrence has added four outdoor information kiosks to historic Grover Barn, off Lawrence Avenue near Clinton Parkway, to help visitors understand the structure’s deep connection to the Underground Railroad and John Brown. The kiosk project, spearheaded by the Guardians of Grover Barn, was funded by a $7,300 grant from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Commission.

Grover Barn has been designated as an official Underground Railroad site by the United States Department of the Interior. In January 1859, John Brown and a group of local abolitionists brought a group of escaping slaves from Missouri through Lawrence en route to freedom in Canada. The group spent at least one night in this stone barn on the farm of Joel and Emily Grover.

The City Commission approved a consent agenda item on March 16 to authorize the city’s planning staff to prepare and submit a nomination of the property to the Register of Historic Kansas Places.