The Ritchie House

Join us February 22nd at 3pm at 1118 SE Madison when Brad Davenport of Tecumseh will be talking about some of the oldest items in Shawnee County. We are talking about rocks that are over 2 billion years old. Davenport says the rocks are known as Lake Superior agate and were brought to Kansas during the glacial age when the glaciers were formed in Kansas ten thousand years ago. Davenport is an expert on rocks and has been collecting them for years. He says some of these special rocks from up north can be found near 29th and Gage. This is a unique program and society members can attend for free however others will be encouraged to donate $5 for this informative talk. If you can't make it to the society headquarters on Sunday the 22nd we will broadcast this on Facebook Live starting at 3pm. We hope you can join us on the 22nd.

Students from Williams Middle school toured the Ritchie house this morning. For about an hour, the students learned about the oldest house in Topeka and the site of an Underground Railroad stop. In addition, they got to see the paths of runaway slaves coming from Highland Park on their way to Freedom. A side benefit was the opportunity to see a homeless camp, which is located just to the east of the Ritchie House. There must have been about five people who huddled around a camp fire trying to leep warm. You too can visit the Ritchie House. We're here 9 to 1 Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday.