Fort Scott National Historic Site - National Park Directory

A field of sunflowers next to a stone building. Wood frame structures in background.

A field of sunflowers adds a splash of color to a view of the parade ground at Fort Scott.

Picture of the Post Hospital

Wood frame structures with stairs next to a stone walkway. Structures reflect afternoon sunlight.

Officers quarters at Fort Scott bathed in the light of the afternoon sun.

Four soldiers on horseback in a line riding through prairie grass.

Soldiers on horseback patrol the prairie.

Women dressed as laundresses with laundry buckets and scrub boards stand on a stone porch.

High school students dressed as laundresses demonstrate laundry methods of the 1840s

Picture of rows of flags across the parade ground with trees in the background.

Image of flags from the Symbols of Sacrifice event.

Photos: National Park Service

About Fort Scott National Historic Site

Promises made and broken! Who deserves to be free? The fight for freedom! Soldiers fighting settlers! Each of these stories is a link in the chain of events that encircled Fort Scott from 1842-1873. All of the site's structures, its parade ground, and its tallgrass prairie bear witness to this era when the country was forged from a young republic into a united transcontinental nation.

Quick Facts

State Kansas

Designation National Historic Site

State Code KS

Weather Spring and autumn are pleasant with mild temperatures. Summers are generally hot and humid, while winters are mild with periods of cold weather, snowfall, and ice storms. Thunderstorms, some severe,…

Location & Map

Fort Scott National Historic Site is located in Kansas.

Get Directions

Operating Hours

Park Visitor Center and historic building hours listed under 'Visitor Centers.' Visitors may walk the park grounds, walkways, and parking lot from ½ hour before sunrise until ½ hour after sunset, except during periods of snow, ice, or other inclement weather conditions that make the grounds unsafe.

Wednesday Sunrise to Sunset

Monday Sunrise to Sunset

Thursday Sunrise to Sunset

Sunday Sunrise to Sunset

Tuesday Sunrise to Sunset

Friday Sunrise to Sunset

Saturday Sunrise to Sunset

Activities

Guided Tours Living History Historic Weapons Demonstration Junior Ranger Program Park Film Museum Exhibits Shopping Bookstore and Park Store

Getting There

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. Signs directing visitors to Fort Scott are posted on Highway 69 for visitors coming from the north and the south and on Highway 54 for visitors coming from the east and the west.

View Official Directions

Contact & Address

Address 1 Old Fort Blvd., Fort Scott, KS, 66701

Phone 6202230310

Email fosc_interpretation@nps.gov

Topics & Themes

African American Heritage Forts Incarceration Jails and Prisons Medicine Hospital Military Infantry and Militia Artillery Cavalry Indigenous and Native Warrior Native American Heritage Schools and Education Transportation Trains and Railroads Wars and Conflicts Mexican War Civil War Westward Expansion Women's History Grasslands Prairies

Things To Do

Healthy Parks, Healthy People

Fort Scott encourages outdoor exercise to improve health. Get out and walk to help reduce stress, improve brain function, and…

Several different walkways offer varying lengths for visitors to walk for exercise from 1/4 mile around the parade ground up…

Discovering Life at Fort Scott

Living History Programs

Interpreters dressed out in period costume demonstrate what life was like at Fort Scott in the 1840s.

Virtual 360 Fort Scott Tour

Take a tour of Fort Scott through a series of 360 degree panoramic views of the buildings, furnished rooms and…

The furnished rooms of each building are technically considere musum exhibits. Each furnished room can be viewed on this vitrtual…

Visitor Centers

Visitor Center

The Visitor Center for the site is located on the ground floor of the post hospital which is located at the entrance to the site…

Hours: The Visitor Center (VC) is in the Post Hospital. Inside the VC is our bookstore, passport cancellation station, Junior Ranger books, and where most site tours begin.

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