
A field of sunflowers adds a splash of color to a view of the parade ground at Fort Scott.
Photo: NPS Pnoto
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.
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.
Get directions →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, are common throughout the spring and summer. During periods of severe weather, visitors should seek shelter, as the area is prone to lightning strikes. Visitors are advised to check the weather prior to traveling.

44th Annual Candlelight Tour Tickets on Sale Now
Tickets are now on sale for the 44th Annual Candlelight Tour at Fort Scott National Historic Site, set for Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5–6, 2025. Tickets are available online at fofs.ludus.com for $5 per person The 45-minute guided tours depart every 15 minutes, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday and 5 to 8:45 p.m. Saturday, and end in the Grand Hall with warm drinks and snacks provided by the Friends of Fort Scott NHS.

Fort Scott National Historic Site to Host National Public Lands Day Event Sept. 27
Tens of thousands of volunteers across the country will join in trail maintenance, planting projects, trash pick-up, and other activities aimed at restoring and caring for public lands to celebrate the 30th Annual National Public Lands Day, September 27.

Born into Slavery & Forged in the Fires of War
Fort Scott National Historic Site is hosting author, historical researcher, and Civil War reenactor Calvin L. Osborne on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 2 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the East Infantry Barracks, where he will share an epic story of a once-enslaved man who fought for freedom, helped shape a nation, and unknowingly laid a foundation for generations to come.