Last updated: January 15, 2023
Place
Last Chance Store, Council Grove
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
516 W Main St Council Grove, KS
Significance:
Last trading post before venturing out onto the plains
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places
MANAGED BY:
Privately owned building
Perched on the edge of Council Grove, this building opened as a store during the 1857 trading season and is the oldest remaining commercial building in Council Grove. Here was the last opportunity for traders bound for Santa Fe to purchase supplies before venturing into the homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa, and Plains Apache Indians. As the last place to purchase supplies en route to Santa Fe, providing it the nickname by which it has long been known. For several years, the building housed post office facilities, and it also served as a government trading house and polling place. The store has become known as the most famous (but not the largest or most important) trading site in Council Grove during the trail years. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Site Information
Location (516 W Main St Council Grove, KS)
Available Facilities
The privately owned building remains near its original state today.
Exhibits
There is an historical marker on the property.