Last updated: January 23, 2023
Place
Rawlinson-Terwilliger Home
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
803 West Main Street (at Adams Street), Council Grove, KS
Significance:
The house witnessed Santa Fe Trail traffic
MANAGED BY:
Private Business - Trail Days Café and Museum
Amenities
1 listed
Food/Drink - Restaurant/Table Service
The Rawlinson-Terwilliger Home was the last house Santa Fe-bound freighters and travelers passed leaving Council Grove as late as 1863, and, conversely, being the first house they saw approaching from the west. The original route of the Santa Fe Trail angled northwesterly from the Last Chance Store, passing about 1 1/2 blocks north of the Rawlinson-Terwilliger Home. An alternate route, approximately following Main Street in front of the Home, was established during the Mexican War, in 1846, when the U.S. Army constructed some culverts west of town to create a short cut following Elm Creek to the Wilsey area.
The stone house was constructed in 1860-61 by Abraham and Mary Rawlinson, whose family occupied the property until it was sold to William Riley Terwilliger in 1870. From the front porch of the home, one could have watched the last wagon train pass through Council Grove in the fall of 1866. It was then that the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division (renamed the Kansas Pacific Railway in 1869) reached Junction City. The next spring, Santa Fe freighters offloaded at the railhead and primarily followed the Fort Riley to Fort Larned military road to Ellsworth before turning south to access the Santa Fe Trail.
Site Information
Location (803 West Main Street (at Adams Street), Council Grove, KS)
Exhibits
Various items in the restaurant explain the history of the Santa Fe Trail as well as the property itself;the property surrounding the café interprets a later (1920s) tourist camp.