Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday approved an agreement to acquire the Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park property in partnership with Baldwin City.
The site at 163 East 2000 Road about 3 miles southeast of Baldwin City is a national historic landmark.
“The Battle of Black Jack played a central role in the events of ‘Bleeding Kansas’ and is widely recognized as a precursor to the Civil War,” the meeting agenda summarizes. “In addition to the historic Robert Hall Pearson farmhouse, the site includes a 40-acre nature park, public trails, and open green space.”
The trust was at risk of defaulting on its mortgage, and it informed the county of this in April 2024, according to the meeting agenda. “In response, County staff and local stakeholders formed the Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park Preservation Committee,” according to the agenda. The group ultimately recommended that the property would be better suited for public ownership.
Under the approved agreement, Baldwin City and the county will enter a joint ownership structure for the property, and the county will provide Baldwin City $250,000 of open space funding to support it in acquiring the property.
The county has invested more than $466,000 into the battlefield and nature park since 2011.
County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said the agreement has a number of positives that county staff members felt were important, and the site should remain accessible to the public.
Kerry Altenbernd, vice president of the Black Jack Battlefield Trust, spoke during public comment. He said three minutes — the amount of time all members of the public are given to comment on agenda items — was nowhere near enough to tell the whole story.
“We’ve been treated as if we are somehow untrustworthy, even though we’ve kept that place going for 20-some years, and we feel that we were misused by the county,” he said, but did not have time to elaborate.
Commissioner Karen Willey said it seemed the next step would be for the trust and Baldwin City to continue conversations and work out agreements. She said she was supportive of the county’s open space funds being used in that way “if all other parties that work on it from here on out can come to agreement.”
Commissioner Shannon Reid said she believed there had been a series of conversations that had involved all relevant parties to come to the set of recommendations. She said she believed this was a positive solution and that there are opportunities to figure out the particulars to make sure the move is successful going forward.
“There’s nothing in here (the agreements) that tells me that there’s no going back at this point” if challenges should arise, Commission Chair Patrick Kelly said. He said he was comfortable with moving forward.
Douglas County commissioners approved the agreements 5-0. Baldwin City approved them last week, according to the agenda.
Here’s the complete agenda item with the agreements:
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