Mount Oread
Mount Oread rises to 316 m in Kansas. Coon Point stands 338 m to the west-northwest, 9.8 miles off. The nearest named place is Vietnam War Memorial, a historic site 0.2 miles away. Historic Route 66 passes 138 miles off. 8 named summits stand within 25 miles.
The story
Mount Oread is a hill in Lawrence, Kansas, upon which the University of Kansas, and parts of the city of Lawrence, Kansas, are located. It sits on the water divide between the Kansas River and the Wakarusa River. It was named after the long defunct Oread Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, where many of the settlers of Lawrence moved from prior to the American Civil War. The hill was originally called Hogback Ridge by many Lawrence residents until the Oread name was adopted in 1864, two years after the university was founded. For settlers going westward by wagon train on the Oregon Trail, "The Hill", as Mount Oread is now commonly referred to by Kansans, was the next big topographical challenge after crossing the Wakarusa River at Blue Jacket's Crossing, which is today located southeast of the city of Lawrence. James Lane and Governor Charles Robinson erected a fort on the hill in the 1850s, during the Bleeding Kansas conflict in order to protect Lawrence. A 1857 Harper's Weekly report deemed the fort to be valueless as a military work. Governor Robinson's first home in Lawrence would be built on the hill, which was burned down on May 21, 1855, by pro-slavery border ruffians.
According to the United States Geological Survey, Mount Oread is located approximately 1,037 feet (316 m) above sea level. By way of comparison, downtown Lawrence is about 846 feet (258 m) above sea level. Mount Oread is perhaps best known for being the staging area of William Quantrill's raid into Lawrence on August 21, 1863, during the American Civil War. Presently, the campus of the University of Kansas (KU) rests on Mount Oread. Mount Oread is the type locality for the Oread Limestone, and so, gives its name to the Oread Escarpment rising in this region of Kansas. Oread Limestone was quarried from the hilltop and used in the earliest of the campus buildings of KU, including Spooner Hall and Dyche Hall.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q6922597, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 316 m
How to reach it
- 138.2 mi off the Historic Route 66, National
- 25.2 mi off the Frontier Military Historic Byway
Named places within 25 miles
- Marvin Grove: 0.2 mi
- Water Tower Park: 0.4 mi
- Quarry Park: 0.6 mi
- The Japansese Friendship Garden: 0.8 mi
- Centennial Park: 0.9 mi
- The Jayhawk Nest: 0.5 mi
- Moses: 0.5 mi
- Chesty Lion: 1.0 mi
- MacKomics Studio: 1.4 mi
- Relay Race: 3.0 mi
- Spencer Museum of Art: 0.4 mi
- Natural History Museum: 0.4 mi
- Booth Family Hall of Athletics: 0.5 mi
- Watkins Museum of History: 0.8 mi
- Haskell Cultural Center and Museum: 1.8 mi
- Audio-Reader Sensory Garden: 0.2 mi
- Lawrence Community Garden: 0.5 mi
- Monarch Watch Garden: 1.2 mi
- Lawrence Community Orchard: 1.3 mi
- Little Prairie Community Garden: 1.8 mi
- Vietnam War Memorial: 0.2 mi
- Korean War Memorial: 0.2 mi
- Memorial Campanile & Carillon: 0.3 mi
- Victory Eagle-WWI Memorial: 0.4 mi
- Phog Allen: 0.5 mi
- Conrad & Viola McGrew Nature Preserve: 2.8 mi
- Kanza Southwind Nature Preserve: 3.4 mi
- Fitch Natural History Reservation: 5.8 mi
- McColl Nature Reserve: 5.9 mi
- Archery Only Area: 6.7 mi
- Lawrence Arts Center: 0.9 mi
- Locomotive #1073: 1.0 mi
- The Teepee at Teepee Junction: 2.9 mi
- Democratic Headquarters [historic]: 9.6 mi
- Constitution Hall State Historic Site: 9.6 mi
- Franklin: 4.5 mi
- Prairie City: 14.1 mi
- Twin Mound: 14.3 mi
- Coburn: 16.4 mi
- Richland: 16.4 mi
- Shank Hill: 5.1 mi
- Sanders Mound: 5.1 mi
- Blue Mound: 5.4 mi
- Coon Point: 9.8 mi
- Nolan Hill: 10.5 mi
- Wakarusa River Falls: 4.5 mi
- Cedar Lake Falls: 23.0 mi
- Overlook Park Shelter 1: 5.0 mi
- Overlook Park Shelter 2: 5.0 mi
- Bloomington Beach: 7.3 mi
- Swim Beach: 15.3 mi
- Argentine Limestone Outcrop: 23.7 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Mount Oread. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coon Point | WNW 287° | 338 m | 9.8 mi |
| Blue Mound | SE 137° | 318 m | 5.4 mi |
| Fowler Hill | SSE 169° | 318 m | 18.3 mi |
| Nolan Hill | NNW 345° | 317 m | 10.5 mi |
| Twin Mounds | WSW 242° | 316 m | 14.7 mi |
| Shank Hill | S 186° | 304 m | 5.1 mi |
| Sanders Mound | WSW 248° | 288 m | 5.1 mi |
| Observation Bluff | ESE 109° | 277 m | 11.5 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:25 | 18:58 | 19:33 |
| June solstice | 05:56 | 20:11 | 20:51 |
| September equinox | 07:09 | 18:45 | 19:20 |
| December solstice | 07:37 | 16:21 | 17:03 |
Local time (America/Chicago).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 29 | 33 | 44 | 54 | 65 | 75 | 79 | 78 | 69 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Precip in | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Lawrence, under a mile away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/13608756603
Day trips start here
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