Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Street art in Cartagena.
Colombia • 10 days, 9 nights
Colombia Discovery: Coffee, Art & Music
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Muc Lien’s 18 Gates of Hell.
Muc Lien's 18 Gates of Hell
Lighthouse and Museum of Jára Cimrman (Maják a muzeum Járy Cimrmana).
Lighthouse of Jára Cimrman
Markers honor 865 war dead.
Sovjet Ereveld (Soviet Field of Honor)
The intaglio leaves a subtle impression on the land along Riverside Drive in Fort Atkinson.
Panther Intaglio
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?
about 16 hours ago
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
3 days ago
Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
Biosphere 2: How Volunteers Survived for 2 Years in an Airtight Habitat
3 days ago
Places like Forest Grove linger on the edge of wilderness and civilization.
Listening for Echoes of the Forest Grove Sound
4 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Kansas Wamego Beecher Bible and Rifle Church

Beecher Bible and Rifle Church

This historic church is named for abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher and the ruse to arm his fellow abolitionists.

Wamego, Kansas

Added By
PrairieFire
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Services are still held, and tours can be arranged   KTWUProductions
Services are still held, and tours can be arranged   KTWUProductions
Photo from 1971 survey of historic buildings   Library of Congress / Historic American Buildings Survey
Church interior, 1965   Library of Congress / Historic American Buildings Survey
Named for Rev. Henry Ward Beecher   KTWUProductions
The church is in a quiet corner of the county   KTWUProductions
Beecher Bible and Rifle Church   KTWUProductions
The old church on the prairie, mid-19th century   Vintage photo (date unknown)
  BleedingKansas686 / Atlas Obscura User
A nearby historical marker   evilgreentriangle / Atlas Obscura User
Looking up at the front of the church   evilgreentriangle / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The date on this simple stone church is 1862, but its story began a few years earlier. It was 1856, and Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, an abolitionist preacher and brother of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” author Harriet Beecher Stowe, had organized a contingent of colonists to set out for Kansas.

The status of the new Kansas Territory hung in the balance of a political battle between free and slave states, and Beecher was determined to tip the scale. He assembled a group of his Connecticut followers to light out for the Territory, with the goal of swelling the vote on the side of a free Kansas. Beecher armed the parishioners with Bibles, and rifles as well. 

They were called the New Haven Colony but became better known as the Beecher Rifle Colony, organizing a congregation in Wabaunsee County. With little money, a proper church took time to build, but by 1862 a simple limestone structure went up on the open prairie. It was named the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church, and although devoid of embellishment in its design, there was maybe a touch of embellishment in its lore.

Legend has it that when additional funds were raised by Beecher for more rifles—specifically Sharps, earning the nickname “Beecher’s Bibles”—they were sent to the colony hidden in the bottom of wooden crates marked “Bibles.” It’s tough to corroborate the story, but it’s not all that unlikely. There is at least one confirmed case of rifles being smuggled into Kansas in a crate marked “books,” so a crate marked “Bibles” might just have easily made the journey.

Related Tags

Churches Civil War Secret Slavery Religion Weapons Sacred Spaces

Know Before You Go

The Wabaunsee townsite is in Wabaunsee County, about 40 miles west of Topeka. The church is at the corner of Elm and Chapel in the south part of town, and there is free parking next to the church. Services are held every Sunday, and tours can be scheduled in advance by calling (785) 617-1300.

Community Contributors

Added By

PrairieFire

Edited By

daleg, BleedingKansas686, evilgreentriangle, melissabollman

  • daleg
  • BleedingKansas686
  • evilgreentriangle
  • melissabollman

Published

January 16, 2017

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.mountmitchellprairie.org/beecher-bible-and-rifle-church.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beecher_Bible_and_Rifle_Church
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze4nycJB6Wo
Beecher Bible and Rifle Church
Elm & Chapel Streets
Wamego, Kansas
United States
39.14389, -96.345822
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Oz Museum

Wamego, Kansas

miles away

Wamego LSD Missile Silo

Wamego, Kansas

miles away

Konza Prairie

Manhattan, Kansas

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Wamego

Wamego

Kansas

Places 3

Nearby Places

Oz Museum

Wamego, Kansas

miles away

Wamego LSD Missile Silo

Wamego, Kansas

miles away

Konza Prairie

Manhattan, Kansas

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Wamego

Wamego

Kansas

Places 3

Related Places

  • The Ghost Church, fall 2016.

    Mechanicsville, Virginia

    The Ghost Church

    The skeletal white beams stand as a monument to religious dissent.

  • The front of the St. Charles’ Church

    Freetown, Sierra Leone

    St. Charles’ Church

    On a hill in Regent sits the oldest stone church in Sierra Leone.

  • Church of the Good Shepherd

    Lullington, England

    Lullington Church of the Good Shepherd

    This tiny church is one of England's smallest.

  • St Mary’s and All Saints Church, Dunsfold

    Dunsfold, England

    St Mary's and All Saints Church & Holy Well

    An ancient yew tree and holy well nestle beside a remarkable 13th-century church.

  • Great West Window

    Winchester, England

    The Great West Window

    This cathedral's stained-glass patchwork of psychedelic colors and shapes was put in place long before the swinging 60s.

  • Blackfriars

    Newcastle upon Tyne, England

    Blackfriars Friary

    The remains of a Dominican friary, once one of the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom.

  • Inside the church

    Atotonilco, Mexico

    Santuario de Atotonilco

    The walls and ceilings of the "Mexican Sistine Chapel" are almost completely covered with mural, sculpture, inscriptions and oil paintings.

  • Greeneville Cumberland Presbyterian Church

    Greeneville, Tennessee

    Greeneville Cumberland Presbyterian Church

    A cannonball from Union forces battling John Hunt Morgan made this church a permanent home.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.