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Mount Oread

American Civil War stubsBleeding KansasDrainage dividesHills of KansasHydrology
Kansas geography stubsKansas in the American Civil WarLandforms of Douglas County, KansasLawrence, KansasOregon Trail
Overlooking Lawerence and the Kansas River. (Boston Public Library) (cropped)
Overlooking Lawerence and the Kansas River. (Boston Public Library) (cropped)

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 rivers. 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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Mount Oread (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Mount Oread
Sunset Drive, Lawrence

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 38.963144444444 ° E -95.257086111111 °
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Sunset Drive 1141
66044 Lawrence
Kansas, United States
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Overlooking Lawerence and the Kansas River. (Boston Public Library) (cropped)
Overlooking Lawerence and the Kansas River. (Boston Public Library) (cropped)
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Allen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse

Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena on the University of Kansas (KU) campus in Lawrence, Kansas. It is home of the Kansas Jayhawks men's and women's basketball teams. The arena is named after Phog Allen, a former player and head coach for the Jayhawks whose tenure lasted 39 years. The arena's nickname, The Phog also pays homage to Allen. Allen Fieldhouse is one of college basketball's most historically significant and prestigious buildings. 37 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament games have been hosted at the arena. The actual playing surface has been named "James Naismith Court", in honor of basketball's inventor, who established KU's basketball program and served as the Jayhawks' first coach from 1898 to 1907. Allen Fieldhouse has also hosted several NCAA tournament regionals, an NBA exhibition game, and occasional concerts such as The Beach Boys, Elton John, James Taylor, Sonny and Cher, Leon Russell, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top, Tina Turner, Harry Belafonte, Henry Mancini, The Doobie Brothers, Kansas, and Bob Hope, as well as speakers, including former President Bill Clinton in 2004, Senator Robert F. Kennedy (which drew over 20,000) in March 1968, and anarchist Abbie Hoffman in 1970. Additional free musical performances occasionally occur during the Jayhawks Late Night In The Phog, musical artists that have performed for this include Tech N9ne, Lil Yachty, 2 Chainz, Snoop Dogg, Run-DMC, and DIESEL. Allen Fieldhouse was the filming location for a climactic hospital scene in the 1983 ABC-TV movie The Day After, one of the most-watched made-for-TV movies of all-time.ESPN The Magazine named Allen Fieldhouse the loudest college basketball arena in the country. The arena broke the Guinness World Record for loudest roar on February 13, 2017, against West Virginia at 130.4 dB. The prior record of 126.4 dB at Kentucky's Rupp Arena which lasted less than three weeks also had many Kansas fans present as the Jayhawks beat the No. 4 Wildcats 79–73 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Arrowhead Stadium, which is only 42 miles away, owns the record for loudest outdoor stadium. Allen Fieldhouse is often considered one of the best home court advantages in men's college basketball. Despite the venue being open for almost 70 years, entering the 2023-24 season, Kansas men's team has only lost 117 games at Allen Fieldhouse and only 17 under head coach Bill Self. The Jayhawks entered the 2023-24 season with 352 consecutive sellouts dating back to the 2001–02 season. Twenty times since the venue opened, the Jayhawks have finished the season undefeated at home.