After years of hard work by volunteers, the Quindaro townsite in Kansas City, Kansas has been designated a national commemorative site.
The ruins that sit on a bluff overseeing the Kansas River were once a stop on the Underground Railroad, which assisted runaway slaves from Missouri. Being named a national commemorative site is a step toward designation as a national landmark or national monument.
Sen. Pat Roberts addressed the people who volunteered their time to achieve recognition for the site.
"You would think it'd be a difficult one," Roberts said. "Actually, it went just very smoothly, and that's because of you."
"It's so important that we take the site's history to the next generation of American citizens," said Marvin Robinson, a key volunteer.
Former U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder also spoke at Tuesday's unveiling."In a world in which everything is so negative and so divided, this is the type of thing that brings our country together," Yoder said.
Roberts said the site is an outstanding example of the rainbow of America that will work.
Volunteers have more plans for the site of the Quindaro ruins, beyond national landmark designation.
"We want to make this an urban archeological laboratory," Robinson said.
