Vinland, Kansas

Vinland is a small farming community near Baldwin City, Kansas. It is in Douglas County, Kansas, south of Lawrence, Kansas.

It has beautiful rolling grassy hills and large maple trees. The topsoil is excellent for a wide variety of crops, including corn, wheat, milo, alfalfa. Many dairy farms are also in the area.

The first settlers came in 1854 or 1855; they were mostly abolitionists spurred on by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Renowned freedom-fighter Silas Soule was among them. Like much of eastern Kansas, Vinland struggled in the Bleeding Kansas period to keep the land free from slavery, and at least one man was killed in various skirmishes, including the Battle of Black Jack in June, 1856. People in Vinland call this the "first battle of the American Civil War."

Today, Vinland has an airfield, mostly used by crop duster planes, a small schoolhouse, and Coal Creek Library, the oldest library in the state. Each year since 1874 Vinland has hosted a country fair, attracting thousands of visitors.