Notable Events:

• Founded (1854)
• Free-State Party formed (September 5-6, 1855)

Big Springs, the oldest township in Douglas County, had long served as a watering hole on the Oregon Trail by the time of its formal founding in 1854. In 1855, antislavery deligates gathered in Big Springs and formed the Free-State Party, but the town was soon eclipsed in importance by the nearby towns of Lawrence and Lecompton. Today, Big Springs remains an unincorporated rural community.