Muchnic. H.E., House and Art Gallery

The architect of the house built for George Howell was W.F. Wood. The building is irregular in plan over a full basement. Noteworthy features of this Queen Anne Revival style home are the round turret at one corner with a cone-shaped roof over a balcony, a wraparound porch, limestone trim. a protruding balcony on the south facade, and a slate roof. The interior is no less impressive, with 14 rooms, a ballroom connected to the turret balcony, servants' quarters, leaded stained glass windows and 11-foot-high ceilings. Since the home was built by a lumber merchant, the interior woodwork is beautiful and intricate. Oak, walnut and mahogany stockpiled by Howell for the home appear in the staircases, archways, wainscoting, bookcases and parquet floors. Eight faces are carved into ornate newel posts in the lower hall and are said to represent the Howell family. Other lavish touches are bronze fireplace trim and embossed leather paneling in the dining room, lower hall, and upper hall. When the house was finished, the local Atchison newspaper dubbed it the largest and finest residences in Kansas.

The Newcomb family bought the house around 1891 and made it their home for over a decade. Don Carlos Newcomb was a local dry goods dealer and operated Newcomb's department store until retiring in 1905. In 1900, he was 68 years old and shared the house on 4th Street with his wife, Anna E. (age 56); and a married daughter, Hattie M. Smith (32). Also living in the home were two sons of Hattie: Newcomb (5) and William A. (3). Hattie's husband, Harry A. Smith, was a West Point graduate and a Major in the 21st Regiment, Kansas Infantry, during the Spanish-American War. Also living in the Newcomb home in 1900 was a married son, George Edgar (30) who worked as a salesman; George's wife, Dorothy Newcomb (28); and their one daughter, Clara F. (1).

Portraits of the next owners of the home after 1922, the Muchnics, hang in the library. Harry E. Muchnic was born around 1880 in Russia to Austrian-born parents and immigrated to the U.S. in 1884. He was a 50-year-old who worked in the foundry industry in 1930. Harry's wife, Helen O (age 44), was a Kansas native. The couple's children, Billy H. (13) and Betty A. (10) shared the home in 1930, along with Helen's widowed father, William M. Quigley (79) and a widowed lodger, Elizabeth J. Clark (60). Quigley was a manager of a lumber estate and Mrs. Clark worked as a nurse in a private home (probably for Mr. Quigley).

The Muchnic family used to hold a New Year's Eve dance in the ballroom for over 200 guests with a live orchestra. A midnight buffet would be served in the dining room. The Muchnics added an elevator to the house to accommodate a family members physical condition. The property also has a separate outbuilding that served as the carriage house and is now the caretaker's cottage.

A bacon-loving ghost seems to haunt the house - people have reported smelling bacon and seeing a female figure on a spiral staircase in the back of the house, where a maid once fell to her death. Paranormal investigators have not been able to locate the hungry ghost. The house is a stop on the Haunted Atchison Trolley Tours, run by the local Chamber of Commerce each fall, but the spiral staircase is not included in the tour visits.

Atchison Art Association. The Muchnic Gallery, Atchison Art Association. Accessed July 17th 2020. https://www.atchisonart.org/muchnic-gallery-1.html.

Hall, Charles. Pankratz, Richard. NRHP Nomination of Muchnic, R.E., House. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1973.

Ingalls, Sheffield. History of Atchison County, Kansas. Lawrence, KS. Standard Publishing Company, 1916.

McIlrath, Sherri. 005-0260-00012 Muchnic, H.E., Residence, 704 N 4th St, Kansas Historic Resources Inventory. Accessed July 17th 2020. https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=005-0260-00012.

Stokes, Keith. Muchnic Art Gallery, Haunted Atchison Trolley Tours. January 1st 2017. Accessed July 17th 2020. http://www.kansastravel.org/muchnicgalley.htm.

US Census Bureau. Household of D.C. Newcomb, 704 4th St., Atchison, KS, Dwelling 146, Family 147. 2nd Ward, 3rd District. Washington, DC. US Government, 1900.

US Census Bureau. Household of Harry E. Muchnic, 704 N 4th St., Atchison, KS, Dwelling 377, Family 251. 2nd Ward. Washington, DC. US Government, 1930.