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This exhibit has been extended! On view July 8 - September 27, 2022 in partnership with the Leavenworth County Historical Society.

Step back in time and explore Leavenworth, the first city of Kansas, built on the edge of a new and exciting western frontier in 1854 when the Kansas Territory opened for settlement. With the arrival of steamboats and railroads, the population of the infant town exploded, becoming a launchpad of western expansion and an innovative, bustling American industry destination on the Missouri River.

On loan from the Leavenworth County Historical Society, this exhibit of historical photographs from the post-Civil War era reveals a notable segment of American history in surprising detail and reframes the rich legacy of Leavenworth in a new light.


Leavenworth County Historical Society logo

Building, Rectangle, Font, Tree

Picture frame, Black, Automotive design, Art

Automotive design, Art, Picture frame, Font

Building, Architecture, Font, Wall

Downtown Leavenworth, KS (1869) E.E. Henry photographer copyright Leavenworth County Historical Society

Sky, Window, Building, Cloud

Steamboat on the Missouri River (c1872) E.E. Henry photographer copyright Leavenworth County Historical Society

Water, Sky, Boat, Vehicle

First Electric Street Railway in Leavenworth, KS (1894) E.E. Henry photographer copyright Leavenworth County Historical Society

Train, Vehicle, Motor vehicle, Rolling stock

Exhibit organizers from Leavenworth County Historical Society

Smile, Social group, Eyewear, Fashion design

Black, Style, Picture frame, Art

Interior design, Flooring, Wood, Event

Vision care, Eyewear, Sleeve, Automotive design

Flower, Plant, Green, Table

Automotive design, Interior design, Building, Art

On loan from the Leavenworth County Historical Society, this exhibit of historical photographs from the post-Civil War era reveals a notable segment of American history in surprising detail and reframes the rich legacy of Leavenworth, Kansas in a new light. Visitors will discover photograph images of life on the edge of the western frontier, shortly after the Kansas Territory opened for settlement. 

Photographs revealing early Leavenworth history, include a passenger-packed steamboat, the city’s first electric street railway, and the pontoon bridge that crossed the Missouri River. Leavenworth’s rapid growth and significance in the era is remarkably revealed. For example, the show includes a family portrait of President Ulysses S. Grant on a visit to Leavenworth after leading the Union Army to victory in the Civil War.

“The Leavenworth County Historical Society holds a one-of-a-kind collection of images from the first century of Leavenworth. Considered by experts to be among the top historical photograph collections in the United States due to its size and place in time, the collection features over 30,000 negatives from the Everhard Glass Plate Negative Collection,” stated Mary Ann Sachse Brown, LCHS President. “A capital campaign was recently launched to ensure these National treasures will survive the next 100 years and become an aid to the ongoing study of remarkable events in history for Leavenworth.”

Leavenworth County Historical Society collection.

Leavenworth Centennial 1854-1954 Program, June 1954

 

The West: An American Experience, David R. Phillips, Chicago, Ill, 1973

Image Sources(Click to expand)

LCHS

The Box Gallery

The Box Gallery

The Box Gallery

Leavenworth County Historical Society

Leavenworth County Historical Society

Leavenworth County Historical Society

The Box Gallery

The Box Gallery

The Box Gallery

The Box Gallery

The Box Gallery

Photo by David Trowbridge