Lenexa Historical Society Complex

Legler Barn Museum is the main structure on the Lenexa Historical Society Complex. The barn was built in the 1860s out of native limestone by Adam Legler, a Swiss immigrant to Kansas. It was originally located at 95th and Quivira Streets, adjacent to the Santa Fe Trail. The barn was dismantled in 1972 and held in storage at a quarry. It was reconstructed and slightly enlarged at its current location in Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in 1982-83. [1] The museum contains two gallery spaces detailing the history of Lenexa from the first Native Americans to the Santa Fe Trail to agriculture. There are also displays about notable residents and themed temporary exhibits. The building is also the home to the Legler Barn Quilters, a group that has been regularly gathering since 1987 to demonstrate hand quilting. [2] The museum also has a prairie schooner Conestoga wagon which is brought out for special events. It is outfitted with supplies and tools that would have been used by pioneers making their way across the plains.

The Frisco Train Depot was originally located near the corner of modern-day Pflumm Road and Santa Fe Trail Drive in Old Town Lenexa. A depot had existed at that location since the late 1870s, and the current building was the third depot built after fire destroyed the first two. It was constructed in 1912-1913, and restored in 1988. [3] The depot today houses a museum about early modes of transportation. Outside the depot, on a partial set of train tracks, is a Northern Pacific/Burlington Northern caboose car.

The Wiedenmann Strang Line Wait Station was originally located in the Morrison Ridge neighborhood. The Missouri & Kansas Interurban Railroad was more commonly known as “The Strang Line”, after William Strang who had developed it. (Strang was also the founder of Overland Park.) The Strang Line operated from downtown Kansas City to the Johnson County metro area, stopping at Rosedale, Shawnee, Overland Park, and Lenexa, and terminating at Olathe. The commuter line ran parallel to the old Santa Fe Trail and connected suburbanites to jobs and shopping in the city. It operated electric trolleys from 1906 to July 1940, when it could no longer compete with automobiles and a new highway system. [4]

The complex is maintained by the City of Lenexa and operated with the help of the Lenexa Historical Society. Volunteers from the historical society conduct guided tours of the sites, assist researchers with access to archival material, develop public programs, and design and create museum exhibits. [1] Local Boy Scout troops constructed a replica sod house and also donated almost 250 hours to making improvements to the Herb Garden with a new pergola in 2009. A dedicated set of volunteers weeds, waters, and maintains the garden weekly.

1.      “Legler Barn.” Lenexa Historical Society Official Website. Accessed December 3, 2019. https://lenexahistoricalsociety.org/legler-barn/.

2.      Stokes, Keith. “Legler Barn Museum.” Kansas Travel Blog. Copyright 2007-2014. Accessed December 3, 2019.  http://www.kansastravel.org/lenexa/leglerbarnmusem.htm.

3.      Wood, Toni and Jilian Mincer. Wow!: Where Families Can Find Awe & Wonder in and Around Kansas City. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City Star Books, 2000. Accessed December 3, 2019. https://books.google.com/books?id=hMI1t9CbFAkC&dq.

4.      “Strang Line Interurban Railroad.” The City of Westwood, Kansas Website. Accessed December 3, 2019. https://www.westwoodks.org/index.asp?SEC=B720C158-D4BB-48BB-9B95-BAC760271F79&DE=3B04A948-5DC9-41AE-8820-40FBE06A1144.