Lawrence Mass Street Walking Tour - Clio

Entries on This Tour

1. Former Site of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe (Sacred Red Rock/Formerly Founder's Rock)

Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe, the Sacred Red Rock, has tremendous significance to the Kanza (Kaw), a Native American tribe with ancestral lands located in what is now known as eastern Kansas. In the 1920s, white residents of Topeka decided that they wanted the stone removed from its location at the junction of the Shunganunga Creek and Kansas River and placed near the state capital. Not to be outdone, businessmen in Lawrence decided to steal the boulder and place it in their city. And so, in the middle of the night, a sacred natural cultural item became the property of the city of Lawrence and was renamed "Founder's Rock." Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe remained in Lawrence until August of 2023, when it was returned to the Kaw.

2. Free State Brewery

Free State brewery ended 100 years in Kansas without a legal brewery when they opened in 1989. Their headquarters at 636 Massachusetts Street has become a favorite for locals and visitors alike along Lawrence's main street looking for good beer and food. The Free State Brewery building is immediately north of the boundary of the National Register-listed Lawrence's Downtown Historic District, listed in 2004. Where the brewery building now stands used to be a wood frame structure housing the railroad car shed of the Kaw Valley Interurban Railway in the early twentieth century.

3. Liberty Hall

Constructed in 1912 to replace the previous Liberty Hall that burned down the previous year, this historic theater hosts live performances and film screenings. One of the cornerstones of Downtown Lawrence's Historic District, Liberty Hall stands at the site where Kansas Territory's first abolitionist newspaper, The Herald of Freedom, was published. That building was burned to the ground in 1856 by Samuel Jones, the pro-slavery Douglas County Sheriff, during the Sack of Lawrence. The newspaper office was replaced that same year by Samuel Edwin Poole. Poole's building also housed the city post office and business that sold sewing machines, pianos, and organs. A new owner renovated the building and added a third floor in the 1880s to create the Bowersock's Opera House. The current Liberty Hall building was constructed after a fire in 1911 destroyed the opera house. Liberty Hall was renovated in the 1980s and hosts many live performances.

4. The Sack of Lawrence, May 21, 1856

In order to understand why the city of Lawrence was sacked by pro-slavery parties in 1856, it is important to understand the political and historical background of the city. It is said that Lawrence is the only city that was founded for political reasons. According to the idea of “popular sovereignty”, which is essentially the concept that the government is ruled by and according to the consent and desires of its people, settlers were given the choice of whether to make their state a slave or a free state. Abolitionists from New England moved to the area and established Lawrence in an effort to ensure the territory would become anti-slavery.

5. Eldridge Hotel, Former Site of the Free State Hotel

The Eldridge Hotel stands on the site of the former Free State Hotel. One of the first buildings in Lawrence, the Free State Hotel was built in 1855 and the hotel's name reflected the politics of its founders during the time period known as Bleeding Kansas. The original hotel was set on fire in 1856 by pro-slavery Sheriff Sam Jones and his men during their attack on Lawrence. A new four-story hotel was rebuilt in 1857. Colonel Shalor Eldridge, the hotel's owner and avowed Free Stater, vowed that every time the structure was destroyed he would "rebuild and add a story to it." On August 21, 1863, Quantrill's men raided Lawrence. They targeted the hotel because it was considered the seat of free-state activity. The Provost Marshall of Kansas, Alexander R.Banks, displayed a white sheet outside his window, declaring sanctuary for those inside the hotel. Quantrill's raiders burned the hotel but did not kill the occupants. Col. Eldridge immediately started rebuilding but was unable to keep his promise to add a story. The resulting three-story hotel lasted until 1924 when it was demolished to make way for the present five-story hotel built by then-owner W. G. Hutson. Each August 21, the anniversary of the raid, a white sheet is displayed from a window.

6. The House Building and Miller Block

Constructed by Josiah Miller from 1858 to 1860, the House Building was located in the center of Lawrence in the territorial period. Miller acquired town lot 35 and built this commercial structure on Massachusetts Street. A leader in the effort to attract settlers to the Kansas Territory, Miller was one of five Lawrence men who petitioned the government for protection following the 1856 Sack of Lawrence. Miller also became the postmaster and built this three-story structure as part of the effort to bring commerce to the Central Plains. In 1860, Miller added an identical structure on the north half of the lot, creating a 50-foot-wide frontage known as the "Miller Block." The southern half of the building was leased to Jacob House for his gentlemen's clothing store in 1862. When Lawrence was again attacked by proslavery men in 1863, House was in the structure and Quantrill's Raiders forced him at gunpoint to serve as a local guide. Miller later leased the north half to Joseph Wharton who set up a dry goods and groceries store. Jacob House's daughter-in-law remodeled the building into a two-story structure with office space above in the early 1920s. The building has housed many businesses and upstairs offices over the years and was listed for sale in 2019.

7. Clyde Barrows Stop at the First National Bank of Lawrence

The building at 746 Massaschutes Street is one of the best-hidden gems in Lawrence, Kansas. The location has been housed numerous things such as national. banks, Kansas film schools, restaurants, and has even been home to a famous American robbery. The robbery started Clyde Barrow of the Bonnie and Clyde gangs robbing career.

8. Ridenour & Baker Store (Bartelds Seed Company)

This historic Lawrence structure was one of the first to be rebuilt following Quantrill's Raid in 1863 and was home to the Ridenour & Baker grocery store between 1858 and 1888. The building was later home to the Bartelds Seed Company and has been home to Sunflower Outdoor and Bike for the past fifty years. Friedo Barteldes came to Lawrence in 1860 from Germany and opened a bakery that later transitioned into a seed house, serving the community for 100 years.

9. 921 Massachusetts Street

As one of the first buildings on Mass Street, 921 has been occupied by over 15 different businesses over the last 153 years. From a meat market to a music school, a shoe store, and even a drugstore. Currently, the building is known as Rally House Kansas Sampler which is a retail store that sells officially licensed sports teams and collegiate apparel and gifts. From the outside, this building looks like any normal retail store, but throughout the duration of this building's history, and the several businesses that have occupied this building, it has facilitated historical events that have impacted the development of the community of Lawrence. In the 1960s this building would become the hub for all political conversation from topics like age, race, gender. It became a safe space for the local college student to discuss social and political movements and as a result of the conversations and interactions within this building, the community of Lawrence now has things like the Lawrence Fair Housing Ordinance, the Lawrence Public Pool, and just in general a sense of a very politically progressive and inclusive community.

10. Watkins Museum of History

Lawrence's Watkins Museum of History is the headquarters of the Douglas County Historical Society and offers several floors of exhibits that interpret the history of Lawrence and Douglas County history Bleeding Kansas through the Civil Rights Era and the connection between Lawrence and the University of Kansas. Admission is free and the museum offers regular thematic exhibits on topics ranging from business and economic history, KU athletics, civil rights, women's history, and military history. The second-floor gallery exhibits provide an introduction to how the creation of Lawrence and Kansas helped precipitate the Civil War and the cause and effects of William Clarke Quantrill's infamous raid on the city on August 21, 1863.

11. J.E. Stubbs Building (19099); Mass Street Soda and Sylas & Maddy's Ice Cream

Located in Lawrence's J.E. Stubbs Building, Mass Street Soda is at the site of a former drugstore that offered a soda counter in the early 1900s. Today, the building is the site of a business offering one thousand varieties of craft soda from around the world. The business occupies part of the ground floor of a historic commercial block type building at the corner of 11th Street and Massachusetts Street, opposite the Douglas County Courthouse. The J.E. Stubbs Building was constructed in 1909 and is a contributing part of the National Register-listed Lawrence's Downtown Historic District, listed in 2004.

12. Douglas County Courthouse

Douglas County was established on May 15, 1854, and was named after Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Those familiar with the history of the late antebellum period may find this somewhat ironic given Douglas's willingness to appease the South, a point of view that ran contrary to the growing Free Soil orientation of Lawrence settlers. While Topeka became home to the Free State legislature, Lawrence was home to many of the leading opponents of slavery's extension in the years leading up to the Civil War. Unlike most counties, Douglas County did not have an official courthouse and its county officers met in rented spaces until city officials and boosters decided that Lawrence needed a dignified courthouse. Completed in 1905, this courthouse was funded through a real estate tax.

South Park originally served as a public area for residents to grow crops and graze livestock. This green space later became a staging site for the infamous "Quantrill's Raid" on August 21, 1863. The raid became a defining point in Lawrence's history. At dawn on August 21, 1863, Quantrill and his raiders rode northwest through the outskirts of Lawrence and South Park toward their objective of the downtown business district. About four hours later, having completed their mission and wary of approaching Union troops, the raiders regathered just east of the park with their plunder and rode southward out of town.

14. The Castle - John N. Roberts House

The building known by many as "The Castle" was built as a home for John N. Roberts in 1894, a successful merchant, on Massachusetts Street. The Romanesque style building does resemble a castle, with its stone turret and massive presence. The John R. Roberts House was added to the National Register in 1974 for its significance in architecture. By that date, it housed a restaurant and a single dwelling. The location of the Castle Tea Room since the 1930s, the restaurant has reopened after extensive renovations as a special events venue with a new patio and an exterior kitchen. Offices on the second floor of the building were recently leased to the local United Way. A tenant for first-floor offices is being sought. The building is owned by a non-profit foundation established by the late longtime owner and restauranteur of the Tea Room around 2004. A plaque in front of the building details its history.

15. Edward House Residence

The Queen Anne style house at 1646 Massachusetts Street is named for Edward House. The wood frame house on a limestone foundation was constructed in 1894. The House home was listed on the National register in 2007 as an example of its Late Victorian architectural style in the Free Classic subtype. The house was located south of the original boundaries of the town of Lawrence, within Babcock's Enlarged Addition. The nominated structures include an associated garage dating to the 1920s, a cistern, and a below-ground root cellar. A number of prominent members of the community have resided in the home, including bankers and a Kansas University football coach.

16. Eugene F. Goodrich House

The Eugene F. Goodrich House is in a neighborhood in the south section of Massachusetts Street, a few blocks east of Kansas University. The Queen Anne-style wood frame house rests on a limestone foundation and has a gable-on-hip roof. The 2-1/2 story structure was built to be a single family residence in 1890 for the new postmaster; the architect is unknown. The building was listed in the National Register in 2001; at that time, it was a commercial structure housing the offices of Psych Solutions. It now contains the offices of Psychological Resources Inc., a firm that specializes in providing psychological testing of applicants for public safety positions.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Lawrence Mass Street Walking Tour

Created by David J. Trowbridge on June 12th 2020, 2:49:47 pm.

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Description

This tour of Lawrence's famed Massachusetts Street ("Mass Street" to the locals) starts at the former site of a sacred piece of Native American history and then moves south through the downtown historic district to the city's premiere park and several historic homes. The tour is full of 19th and 20th-century commercial buildings, with highlights that include a historic hotel and other landmarks connected to Quantrill's Raid. The tour also includes Watkins Community Museum, historical markers, and two of the region's leading breweries. The tour concludes in the Victorian-era suburbs in the 1700s block of Massachusetts Street. There are dozens of historical landmarks on Clio for adjacent streets along with several other walking tours including one centered on the history of Quantrill's Raid and another that offers an interpretive walk through the heart of the KU campus.

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