Driving Tour of Emporia, Kansas

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Established by faculty and alumni of Emporia State University in 1989, the National Teacher's Hall of Fame honors outstanding educators and operates a small museum and resource center within the Teacher's College at Emporia State University. The museum includes classroom dioramas and artifacts related to one room schoolhouses and artifacts such as antique textbooks that demonstrate how teaching has changed over time. Visitors to the Hall of Fame can also tour a one-room schoolhouse on the Emporia State campus.

2. Plumb Hall, Emporia State University

Plumb Hall, at the north edge of Kellogg Circle, was constructed from 1916 to 1917 at what was then called Emporia Normal School to replace the older administration building. Plumb Hall was named for Preston B. Plumb, an early settler of Emporia, a Civil War veteran, president of Emporia National Bank, and a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1877 to 1891. Plumb Hall currently contains the Financial Aid and Accounts offices of Emporia State University as well as the graduate school and an auditorium, Albert Taylor Hall. Marketing and Media Services, and Distance Education offices are located in Plumb Hall, as are Registration and the Student Advising Center.

3. Red Rocks-Home of William Allen White

Red Rocks was the home of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and Presidential advisor William Allen White between 1899 and his death in 1944. Given White's influence, he hosted five United States Presidents and influential Americans such as Jane Addams and Frank Lloyd Wright at this historic home.

4. Historic Granada Theatre

Constructed in 1929, this theater was once one of the largest in the state. From its grand opening in the final boom years of the 1920s to the lean years of the Great Depression and the postwar boom, the theater hosted many of the leading cultural events in the city and hosted famous entertainers from all over the world. This Spanish Colonial Revival style theater faced years of decline in the 1960s and 1970s as residents patronized other theaters and event venues. The theater closed in 1982 and might have been demolished a decade later, but thanks to the efforts of local citizens, it has been restored and once again hosts local and national acts.

5. Lyon County Historical Center

Founded in 1937, this historical society and museum works to preserve and make available nearly a quarter-million photographs, artifacts, manuscripts, diaries, and other items related to the history of Emporia, Lyon County, and eastern Kansas. For many years, the museum was located in this historic Carnegie Library (constructed in 1904 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places). As part of the effort to breathe new life into the downtown area, the History Center is now located in a former department store.

6. Kress Building

The Kress Building was constructed in 1929 and was designed by architect George E. Mackey. The building was part of a company of five and dime stores established by Samuel Henry Kress in 1896 as S. H. Kress & Co. The brand grew to over 200 stores and became part of McCrory Stores in 1981. The parent company went out of business in 2001. Nine other Kansas towns have Kress buildings standing; the Emporia and Wichita buildings are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Kress Building is part of the Emporia Downtown Historic District. The historic district map is below. Amanda's Bakery and Cafe on the ground floor of the Kress Building has been serving up tasty treats for years.

7. Moore's Block and Emporia Downtown Historic District

Dr. John Allen Moore moved to Emporia in 1860 and opened a physician's office. He added a drugstore in 1866 and owned the building housing the office and drugstore. Later, Dr. Moore owned the building at 324 N. Commercial Street, also known as Moore's Block. Not-so-healthy businesses leased space in Moore's Block in the 1880s: a cigar factory and a saloon. Over the years, the building has housed a billiards hall, rooms for boarders, a wholesale fruit and produce warehouse and a furniture store. The two-story, Italianate style brick building contributes to the downtown Historic District, listed on the Kansas and National registers. Moore's Block was covered in stucco in the twentieth century and is currently vacant.

8. Preston and Carrie Plumb House

The core of the historic home standing at 224 East Sixth Avenue is an earlier house built in the 1870s. The house was home to United States Seantor Preston B. Plumb and his wife, Carrie, beginning in 1880. After Senator Plumb died unexpectedly in late 1891, his widow remained in the Italianate style home with a tower and a French mansard roof. In the mid-1890s, Carrie Plumb had major additions and remodeling done on the home and dedicated the Neoclassical style building as a memorial to her late husband. Carrie's heirs donated the house to the National Young Women's Christian Association. The house was listed in the National Register in 1984.

9. Cross House

The Cross House at the corner of Union Street and Sixth Avenue, is in the midst of an ambitious renovation project by its new owner since 2014 to take the house back to its original state from 1894. Ross MacTaggart uses old photos and evidence from buried layers of the house itself to bring back older finishes and replicate missing elements like one of the roof finials. The Cross House was designed by a local architect, Charles W. Squires, who contributed designs for thousands of Kansas buildings over decades of work. The Cross House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. It is significant for its association with several people and a fraternity, and for its Victorian Queen Anne architectural style.

10. Charles W. Squires House

Charles W. Squires was an architect who contributed his talents to designing scores of buildings in town and thousands in Kansas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Squires designed the house at 613 Exchange Street in 1895 for himself and his wife, Susan Howey. Squires was fond of adding quirky details to his houses, such as shingles that curved toward a window instead of laying flat like normal cladding. The architect lived in the home until his death in 1934. The home was been carved up into rental apartments and was up for sale in early 2020.

11. Richard Howe House & Farmstead

Operated by the Lyon County Historical Society as a house museum, this home is one of the oldest in Emporia. The home was built in 1867 by Richard Howe, a Welsh immigrant. Howe was also a skilled stone mason, as demonstrated by the structural integrity of the home which has changed little since its completion. Visitors to the home can see why the home was so sturdy with its solid beams and 18-inch limestone foundation. Visitors can also see antique furnishings from the 19th century and learn how some of the earliest settlers to the region lived their lives through exhibits and guided tours.

12. The All Veterans Memorial

The All Veteran's Memorial is in Emporia, Kansas, which happens to be the city that founded Veteran's Day. Emporia celebrates Veteran's Day extensively, including a parade and banners of veterans lining the main street in the town; the main street then leads directly into the All Veteran's Memorial which displays a helicopter, tank, and several plaques with the names of Emporia's Veterans. However, the commemorations within the memorial are constantly shifting due to ideas constantly being brought forth by members of the community.

This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.

Driving Tour of Emporia, Kansas

Created by David J. Trowbridge on July 6th 2020, 8:07:08 pm.

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Description

This drive through the heart of Emporia begins on the campus of Emporia State University and winds its way south with stops and historic homes that belonged to influential journalists such as William Allen White. The tour also includes the home of Preston Plumb, one of the most influential 19th century political leaders in Kansas and a man who intervened to prevent segregation of the city's schools at the same time that the practice took hold in Topeka, Wichita, and numerous other Kansas communities. Highlights of the tour include the Lyon County Historical Center and the Granada Theatre. The tour concludes at Soden's Grove, home of the All Veterans Memorial--an appropriate end to the tour as Emporia is the home of Veteran's Day. .

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Driving Tour of Emporia, Kansas

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