History of Downtown Leavenworth Driving Tour

Entries on This Tour

Built in 1857 by one of the city of Leavenworth's earlier residents, the Carroll Mansion started out as a simple four-room farmhouse owned by John Foster. When he and his family left town for Nebraska, the home eventually ended up in the hands of local wealthy businessman Lucien Scott. It was Scott who worked with carpenter George McKenna to renovate the home into the sixteen-room Queen Anne Victorian mansion that it is today. After this, it was sold to the family of Edward Carroll, whose child Ella donated it to the Leavenworth County Historical Society after living there for more than seventy years. Today, visitors can see this elaborate late nineteenth-century home and its elaborate woodwork, stained glass windows, and authentic decorations.

2. A.J. Angell House

Completed in 1885, the A.J. Angell House a two-and-one-half story brick mansion with a basement constructed in the Queen Anne style. A wing attached to the west facade served as a servants' quarters and kitchen. The owner, a native New Yorker with a successful lumber business in Leavenworth, died soon after the house was finished. Widow Mary J. Angell and her three daughters continued to live in the mansion with her new husband Amos Fenn and a stepsister. Amos and Mary J. both died in 1913. Angell descendants owned and occupied the house until 1975. The Angell House and its carriage house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a fine example of Victorian architecture.

3. Fred Harvey House and Museum

In an era when travelers had few dining options beyond railroad depots that offered notoriously bad and overpriced fare, Fred Harvey created a restaurant that served travelers quickly and efficiently. Harvey's methods were soon repeated at depots along the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad--effectively creating the first restaurant chain in America. The Harvey House restaurants helped to convince travelers to choose the ATSF rail line above others, and also provided viable employment for many cooks and servers, known affectionately at that time as "Harvey Girls." This stately rim rock building was constructed in 1869 and was purchased by Fred Harvey in 1883. The home stayed in the family until 1944 when Harvey's heirs donated the property to Cushing Hospital for use as a dormitory for its nursing school. City leaders and preservationists are working to restore the residence and build museum exhibits. Local volunteers are available to offer private tours of the building and share their progress as well as their vision for the museum's future.

4. Leavenworth Public Library/ Carnegie 601

The building at 601 S 5th Street was constructed as a public library in 1901 to 1902 as a Carnegie Library. The two-and-a-half-story, Beaux Arts structure has a projecting central entrance bay with a two-story portico above a double-door entry. Fanciness abounds above the paired Ionic columns, with relief sculpture ornamentation, a molded cornice, and a terra cotta ornament at the pediment peak. The public library has moved to 417 Spruce Street and the S 5th Street building was renovated and converted into eleven apartments. The building now houses studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments and was renamed Carnegie 601. The ribbon-cutting was held in March of 2017.

5. C. W. Parker Carousel Museum

Opened in 2005 and operated by the Leavenworth Historical Museum Association, this unique museum shares the history of carousels including artifacts and intact carousels from renowned Kansas designer Charles Wallace Parker. Growing up in Abilene, Kansas, Charles Wallace Parker became fascinated with amusement devices, starting with the purchase of a portable shooting gallery. Using earnings from working as a janitor, Parker soon created his own designs, beginning a career that would make him well-known as the "amusement king." He built his first carousel not long after. He founded the Parker Carnival Supply Company, becoming known for his unique designs that were meant to be portable, making them especially well-suited to county fairs. At the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum, visitors can see carousels like Parker's 1913 Carry-Us-All and some of the instruments that would have played alongside his carousels, including cylinder pianos and band organs.

6. Riverfront Community Center/Union Depot Station

Built in the Richardsonian-Romanesque style, construction on the Union Depot Station began in 1886 and continued until completion in January of 1888, although the station did not open for use until November of that year due to disputes on apportionment of funds between the participating railroads. The architectural style is especially noteworthy as the project began in very close proximity to the death of the great American architect Henry Hobbs Richardson, whose work was widely influential following his death, making the station an excellent example of an important style of the time period. The main champion of the project was the Union Pacific Railroad line but others like the Missouri Pacific, Santa Fe, and the Chicago & Rock Island line were also involved. The building served its original purpose as a train station until 1963, at which time it was purchased by V.B. Greenamyre and used mainly as office and warehouse space for Besel’s Heating and Air. It was added to the national register of historic places in 1982, and converted to its current form, a community center, 1988.

7. Planters Hotel Historical Marker

The Planters Hotel opened for business in December of 1856 within a four-story brick building that offered a hundred rooms to travelers. The hotel was the site of numerous proslavery gatherings giving Leavenworth's proximity to Missouri and political leanings during the Bleeding Kansas era, but it is also worth noting that Abraham Lincoln gave a speech on the steps of the hotel. The Planters Hotel was one of Leavenworth's leading historical landmarks until the 1950s when the structure was declared unfit for occupancy and demolished.

8. Ketcheson House and North Esplanade Historic District

The house at 309 N. Esplanade Street is one of fourteen houses that contribute to the North Esplanade Historic District, listed in the National Register in 1977. The district runs from 203 to 515 North Esplanade, on the west side of a street facing east toward a narrow strip of parkland, Esplanade Park, and the Missouri River beyond the bluff. Most of the contributing houses were built in the 1860s to 1880s. John C. Ketcheson, a printer, bought three lots in 1877 and had this house built in 1882. The two-story, frame, Queen Anne Victorian house features an octagonal three-story tower on the front and a rounded veranda.

9. Leanna Giles House

The Leanna Giles House may be one of the oldest houses remaining in Leavenworth and is thought to have been built in 1860. Near the northwest corner of Pottawatomie and 2nd streets, the house is a two-story, gable front frame dwelling. The house was named for Leanna Giles, a long-time owner and tenant of the home in the twentieth century. The simple architectural style, National folk, was common in the era, especially for working-class families. The home is still owned by the Giles family and was listed in the Register of Historic Kansas Places in 2017. It is significant to the history of residential development as one of the few houses of its age and style left in Leavenworth.

10. Richard Allen Cultural Center & Museum

Named for the founder of the United States' first African Methodist Episcopal Church and housed in the former home of World War I Buffalo Soldier Captain William Bly, the Richard Allen Cultural Center (RACC) opened in 1992 to highlight the African-American history of Leavenworth. It is located across the street from the Bethel A.M.E. Church, an important piece of the local Underground Railroad. The home is decorated to look as it would have around the turn of the century, and an addition to the front of the home added in 2002 displays more artifacts of early African-American history in Kansas. In addition to this look into early Leavenworth history, the cultural center also provides local services, including tutoring for children provided by ROCKS, a professional development organization that supports the advancement of African-American members of the military.

11. Merritt H. Insley House

The original portion of the Merritt H. Insley House was constructed in 1860 and is now the two-story rear wing of the house. The house originally was ell shaped and faced east. From 1865 to 1866, a two-story, brick Italianate cube was added to the south of the ell; the house then faced south. One more building episode took place in 1883, when a one-and-a-half story, five-sided bay was added to the west of the cube, containing a staircase. The Insley House was listed in the Kansas and National Registers in 1986. The house is significant because of its owner, Merritt Hitt Insley (1830-1909), and for its architectural style. Insley was a local entrepreneur and financier and was active in Leavenworth's business community from the 1850s to 1890s.

12. Remains of Leavenworth's Urban Tunnels

Below the foundation of this small candle shop in Leavenworth, one finds one of the few remains of a tunnel that dates back to the founding of Leavenworth. While most of the other tunnels of that town-building era have been filled in by subsequent construction, this tunnel over a building that dates back to a saloon that opened in 1858 includes decades of discarded items from mannequins and shop signs to ordinary refuse. Theories of this tunnel's connection to the Underground Railroad remain in the historical imagination even if the actual operations to aid enslaved persons were less dependent on extensive urban infrastructure.

13. Hollywood Theater

Leavenworth's Hollywood Theater exemplified the Art Deco style with its vertical square columns and geometric designs on the front facade, above the marquee. The two-and-a-half story concrete building was constructed in 1937 and 1938 on the corner of Delaware and S 5th streets. Hollywood Theater was listed in the Register of Kansas Historic Places in 1984 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The City of Leavenworth owns the building, which currently shows movies and hosts a local theatrical group's live performances in the building now known as the Leavenworth Performing Arts Center.

14. AXA Building

The AXA Building is a commercial structure on the corner of Delaware and S 5th streets that was built in 1905 and designed by William P. Feth. The building's original owner was Charles Espenscheid, a miller from St. Louis. The ornamental building is two-and-a-half stories tall of red brick with contrasting tan brick trim. The main facade faces west onto S 5th Street and the building is divided into two identical wings connected by an arched entryway. The AXA Building was listed individually on the National Register of Historic Place in 1972 and is a contributing building in the Leavenworth Downtown Historic District which was added to the National Register in 2002.

15. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Depot

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (AT&SF) Railway Depot is a cross-shaped stone building dating to about 1887 on the south side of Shawnee Street. The architect or builder was Perkins and Adams. The Romanesque Revival style building is one-and-a-half stories composed of random coursed, rusticated, dark pink limestone and stands east of the abandoned railroad tracks. The passenger and freight trains haven't stopped at the depot since the 1980s. The depot has been converted into the Depot Diner, open every day for breakfast and lunch, since 2015. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

History of Downtown Leavenworth Driving Tour

Created by Laurie Paonessa on August 5th 2020, 1:03:02 am.

Get a QR Code for this tour

Description

This drive through Leavenworth, Kansas, includes several museums along with historic homes and downtown businesses. The homes include the home of railroad and restaurant innovator Fred Harvey, whose home has been converted into a museum. The tour includes a historic public library building, several downtown commercial buildings including a historic theater, historical markers, and an iconic railroad depot.

Entries on This Tour

History of Downtown Leavenworth Driving Tour

Description

Share