The Conser Building

The Conser Building at 7500 W. 80^th St. was built by Grant Conser in 1911 and is one of the oldest buildings in downtown Overland Park. Consor established a general store on the bottom level and rented out offices and an event space called Conser Hall on the second floor. The little building to the north was leased to Overland Park’s first barber shop. After Conser’s death in 1927, the building was sold and has served Overland Park in a variety of capacities over the years. Since 1975, it has been home to the Dragon Inn, one of Johnson County’s oldest restaurants. The Conser Building has been designated a Landmark Building by the Overland Park Landmark Commission. In addition to this building, Conser Street in Johnson County is named for Grant Conser. 

This downtown Overland Park building was constructed in 1911 by life-long Johnson County resident Grant Conser. Grant’s parents, John and Elizabeth, had purchased 50 acres along the Santa Fe Trail in what is today Downtown Overland Park in 1861 from its original Shawnee owner, Fred Chouteau. Here, the Consers farmed and raised their six children. When John Conser died sometime before 1895, his wife divided the land among the children, almost seven acres apiece. Most of them sold their land to William Strang, who began platting out his planned community of Overland Park in 1905. They each kept a portion on which to build homes in the new town.

Grant, born in 1869, was the oldest and had established a wood-framed blacksmith shop and general store at what is today 79^th and Metcalf in the 1890s. After Overland Park was founded, he physically moved his wooden store via wagon to a piece of land he owned at the northwest corner of what is today 80th and Foster. When that building burned in 1911, Grant built this two-story brick building in its place, known as the Conser Building. He and his son Albert reestablished his general store called G.C. Conser & Son on the bottom floor. The second floor held rented offices and an event space known as Conser Hall. He constructed the little building to the north as well and rented it out to Overland Park’s first barbershop.

The Conser Building was a fixture of early Overland Park. The Conser Hall was used for school graduations, concerts, dances, and political meetings. Area newspapers reported weekly on the events happening at Conser Hall. Conser ran several businesses out of this building, including Overland Park’s first telephone exchange and the Overland Coal, Feed, and Ice Co. The Ice was made with equipment on the property. He and his son also operated the Acme Garage down the street.

After Conser passed away in 1927, the building was sold to O.H. Kittle, who owned the Kittle Dry Goods store in the 1930s. The office spaces upstairs were regularly rented by Overland Park doctors and dentists.

In 1975, the Conser Building was purchased by To-Ping Tsui, who had immigrated with his wife and children to the United States from China in 1972. Tsui and his family established the Dragon Inn, which has remained an iconic restaurant in downtown Overland Park for over 50 years. To-Ping’s daughter Theresa, who grew up working at the Dragon Inn, followed in her father’s footsteps and opened the popular local restaurant chain Bo Lings.

"A contented woman is Mrs. E. Conser." Olathe News (Olathe, Ks.) July 13th, 1922. .7.

"Doings at Overland." Olathe News (Olathe, Ks.) October 27th, 1910. .1.

"Growing Fast." Olathe News (Olathe, Ks.) December 1st, 1910. .1.

"Trip to Overland." Olathe News (Olathe, Ks.) April 20th, 1911. .1.

"G.C. Conser Building." Olathe Independent (Olathe, Ks.) April 14th, 1915. .7.

"G.C. Conser and Son." Olathe Independent (Olathe, Ks.) March 24th, 1915. .5.

"Combo Chinese restaurant, furniture shop opens in Leawood." Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) May 19th, 2023. .6.

"To Ping Tsui." Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) April 12th, 2020. .22.

Tribute to To-Ping Tsui, Bolings.com. April 7th, 2020. Accessed January 25th, 2025. https://www.bolings.com/tribute-to-to-ping-tsui/.

Conser Store & Hall, Historical Marker Database. September 1st, 2013. Accessed January 25th, 2025. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=69339.

Conser Building, Jocohistory.org. Accessed January 25th, 2025. https://jocohistory.org/digital/collection/jcm/id/320/rec/3.

Conser Building, PendergastKC.org. Accessed January 25th, 2025. https://pendergastkc.org/local-subjects/conser-building.