The Voights Building (1928)

This historic Overland Park structure was constructed in 1928 and replaced a two-story building that was constructed in 1912 by farmer and entrepreneur Emil Voights 1912. The building housed a retail store on the bottom floor and offices upstairs but was damaged by fire twice in the 1920s. After the upper floor was destroyed, the structure was rebuilt as a one-story building in 1928.

Hermann and Emelie Voights immigrated from Hanover, Germany, to the United States in 1866. They purchased a farm in rural Johnson County about three miles east of today’s downtown Overland Park at what would be today's 80th and State Line. They had a daughter, Louisa, and two sons, Emil and Herman, who would go on to farm in Johnson County for decades.

Emil Voights was a successful stock breeder and invested his money in various business ventures. He was an early investor in the Overland Park State Bank in 1909 and, in 1913, became one of its directors. In 1912, he purchased the lot at what is now the northwest corner of 80^th and Santa Fe and hired fellow German American architect and contractor Henry Azendorf to design and build a two-story brick building. The bottom floor held spots for two merchants. The second floor contained several small apartments and office spaces rented to local doctors as well as Azendorf’s architectural and contracting firm.

The Voights Building, as it became known, was struck by fire in 1923 and again in 1927. The second fire completely destroyed the Swarner Pharmacy and Whitfield Grocery Store on the ground level, as well as the offices and apartments upstairs. The current building, rebuilt from the remnants of the original as a one-story structure, dates to 1928. Over the years, the building has housed numerous Overland Park merchants and businesses. Today it is the home to the Santa Fe Gallery. The building was marked by the Overland Park Historical Society as a Notable Building in 2013. 

"A $50,000 Overland Park Fire ." Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) November 2nd, 1927. .1.

"E.E. Voights Building." Olathe Independent (Olathe, Ks.) April 14th, 1915. .7.

"Official Statement of the Financial Condition of the Overland Park State Bank." Olathe Register (Olathe, Ks.) June 19th, 1913. .8.

"Public Member Trees," database, Ancestry.com (accessed 1/28/2025), profile for Emil Voights (1874-1947, d. Johnson, Kansas), JCM Full Family Tree by Anne Jones. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/189816472/family?cfpid=242470074456

Blair, Edward. History of Johnson County, Kansas. Kessinger Publishing, 1915.