Website

According to the Site-Seeing in Old Westport written by the Westport Historical Society, traffic had become so heavy within the area of the library's location. Due to the traffic, a horsecar rail line was installed between Kansas City and Westport. In order to afford the line, a tax was levied on the citizens of Westport. 

With the money left over after the line was put in, the Allen Library was built. The library is named after Judge Arthur M. Allen. Judge Allen had been a large force in the construction of the horsecar rail line.  

Allen Library, Westport

Admin

Explore the famed Kansas City neighborhood of Westport with this short walking tour that includes several museums in addition to historic buildings and landmarks. For those who are inclined, this walking tour includes several historic buildings that are now home to taverns, offering the potential of a rather "spirited" tour of Kansas City history. 

This historic congregation dates back to 1836 when Methodists began work to organize a church in Westport. Reverend James Porter organized and led the congregation in its early years, and in 1853, the congregation dedicated this church on Christmas Day. Before the church was built, the Methodists in Westport went to church in the house of William Miles Clark. The structure has been renovated, modernized, and expanded, but the core structure of the building has changed little and retains its historic appeal. As part of that history, it was here where students and teachers of what would grow to become the Allen School and Westport High School first met. 



Westport Methodist Church, Kansas City

To mark the 1912 centennial of the Santa Fe Trail, a group
of Westport businessmen formed the Westport Improvement Association. The
Improvement Association sought to install a monument to that trail in Westport,
Missouri. The men worked with the Kansas City Historical Society, the Daughters
of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the Confederacy, other
genealogical organizations, and the National Old Trails Road Association to raise
money for a Pioneer Monument Fund. Together these voluntary organizations hosted
a Santa Fe Trail and Battle of Westport Reunion and Carnival. They envisioned a
life-sized stone sculpture including five yoke of oxen and a “prairie schooner with
wagon-master and bull-whackers and the faithful dog in the rear.”1 They planned to install it at the site of the City Hall of Westport,
which stood on the Santa Fe Trail route.

Plans for a stone sculpture depicting commercial traffic
over the Santa Fe Trail soon faded. But while the other organizations involved
in the centennial event soon turned toward other projects, the Daughters of Old
Westport were determined to erect a pioneer monument in their community. &nbsp;

The Daughters of Old Westport was a group of neighborhood
women descended from the earliest settlers of the town. They ran a doll booth
to raise money for a carnival at the Westport reunion. Their $181 in profit became
the start of an eight-year fundraising campaign. 

Instead of a life-sized stone sculpture, the Daughters of
Old Westport settled on a more modest design. It was&nbsp;similar to those erected by the
Daughters of the American Revolution in this era. The Westport women installed
two bronze bas relief plaques on a large boulder, which they placed in the
heart of Westport’s historic business district.

Instead of celebrating the men who hauled goods between
Missouri and New Mexico, the Daughters of Old Westport commemorated the first
women who settled in their town. Sculptor
Merrell Gage’s central bas relief depicts a white mother with her two young
children. She holds a rifle to defend her children against wild animals and the
Native Americans these white settlers displaced. Text in the upper right corner
dedicates it “To the Pioneer Mother.” 

On the back of
the boulder, an accompanying dedication plaque features a male trapper and
American Indian reminiscent of those that appeared in earlier pioneer monuments
elsewhere in the American West. The Daughters of Old Westport Memorial was one
of the first monuments to pioneer women erected in the United States. Dozens
more would follow later in the 1920s.

Westport businessmen wanted to put up a life-sized stone wagon train to mark the centennial of the Santa Fe Trail. Instead, local women raised the funds for this 1920 tribute "To the Pioneer Mother." It was one of the first pioneer mother monuments erected in the United States.

Daughters of Old Westport Memorial

Westport business leaders wanted commemorate the town's
connections to the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail, and its claim to being the
birthplace of Kansas City. After several failed attempts and smaller markers,
they finally put up this statue in 1986. The tribute to John C. McCoy, Alexander Majors, and Jim Bridger is the
culmination of 75 years of pioneer commemoration efforts by Westport business
leaders and residents.

Westport is extremely proud of its role in white westward
expansion. It was established by fur trader John Calvin McCoy in 1833. Westport
served as an eastern terminus of the Santa Fe Trail, which carried American
freight to Mexico, during the 1830s. Westport then served as an outfitting
location for the Oregon and California trails in the 1840s and 1850s. Its
population peaked in 1858 at about 2,000. McCoy, along with thirteen investors, also founded the Town of Kansas at
a nearby riverboat landing site. After the Civil War, that town grew
dramatically, changing its name to Kansas City. By 1897 Kansas City had annexed
the village of Westport that it had eclipsed. But throughout the 20th century, Westport
residents insisted that Westport should receive credit as Kansas City’s
birthplace.

To mark the 1912 centennial of the Santa Fe Trail, a group
of Westport businessmen formed the Westport Improvement Association. The
Improvement Association sought to install a monument to that trail in Westport,
Missouri. The men worked with the Kansas City Historical Society, the Daughters
of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the Confederacy, other
genealogical organizations, and the National Old Trails Road Association to raise
money for a Pioneer Monument Fund. Together these voluntary organizations hosted
a Santa Fe Trail and Battle of Westport Reunion and Carnival. They envisioned a
life-sized stone sculpture including five yoke of oxen and a “prairie schooner with
wagon-master and bull-whackers and the faithful dog in the rear.”1 They
planned to install it at the site of the City Hall of Westport, which stood on
the Santa Fe Trail route.

That life-sized stone monument to commercial traffic on the
Santa Fe Trail never came to be. Instead, the Daughters of Old Westport took up
the project, transforming it into a memorial to pioneer mothers. The 1920
bronze plaque was placed on a large boulder in the historic downtown area.

When businessman Howard Vanderslice commissioned a Pioneer Mother monument for Kansas City
a few years later, Westport leaders argued that it should instead be placed in
Westport. The artist and donor insisted that the larger-than-life bronze
sculpture of a pioneer mother on horseback, her husband, a mountain man guide,
and pack horse be placed in Penn Valley Park overlooking downtown Kansas City, instead.

In 1950, as Kansas City prepared to celebrate its
centennial, Westport formed its own historical organization. That new Westport
Historical Society placed an ox-yoke marker on a traffic island to mark the
location of the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trail.

To mark Westport’s 150th anniversary, village merchants
led by advertising agent Tom Tupper once again sought to claim Kansas City’s bronze
Pioneer Mother statue in 1984. The
Westport Tomorrow organization argued that the famous statue had been ignored
by Kansas City residents for decades in the vast Penn Valley Park. Tupper
declared that the “gigantic statue” was only viewed “by about 16 people a year--if
they can find it.”2&nbsp;Westport businessmen argued that it would be
more visible in their Heritage Park. They sought to move it in memory of a
Westport resident and civic volunteer who had been among the 114 killed when
the skywalk of Kansas City’s Hyatt Regency hotel collapsed near the Pioneer Mother monument in 1981. Tupper suggested
that private donations to that victim’s memorial fund should cover the
estimated $50,000 cost to move the statue. Westport’s business and political
leaders endorsed the plan, but the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Board of
Commissioners voted unanimously to leave the statue in Penn Valley Park.

Many Westport residents believed a new monument would
attract visitors to the district’s shops and restaurants. Historian and
Westport Historical Society archivist Fred L. Lee insisted that “The eventual
goal of that statuary is to promote tourism.”3 But what form should
Westport’s new statue take?

Residents expressed competing visions for a new sculpture on
the former trolley island. A small group seeking to commemorate prominent
artist and former Westport resident Thomas Hart Benton raised $100,000 in
private donations to place a Benton statue in that location. But Westport
Historical Society members and other local western heritage societies remained
committed to commemorating Westport’s mid-19th-century heyday. Kansas City Park
Board President L. P. Cookingham, who was also a historical society member, finally
brokered a compromise. He recommended a different location for the Benton
statue, which cleared a path for erecting a monument to Westport founder John
C. McCoy and Westport’s frontier past on the triangular traffic island.

The pioneer statue by Kansas City artist Thomas L. Beard declared
Westport’s centrality to United States westward expansion by commemorating
famous businessmen with ties to the area. The pioneer statue featured three
prominent white businessmen with connections to mid-19th-century Westport: fur
trader and Westport founder John C. McCoy, Westport businessman and co-founder
of the Pony Express Alexander Majors, and western merchant and mountain man Jim
Bridger, who retired to Westport in the 1850s.&nbsp;


Bridger’s fringed buckskin coat and rifle mark him as a
rugged frontiersman. An accompanying plaque identifies him as “an Indian
fighter, fur trapper and trader, guide to the Far West, U.S. Army scout and
explorer.” He sits slightly behind McCoy, listening intently to the fur
trader-turned-businessman. In contrast, Majors’ upright posture, long coat and
the top hat identify him as a successful businessman, but his informal work
shirt reminds viewers of his earlier years hauling freight on the Santa Fe
Trail. He gazes off into the distance, indicating his focus on future
opportunities further west. Central character John C. McCoy is dressed formally
in a three-piece suit. His identifying plaque calls the surveyor “the father of
Kansas City” and declares “But always, he was a realtor and a builder.” Although
the three men were contemporaries, Thomas Beard’s sculpture teaches that
Bridger and Majors prepared the way for McCoy, just as white frontiersmen and
traders—and the village of Westport—paved the road to urban development in
Kansas City and throughout the West.

This 1986 tribute to John C. McCoy, Alexander Majors, and Jim Bridger is the culmination of 75 years of pioneer commemoration efforts by Westport business leaders and residents.

Pioneer Square Monument

Brothers and Native American traders George and William Ewing constructed this two-story brick building around 1850 as a supply store. At the time, Westport was a major starting point for settlers, traders, and fur trappers heading west on the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe Trails. The Ewing brother’s store provided food, clothing, tools, and other provisions for the wagon trains that came to Westport. Businesses like this were essential to the success of westward migration. In 1854, the brothers sold their store to fellow Native American trader Albert Gallatin Boone, a grandson of famed pioneer Daniel Boone. Boone kept the business in operation for several years and was also a slave trader on the side, although it is unclear whether he ever kept slaves in the building. He sold the store in 1859 and left Westport for Colorado. During the latter half of the 1800s, the store’s fortunes as a supply shop declined as Kansas City outgrew Westport in importance, and railroads supplanted the old wagon trails. Between the 1880s and early 1900s, the building underwent several major renovations, including the construction of new additions on the southeast and northwest sides. In 1904, the Wiedemann family purchased the store and ran a grocery business in it called the Wiedemann Brother’s Store. They later closed the shop but rented out the building to other businesses for many years. During the 1930s, after the end of Prohibition, the store became a bar called the Wrestler’s Inn. It was notable for featuring live wrestling in the evenings.In 1947, three former captains of the Kansas City Police Department acquired the bar and rebranded it as an Irish pub called the Westport Inn. One of the bartenders, Irish immigrant Randal Kelly, became a very popular employee among the clientele. By 1977, Kelly and his family had taken over the business, and it was renamed Kelly’s Westport Inn. In 1995, the Kellys purchased the building from the Wiedemann family. The pub remains popular in the Kansas City community and is notable for its live music and extravagant St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

The Ewing-Boone Building, also referred to as the Albert G. Boone Building, is believed to be one of the oldest surviving brick commercial buildings in present-day Kansas City. It was built around 1851 by the Ewing Brothers and later purchased in 1854 by Albert Gallatin Boone; both Boone and the Ewings were originally Native American traders. During the 1850s and 1860s, the building functioned as a crucial supply store for pioneers, trappers, and traders traveling through Westport along the Santa Fe Trail and other routes. The building later housed a hardware store, drug store, and grocery store. Starting in the 1930s, a series of owners began operating a bar in the facility. Today the Ewing-Boone Building is home to Kelly's Westport Inn, an Irish pub and one of the most popular bars in the Kansas City community. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1959.

Ewing-Boone Building (Kelly's Westport Inn)

This Chouteau-Bridger Building is a building that shares a lot and is connected to the Ewing-Boone Building. The building was originally built between 1850 and 1851. Cyprien Chouteau was the original owner from 1850-1866 then was bought Jim Bridger. 

The building used to hold Westport’s only newspaper during the 1850’s. This newspaper was shut down by Union soldiers in 1861 due to the newspapers pro-southern publications. Union captain Albert Wachsmann, used the building as an outfitting store for wagon trains.

Chouteau-Bridger Building

Mabry Hall was built in 1857 and was originally known as Hebron Hall. The two lots that this building was built on was originally bought on cost $96, in 1850, and they were purchased by Simon Sager. A week later, James hunter bought two lots from Sager for $130. Dr. William E. Mabry, the building's namesake, bought the building and placed his name on it in 1903. Dr. Mabry was the town physician at the time and had moved to Westport in 1879. Dr. Mabry himself, lived on nearby Archibald Street. 

Marby Hall

Nathan Scarritt was born in 1821 in Illinois. He migrated to Missouri in the 1840s and worked for several years as a teacher. Around 1848, Scarritt decided to enter the missionary field through the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He moved to the Westport area and worked for Rev. Thomas Johnson at the Shawnee Indian Mission, where he taught Latin and Greek classes. After four years, he became pastor of Westport Methodist Church. Later, he was appointed a traveling Methodist missionary to the Wyandott, Delaware, and Shawnee tribes.In 1852, Scarritt and his wife, Martha Matilda Chick, purchased a two-story, frame house from Dr. Joseph Boggs for $2,150. The simple, clapboard house was built around 1847. The Scarritts only lived here for a decade; in 1862, fearing for their safety during the Civil War, Nathan Scarritt moved his family to a 40-acre property on the outskirts of town. He continued to own the previous house, renting it own to tenants, before selling it in 1881.After the Civil War, Scarritt spent many more years teaching, preaching, and, increasingly, investing in real estate. During the 1880s especially, he took advantage of Kansas City’s rapid growth and sold some of his land to create upper class neighborhoods for the local elite, including the Melrose, East Melrose, and Scarritt Renaissance neighborhoods. By the time of his death in 1890, Scarritt had become a millionaire through his land speculation. The original house, later dubbed the Nathan Scarritt House, changed hands various times and underwent several alterations over the decades. During the 1950s, it was converted into a three-unit apartment building. In 1970, an antique dealer bought the house, made some restorations, and opened a shop in it. The James B. Nutter Company, a local banking firm, purchased the Scarritt House and several other nearby homes and restored the exteriors to their original appearances. Today the house continues to be used as commercial space.

The Nathan Scarritt House is the oldest surviving frame house in Westport. It was built around 1847-1852 by Dr. Joseph O. Boggs, in a simple, domestic style. The home's most notable resident was Nathan Scarritt (1821-1890). A prominent Methodist missionary, preacher, teacher and real estate developer, Scarritt and his family lived in the house from 1852 to around 1862. By the late twentieth century, the house attracted attention for its age and significance as a surviving relic of the community's pre-Civil War history. It underwent some restoration work in the 1970s, and again in 2004 after its purchase by the James B. Nutter Company. Today the building functions as a commercial space housing businesses, though it retains much of its original appearance. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Nathan Scarritt House

Col. John Harris, his wife Henrietta, and their children moved from Kentucky to Missouri in 1832. They were among the first white settlers of what became the town of Westport. Before the Civil War, Westport was a major transportation center. Three overland westward trails (the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe) ran through the community. Originally the Harris family owned a large farm. Around 1847, John acquired the McGee Tavern and operated it as the Harris House Hotel until 1864. The hotel was quite popular, and was patronized by many traders, trappers, and settlers traveling along the Santa Fe Trail. In 1855, Harris built a new house to replace the smaller, log cabin his family occupied when they first came to Westport. The two-story, Greek Revival style brick structure was located on a five-acre plot at the intersection of Main Street and Westport Road. It was constructed largely by enslaved African Americans; they even produced bricks for the house onsite. The Harris Home was easily one of the most prominent residences in the community and was referred to by locals as the “Mansion House.” After Harris’ death in 1874, the house passed to his son-in-law, Col. Charles E. Kearney. Kearney was a very successful Kansas City businessman. He invested in real estate, operated grocery stores, served as an executive of the Burlington Railway, and helped construct the city’s Hannibal Bridge.After the Harris-Kearney family, the house changed hands a few times. At one point it was owned by Kansas City Star editors Thomas and Maude Johnston. In the early 1920s, the fate of the home was threatened by new commercial development in the neighborhood. To save it from demolition, locals formed the Harris Home Association and purchased the house in 1922. They moved it one block away to its current location on Baltimore Avenue and opened it as a historic house museum in December of that year. The museum proved an unsustainable venture and closed by the late 1920s. For the next several decades, various owners used the house as a commercial building. It housed, among other things, a doctor’s office, a law firm, a photography studio, and an advertising agency. In 1976, the Westport Historical Society took over the house and restored part of it to its original 1855 appearance. Today it once again operates as a house museum, highlighting the pre-Civil War history of Westport and Kansas City. One notable artifact on display is the oldest residential piano in Kansas City. The building also serves as the Westport Historical Society’s headquarters, and contains a visitor’s center and meeting space. In 2018, a plaque was installed at the house commemorating one of the home’s occupants: Harriet “Hattie” Drisdom. Hattie was a slave purchased as a young girl by Charles Kearney in 1855. Allegedly, he did so to prevent her from being sold somewhere else. Two years later, Kearney freed Hattie, but she chose to stay at the house and work for the family as a paid housekeeper. When she died in 1927, Hattie became the first African American buried in the “White Only” section of Kansas City’s Union Hill Cemetery.

The Harris-Kearney House was built in 1855 by early settlers John and Henrietta Harris. They were notable in the Westport community for operating a successful tavern, the Harris House Hotel, which served many visitors traveling on the Santa Fe Trail. The home was in the midst of the Battle of Westport during the Civil War and used as headquarters for the Union Army. The Greek Revival style house is the oldest remaining brick home in Kansas City. It serves as the headquarters of the Westport Historical Society which was formed in the 1950s. The Society offers tours of the building along with other historical sites throughout the area. It also operates a local history library and special events, evening lectures, and dinners. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Harris-Kearney House, Headquarters of the Westport Historical Society

The Calvary Baptist Church was built in 1890. The church sits on the corner of Baltimore and Westport Road, which was originally Main St. The land that the church is built on was donated by John Bristow Wornall. 

The Calvary Baptist Church arose from the First Baptist Church of Kansas City. The Calvary Baptist Church also indirectly originated from The Old Baptist Church of the Big Blue. This latter church was a Union Church. 


Westport Kansas City Walking Tour

Allen Library, Westport

Introduction

Images

Sources

Additional Information