Recent Posts – Page 4 – Kansas Preservation Alliance

Endangered:
Phillipena Strasser House

Year(s) Listed: • 2009 | City/Town: • Manhattan

Commissioned to be built in 1874 by widow Phillipena Strasser, the Strasser House is the second oldest house in Manhattan’s Ward 2 and one of few surviving examples of stone residences in the city. In an agreement with the City of Manhattan, the Strasser House will remain at its current location though the surrounding context …

Endangered:
Chouteau Trading Post, Station and Post Office Site

Year(s) Listed: • 2009 | City/Town: • Shawnee

Located at the mouth of the Kaw River, this historic site in Johnson County, Kansas, was home to the first trading post, train station stop and post office for the former Monticello Township (now Shawnee). Established in 1828 by Frederick Chouteau, the site first served as a fur trading post and ferry stop along the …

Endangered:
Greenwood Hotel

Year(s) Listed: • 2009 | City/Town: • Eureka

Once Eureka’s largest hotel, the Greenwood Hotel served as a popular meeting place for the rich cattle and oil traders in the 20th century. Built in 1883 and remodeled in 1926, the Greenwood Hotel is a rare example of the Spanish Revival style. Its most defining exterior features are the multicolored stucco walls and terra …

Endangered:
Kansas Barns

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Central Kansas • Eastern Kansas • Northern Kansas • Southern Kansas • Western Kansas

Historic barns are a symbol of Kansas heritage and landscape. Of the first permanent buildings that farm families constructed, barns served a variety of functions integral to the survival and success of farms. By examining the various construction techniques and materials that were used, these vernacular buildings help to tell the history of Kansas. Vacancy, …

Endangered:
Bethany Place Landscape

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Topeka

This year’s list includes eight historic places, including the Bethany Place Landscape in Topeka, Kansas. Started in the 1860s as the College of the Sisters of Bethany, Bethany Place was the first women’s college in Kansas. Georgia Neese Gray, the first female US Treasurer is one of the college’s most notable alumnae. The present day campus still retains …

Endangered:
Old Abilene Town

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Abilene

Old Abilene Town is an example of an early heritage tourism site founded to help promote the western heritage of the town. Following the national model of Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village, Old Abilene Town represents a collection of buildings that were moved from their original sites in the early 1960s. Though the practice of moving …

Endangered:
Colonial Fox Theatre

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Pittsburg

Opened in 1920 as the Colonial Theatre, this Italian Renaissance Revival Building features Beaux Arts details and is the only remaining theater in Crawford County from the `Movie Palace’ decade of the 1920’s. Prominent local builder, Asa Messenger modeled the building after a theater in Kansas City and local craftsmen produced the stone, steel and …

Endangered:
Historic Brick Sidewalks

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Manhattan

Photo from Riley County Historical Museum Manhattan’s oldest neighborhoods stretch out over roughly 100 blocks and retain over 50% of their original brick sidewalks. These landscape features are roughly 120 years old. They complement and connect the area’s historic Queen Anne, Second Empire, Richardsonian Romanesque as well as Craftsman homes. Homeowners must provide maintenance for …

Endangered:
Fresh Air Baby Camp

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Wichita

Photo from https://wichitaparksfoundation.org/fabc This Progressive Era building provided a refuge for infants whose health was at risk within the existing hospital system. Community members, principally women, rallied the Wichita community to construct the building and secured local builder George Siedoff to donate the required labor. Prominent local architect Lorenz Schmidt volunteered to design the building …

Endangered:
Barnes State Bank

Year(s) Listed: • 2006 | City/Town: • Barnes

Barnes was established in 1872 and had a fine reputation for its banks. The Barnes State Bank was built in 1911 and was unfortunate enough to be robbed twice. The bank become insolvent in 1924 and the building served many other uses since that time. The Barnes State Bank building is a part of the …