Commercial – Kansas Preservation Alliance & Abandoned Atlas Foundation

Endangered:
Boulevard Plaza

Year(s) Listed: • 2025 | City/Town: • Wichita

Boulevard Plaza opened in 1951 as a vibrant shopping destination in Wichita, Kansas. Developed by J.W. and R.W. Womer and designed by architect S.S. Platt, the center hosted a grand opening that drew thousands. Its diverse lineup of businesses included grocers, pharmacies, beauty salons, camera shops, and even a Medical Arts Center. It quickly became …

Endangered:
Thacher Building

Year(s) Listed: • 2025 | City/Town: • Topeka

The Thacher Building is a three-story Richardson Romanesque commercial building in downtown Topeka. Built in 1888 at a cost of about $40,000, the stone structure is a two-part commercial block form. The stone balustrade capping the building contains a nameplate inscribed “THACHER.” The Thacher Building was constructed for Timothy Dwight Thacher, a local businessman, using …

Endangered:
Kirwin Building

Year(s) Listed: • 2025 | City/Town: • Brewster

The Brewster post office building and senior center share the first floor of The Kirwin building. Easily one of the oldest buildings in Brewster, it has stood firmly at the corner of Main St. and Kansas Ave. since 1919. Originally a limestone school house in Kirwin, Kansas—built in 1880—it was disassembled and the bricks moved …

Endangered:
Nick Chiles Buildings

Year(s) Listed: • 2024 | City/Town: • Topeka

These three Topeka buildings were owned by Nick Chiles, an African American entrepreneur, political and civil rights activist, and editor who moved to Topeka in 1886. Chiles founded, edited, and published the Topeka Plaindealer, which had the largest circulation of any Black newspaper west of the Mississippi River, from 1899 until he died at age 61 in …

Endangered:
Pospishil Building

Year(s) Listed: • 2024 | City/Town: • Luray

The was the first native stone building in Luray, KS, was constructed in 1898-99 using limestone blocks from the Pospishil farm. This two-story building with a full basement measures approximately 100′ by 50′. Its Italianate design features a Mesker Brothers Iron Works storefront with classic elements like double-rosettes and fleur-de-lis, and a self-supporting awning. Historic …

Endangered:
King Building

Year(s) Listed: • 2012 | City/Town: • Burlingame

This Italianate style commercial building dates to around 1895 and originally housed Charlie King’s grocery business. A recent survey of downtown Burlingame determined the building eligible as a potentially contributing resource to a surrounding historic district. However, the building has been vacant for 27 years and the rear wall collapsed in 2005. Due to shared …

Endangered:
Whitewater Falls Stock Farm Barn

Year(s) Listed: • 2010 • 2012 | City/Town: • Towanda

This unusually large and ornate barn is threatened by deterioration, especially a leaky roof. The Whitewater Falls Stock Farm was established by Scottish immigrant, J. W. Robison and his son, James C. Robison. The barn was constructed to house a prize-winning Percheron draft horse breeding operation and, later, was used for a Hereford cattle breeding …

Endangered:
Lion Block

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

The Lion Block in Ness City, Kansas, serves as an excellent example of late 19th century Italianate design. Italianate styling was popular nationwide from the 1840s through the mid-1880s, spurred on by pattern books such as those published by Andrew Jackson Downing. Financed by the Shepard Brothers in 1887, the Lion Block retains its interior …

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:
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, …

Class: Commercial